RECREATION. 



li 



RON 





QUNTAIN 



SRoute 



Is the Line to take from 

 ST. LOUIS, CAIRO on MEMPHIS 



IF YOU ARE GOING 

 SHOOTING or FISHING 



THE BEST CAME COUNTRY In the 



Mississippi Vnlley.to-day is 



along tills Line in 



MISSOURI, ARKANSAS AND LOUISIANA. 



SMALL CAME- is verv abundant 

 and has been shot at very little. DEER 

 and TURKEY are plentiful and the fish- 

 ing for black bass and other game fishes 

 of" the very best. THIS LINE also 

 reaches direct from ST. LOUIS or 

 MEMPHIS, by double daily through 

 car service, the famous hunting and 

 fishing grounds of Texas and the Gulf. 



For further information write any 

 Agent of the. Company, or 



H. C. TOWNSEND 



GENERAL PASSENGER AND TICKET AGE. •, 



ST. LOUIS, MO. 



RECREATION ONE YEAR AND A 

 MEMBERSHIP IN THE L. A. S. ONE 

 YEAR FOR $1.50. IF YOU ARE A 

 FRIEND OF GAME PROTECTION 

 MAKE THIS OFFER KNOWN TO 

 ALL SPORTSMEN OF YOUR AC- 

 QUAINTANCE. 



A HIGH-GRADE BICYCLE 



for 50 Subscriptions to 

 RECREATION 



For particulars address this office 



I am highly pleased with Recreation, 

 and shall be a regular subscriber as long 

 as you continue to roast the game hogs. 

 James A. Long, Tarentum, Pa. 



KILL THE SPARROWS. 



In February Recreation, page 135, you 

 name 99 species of birds molested by the 

 English sparrow, and tell the vast number 

 from a single pair in 10 years to be 275,- 

 716,083,698. Same number, page 137, Mr. 

 Richard C. McGregor has an article de- 

 scribing damage they do and birds they 

 drive away. I can add my testimony to 

 much there said. In a large elm tree be- 

 fore my Iront door a pair of robins nested 

 for many years. The last time was 3 years 

 ago. That year one of the robins stood 

 guard over the nest of eggs, and later over 

 the young, every moment, to guard 

 against the sparrows. The robins came no 

 more. In a fine young elm tree beside that 

 one the sparrows ate the tender sprouts, 

 and in early spring, the buds, until they 

 greatly injured the tree. In this locality 

 there are, in winter, no other birds than 

 this most unmitigated pest and nuisance. 

 What harm can there be in poisoning the 

 sparrows? There is no other way of rid- 

 ding ourselves of them. The injury done 

 to buildings, vines, trees, other birds and 

 crops is something serious. We used to 

 have around my house every spring morn- 

 ing a glorious bird concert. Now we have 

 the twittering of the detestable sparrows. 

 Poison mixed with Indian meal, in dishes 

 set on top of buildings, would be out of 

 the reach of other creatures and could be 

 placed in winter when no other birds were 

 around. I have known of their being 

 cleaned out of a small village in that way. 

 Winter is the time to do it. 



You could be of great use to sportsmen, 

 guides and all who hunt if you would urge 

 all, with something of the persistence you 

 show in denouncing game hogs, to know 

 what they are shooting at before they dis- 

 miss the cruel lead. Many manslaughters 

 could be prevented. Let it be understood 

 by all hunters that to shoot blindly, with- 

 out knowing what is behind the moving 

 bush, is a shame not to be lightly over- 

 looked. A man who will do that should 

 be spurned by all sportsmen. 



We read of game being killed in many 

 ways, but I have not read of the following. 

 I was driving through a piece of woods 

 when a red squirrel started up, took to 

 the fence and ran a few rods. He wanted 

 to get into the deeper woods on the other 

 side of the road. Finding he could not 

 pass my horse, he left the fence, came 

 straight toward my team, tried to pass 

 render the sleigh, and was killed by being 

 caught under one of the runners. 



Carlos L. Smith, Montpelier, Vt. 



"So he is going abroad." 



"Yes. He got so in the habit of kicking 

 about the way things were done during 

 the Spanish war that he is going to Eng- 

 land now to help out the stay-at-homes 

 there."— The Chicago Post. 



