N ITEO^S TAT d S 



• departm.ent" 

 op agriculture 



v-i 



mYi. UNCL3 SAi'.:'S NATURALISTS. 



A JUN 



IVidaj^, "TU-Tre , 1930. 



AlTlIOUNC0^!EiJT: Our Wildr Man is with us again. Ke lias "be in out gunnirie; for 

 facts about game birds, aiid the prospects of keeping up our game sup;;jly by in- 

 troducing new game birds from other countries. Naturally, he went to IJncle Sam's 

 Naturalists in the United States Department of Agriculture to do hi& hunting. 

 Fnat's in the bag, Mr. Wilds Man?. 



]fl 1^ iff 3)t ]^ l)C 



Nearly every hunter has heard about the success of the introduction of 

 ring-necked pheasants and Hungarian pat ridges iji^the Northv/est. Fev^rer folks 

 realize hov; ^aazingly those birds have thrived/ certain other sections; 



Now ring-necked pheasants are found over the Northern States almost 

 without a break from coast zo coast. The Hungarian patridges h^ve also shown tha* 

 same ability to occupy and hold territory, and to increase in nur^bers. Fact is, 

 they have outdone our own birds on their own .f^round. With an eq^aal chance to 

 respond to feeding and legal protection, our iiative birds have failed to make 

 good, compared to those foreign birds. And that in spite of the fact they were 

 already on the ground and axiapted to che country and the clima'ce, 



Vni^' this should be has been a puzzle co r.ie. I consulted an expert on it, 

 Lir. W. L. McAtee. of the United States Biolo^^.ical Survey, gave iv:e a mi.^hty in- 

 teresting exdanation of this strange case of Naturalized versus Native Birds. 

 He points out that Old World birds and anirnals in their hixie land have lived 

 in close contact with niaji for centuries, Sirr.ilar game in this country with un- 

 told millio.is of acres to range over, hsxe "faded away before the hunters like 

 mist before the morning sun." as Mr. McAtee puts it. 



He holds that the differences are largely due to the differences in the 

 hunting. Our native American birds and ani.nals have been hunted by more and 

 better-axi.-ied hunters tnan were the ^;ilo. stock of the Old World. 



Our people caine on the A.v.en.c:.n scene fii.ly axmed. Hunti.ig was free for 

 all. And they hunted. Al:.icst before our game bird', and ani;-als knew what was 

 happening, they :^ad been hunteci to the v^jrge of extinctiori. 



Across the water, the game had a better ch-ance. In the Old World, the 

 number of hunters and firearms has always been restricted. 



But, as Mr, McAtee says, that doesn't explain ?. t altogether, because those 

 fewer h\inters have usually taken bi^-er bags, in the Old World, snaring, trappiw 

 and other methods of getting game liave been practiced for ages. But the birds 

 and animals had cime through the cenouries to adapt themselves a..i adjust them- 

 selves against the slow improvements in the methods of hunting. They also liad 

 a better chance to get used to the changes resulting from increased human popu^ 

 lation* 



