EDITORIALS. 
A War of Extermination. — The Second Annual Report of the 
New York Zodlogical Society contains a graphic and startling report 
on an inquiry into the destruction of our native birds and mammals, 
made by Mr. W. T. Hornaday, the Director of the Society’s Park. 
Observers in every state and territory were asked whether a decrease 
of these animals was noticeable in their locality, and, if so, what the 
causes were and which species were most affected. From nearly two 
hundred replies the conclusion is drawn that, in the thirty states 
reporting a decrease, there is a diminution in the number of birds, 
as compared with fifteen years ago, of fifty per cent. The results 
concerning mammals are equally startling, and the list of the better- 
known mammals on the verge of extinction includes seventeen species. 
The replies indicate that sportsmen, boys who shoot and who collect 
eggs, market hunters, and milliner’s hunters are chiefly to blame. The 
most outrageous perversion of the sportsmen’s instinct is seen in 
the atrocious “ side hunts,” in which a graded count is put on all the 
different kinds of birds and mammals killed, such as squirrels, chip- 
munks, chipping sparrows, nuthatches, blue jays, and woodpeckers. 
In one of these “side hunts” forty adult men secured in a few hours 
212 gray squirrels, 210 red squirrels, 56 partridges, 25 blue jays, 41 
woodpeckers, 6 owls, and so on ; altogether 565 active, beautiful wild 
animals slaughtered in one day in one locality to make counts! Truly 
there is only one other mammal with which such men can be com- 
pared, and that is the tiger, which kills not for food, but for the love 
of killing. This is an evil which must be cured at once, or the 
remedy will be applied too late. Societies, sportsmen’s clubs, and 
legislatures are beginning to make feeble attempts at control; but a 
more thoroughgoing, far-reaching organization is necessary to secure 
uniform action throughout all the states regulating the destruction of 
wild animals and providing for an enforcement of the laws. In the 
absence of such legislation, circulars cannot be relied on to influence 
“sportsmen ” so thoughtless of the practical needs of agriculture as 
well as the equally important esthetic needs of human beings who 
love nature. Personal influence must be exerted everywhere by 
friends of the cause to save the remnant of our mammalian and avian 
fauna. As a campaign document get the Report from Mr. Hornaday, 
69 Wall Street, New York City. 
