NATURAL HISTORY. 



303 



Prof. Bfttner says:" The making of bird- 

 egg collections is getting to be such a fad 

 that almost every boy enters into it more 

 or less zealously at some time or other. 

 Some single collectors in a single season 

 take 500 or more eggs." I do not for a mo- 

 ment wish to encourage boys in making 

 collections of birds' eggs, but the above 

 statement is an enormous exaggeration. 

 I have been in close touch with boys for 

 over 40 years, and never met but one boy 

 who had started a collection of birds' eggs; 

 and his was of the eggs of sea birds. His 

 father was an eminent sportsman and 

 statesman. E. P. Robinson. 



ALARMING DECREASE OF BIRDS. 



The Audubon Society of Missouri has 

 been collecting data as to the protection 

 of birds in that State for some months 

 past. The methods adopted in this work 

 are similar to those employed by Mr. 

 W. T. Hornaday some years ago when he 

 secured reports from all the States in the 

 Union. The results obtained by the 

 Missouri Audubon Society are much like 

 those attending Mr. Hornaday's work. 

 The conclusion arrived at from the in- 

 vestigation made by the Missouri bird 

 lovers is to the effect that song and insect- 

 ivorous birds have decreased in that State 

 62 per cent and game birds 80 per cent 

 within the past 15 years. Deer, which 

 were once plentiful throughout a great 

 portion of Missouri, are practically extinct 

 except in a few small and thinly settled 

 districts. The Society asks, "Does any 

 person doubt that unless sweeping reforms 

 are inaugurated at once, a few years 

 hence will witness the total annihilation 

 of birds in this State?" 



Here are some conclusions arrived at 

 from a study of reports obtained from all 

 parts of Missouri: 



Bird life in general is being exterminated at an 

 appalling rate. 



Edible birds especially are persistently persecuted. 



Song and insectivorous birds are killed for food on 

 account of scarcity of game birds. 



The extermination of all desirable birds is certain 

 within a short period. 



The very existence of the deer — the monarch of 

 the woods, only a few years ago roaming in countless 

 numbers through our forests — is doomed. 



Bird and game laws as they now exist, and as now 

 enforced, are entirely inadequate to prevent the an- 

 nihilation of our birds and game. 



A few suggestions: 



Prohibit the killing, capture, possession or sale, 

 dead or alive, of wild birds, except game birds and a 

 few noxious species. 



Prohibit the destruction of birds' nests or col- 

 lection of eggs. 



Prohibit the sale of all dead game at all seasons of 

 the year, for a certain period. 



There is no agency so well calculated to protect 

 wild bird life as to prohibit its sale. The market 

 hunter is robbed of his vocation, and the incentive to 

 slaughter at all times of the year for commercial pur- 

 poses is abolished. Experience has taught that this 

 object is broad gauged and purely in the interest of the 

 masses and in direct line with the unerring laws of 

 nature — reproduction. 



Restrict the number of game birds or game that 



may be taken or killed in one day cr in a given time 

 by a single individual. 



Prohibit the shipment of game outside the State. 



Prohibit the hunting of deer with dogs. 



Repeal what is known as the county act. 



No person should be denied the privilege of re- 

 turning with the trophies of his chase, to enjoy same 

 with his family at home. 



Prohibit the using of a gun for hunting without a 

 license. 



The Audubon Societies throughout the 

 country are doing a great deal of good and 

 have aided in securing the passage of good 

 game laws; but these people are not ag- 

 gressive. They rarely prosecute a person 

 for violating a game law. That remains 

 for the League of American Sportsmen 

 and is a large part of the work of this body. 

 Therefore all friends of game protection, 

 in Missouri as well as elsewhere, should 

 belong to this League. All persons who 

 realize that song and insectivorous birds 

 and game birds are valuable to humanity, 

 should belong to this League. All per- 

 sons who can forsee the terrible destruc- 

 tion that would result to crops of all kinds, 

 and to trees, if the song birds and game 

 birds were all destroyed, should belong to 

 this League. It has been effectually 

 demonstrated by scientists that if all bird 

 life were wiped off the face of the earth it 

 would by reason of insect pests become 

 uninhabitable within a few years. All per- 

 sons who wish to see such a calamity 

 averted should join the L. A. S. and aid in 

 this great work. 



Anyone desiring further information 

 as to the causes and the results of the 

 destruction of birds in Missouri should 

 write for a copy of the report referred to. 



Address August Reese, secy., 2516 N. 

 14th St., St. Louis, Mo. 



METHOD OF PRESERVING BIRDS WITH 

 PLUMAGE UNHURT.* 



Take a bird just killed, open from the 

 lower part of the breast bone to the vent 

 with a sharp knife. Then extract all the 

 contents, such as the intestines, liver, 

 stomach, etc. This cavity then immediately 

 fill with the following mixture: common 

 salt, one pound; alum, powdered, 4 

 ounces; pepper, ground, 2 ounces; well 

 mixed. Then bring the lips of the wound 

 together by suture, so as to prevent the 

 stuff from falling out. It would be well 

 to put a small quantity of tow, on which 

 the mixture has been sprinkled, along 

 the suture previous to its being closed. 

 The gullet, or passage, must then be 

 rilled from the bill to where the stomach 

 lies, with the same mixture (but finer 

 round, which must be got down by the help 

 of a wire. Oepn the head neartheroot of 

 the tongue, with the knife, and after hav- 

 ing turned the knife around 2 or 3 times 

 to destroy the structure of the brain, fill 



♦Written by a bird collector in 1795. 



