June 17, iQgg.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
460 
The Winter of J 898-9. 
The winter of 1898-9 was memorable to people in 
general throughout most portions of ,the United States, 
but there are two classes in particular who will not 
forget, for it left a rich legacy of disappointment and 
grief, equally sure in botli cases, though the bird lover's 
portion is not like the fruit-grower's — susceptible of 
tabulation. However, an approximate figure could be 
reached if those who can would supply data, and it 
becomes their duty to do so, in order that greater vig- 
ilance along protective lines should be manifest to all 
who would keep the world beautiful. 
While the conditions in Arkansas were peculiarly try- 
ipig for man, all through the season, too frequent rains 
being succeeded by severe winter weather, the birds 
had no grounds for complaint before the last days of 
January , but from that time until well past the middle 
of February, how to preserve life was a problem too 
involved to be happily solved save by the most hardy 
species. 
During this period thermometers registered 12 below 
zero, and the ground was frozen something over I3in. 
below the surface. A snowstorm the 29th was disastrous 
enough, but when it was followed by one which cov- 
ered trees, shrubs and ground with an impenetrable 
coating of ice times were indeed perilous for all birds, 
whether residents or transients. 
My experiences at so stressful an epoch may not have 
been phenomenal, but they are at least too interesting to 
remain all my own if a lame description can make them 
the property of otliers. They began with the snowstorm 
referred to, as robins wintering in the surrounding 
country came flocking about the citj' to be slaughtered 
b};- thousands before hunters could be made to under- 
stand they were protected by .tj.ie song bird law, passed 
two years ago. 
Sitting the first bitter cold night, grieving over this 
massacre of the innocents and the alarming situation of 
those still left, an imf)erative tapping was heard at a glass 
door, from which the light from within sent welcoming 
beams, and upon opening it in fluttered a half-frozen 
robin. - 
Showered with love phrases and tempted with the 
choicest of food, he yet remained so unappreciative of 
both tliat at last, understanding his mission as one of 
solicitation, we gave him his freedom, and from that 
moment until the sun had unlocked nature's stores we 
supplied all birds that would come, with abundance to 
eat. 
At the end of the garden, away from the house, wheat 
and corn were put out many times a daj', while the 
ground under a south window — called "the head of the 
board" — ^was liberally sprinkled with rice, cracked pe- 
cans and bird seed. It would be impossible to say 
how many were thus cared for, but that does not matter, 
since the interest lies in the species represented more than 
in numbers. 
A few cardinal grosbeaks and brilliantly beautiful blue- 
jays made spots of vivid color now and then in the 
"somber landscape, selecting with great care uncracked. 
corn for the foot of the table, while a half-dozen fox 
sparrows never ate below the, salt or accepted less than 
the best. 
Juncos came to feed upon seeds for the most part, but 
only when things were at the worst, and even then 
seemed often on the point of bursting into song, al- 
though never getting beyond a cheery clearing of the 
throat. 
White-throat sparrows were by far the most numerous 
and faithful of our guests, with here and there one 
who sang over and over a refrain as exasperatingly in- 
complete as the one Sandy Faulkner finally finished 
for his world-famous entertainer. 
The white crowns, unlike their cousins, had only 
two or three representatives, and these refused us so 
rnuch as a broken measure of their cunning little polka- 
time song, but we forgave, for it is an event even to 
see them in this region. 
At different times hairy and red-bellied woodpeckers 
were seen trying to peck through the ice on the trunks 
of the trees, but the attempt was as fruitless as that of 
a poor mourning dove to warm her pink feet on the 
frozen ground, as she pecked daintily at the food spread 
before her. 
One morning a queer song came from the top of a 
little arbor, and there sat a shrike greedily eyeing a 
group of small birds; but, like the hawk, which had hung 
suspended a few moments before over the same spot, he 
did nothing but look. 
A small party of nieadowlarks stopped for a few grains 
of wheat, but they must have known of stores more to 
their liking, for they remained only a short time, and 
made but the one visit. Of grackles there were never 
more than five, and these Avere as quiet as the most 
reticent of their kind, save once or twice, when a wan- 
dering sunbeam waS answered by a cherry scrape of their 
fiddles. 
_ Many times during the most severe weather a few of 
most forlorn looking robins it was ever my fortune 
>S6e would come to the garden and sit perfectly still 
■ moments, making no attempt to eat grain or seeds; 
This troubled rne greatly, even when I knew they were 
cloyed by feasting on the berries still hanging on the 
China trees. For they would eat until stupid and drop 
upon the ground an easy prey to any one who chose to 
pick them up, or to the cold, which was intense when 
night fell. That many lost their lives in these ways is 
certain, though of the actual number no one can even 
guess. 
Now, while the pleasure of providing, for these birds 
;as unspeakable, and all were held in high esteem, 
.here were about two dozen purple finches who made 
.(he week of their stay such a continuous delight that it 
.went far toward giving them first place in our favor. At 
first, when not hanging head down from the httle fuzzy 
sycamore balls, they would eat on the ground with the 
others, but very soon a crowd of them would drop like 
so many leaves upon the window sill almost before 
the sash could be lowered after scattering their rations. 
Encouraged by such boldness, we began holding the 
imts in our hands and were amazed to find the little 
creatures would sit upon them as trustingly as though 
reared in the house. This was followed in a day by their 
flying in through the open window to the table, where 
plates of cracked nitts were kept, and at last by alight- 
ing upon us, clamoring in the prettiest way for more 
food, wheneA^er we appeared outside near this window. 
It could not be called ingratitude — rather commend- 
able independence — when their whole conduct changed 
with the rising temperature, but it was a littly mortify- 
ing to find even "one-eyed Dick," an especial pet, as shy 
as the wildest of birds on his last visit. 
The crowds of white-throat sparrows and all other 
species had gone a few days earlier, some to the vine- 
covered trees and shrubs in the ravines, which are 
winter quarters for many residents as well as winter so- 
journers, and others, another stage on their journey 
toward summer nesting grounds. Before their departure, 
however, as I was anxious to learn what the casualties 
had been, people were asked to say what dead birds 
they had found, and although their record is not clear 
as to kind or precise as to numbers, it will be noticed 
that it contains only the most hardy species. This is 
a pertinent fact of itself, but taken in connection with 
those drawn from my observation during the spring 
migration, it forms a secure basis for the proposition at 
the beginning of this article, unless — as is not at all prob- 
able — the conditions here were and are still exceptional. 
Dead Birds, 
Twenty people found from one to three dead robins, 
some very poor, others plump and uninjured. Two 
citizens gathered "a half-bushel" of robins from under 
China and evergreen trees. 
A countryman gave this account: "Lots of dead birds, 
redbirds, robins, woodpeckers, flickers, mockers and 
some little sparrow birds. These last died on their 
nests." 
On a sandbar in the river the bodies of meadowlarks, 
robins, yellow-hammers and numbers of small birds 
were found, while people in the city added to that list 
jays and purple grackles. As in 1895, great numbers 
were found crowded together in the hollow trees in 
the woods, but the witnesses could not specify what 
kinds were there. 
A few myrtle warblers were found, and alas! several 
-bluebirds. These beautiful creatures were only just be- 
ginning to be seen here again after the terrible experi- 
ence in 1895, and now not a note has been heard from 
them all through the spring. 
The non-appearance of some regular transient visitors 
doubtless has nothing whatever to do with the severe 
cold of .the winter, but the diminution in tmmber of 
certain other transients and residents unquestionably 
does. At any rate the names of those less abundant, or 
missed altogether, make a formidable list. 
Bluebirds. — Not seen, although fairly plentiful during 
fall migration, and a few groups about just before the 
cold weather set in. 
Myrtle Warblers. — Not seen, although the most regu- 
lar of all the small birds, at least, to appear in the 
spring. 
No Wilson's, magnolia or cerulean warblers have 
l^een seen, but they are not regular in their appearance. 
No Louisiana water thrushes at their former nesting 
grounds, though one single transient passed on quite 
early in the season. 
Mockingbirds, redstarts, Maryland yellow-throats, 
cardinals, purple martins, orioles, - chipping sparrows, 
hooded and parula warblers notably less, and wood pe- 
wees, great-crested fly-catchers considerably reduced. 
Mrs. Louise McG. Stephenson. 
Helena, Arkaiisa.s. 
The Danger of Introducing Noxious 
Animals and Birds. 
BY T. S. PALMER, ASSISTANT CHIEF OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY. 
From the Yearbook of the De/ar/ment of Agriculture. 
(Continued from page 444.) 
Need of Legislation. 
The examples already cited show the danger of intro- 
ducing exotic species on large islands, particularly on 
those far distant from continents, where the fauna is 
necessarily limited and predatory species practically ab- 
sent. In such places introduced species are almost sure 
to increase very rapidly. The experience of New Zealand 
indicates the necessity of exercising unusual care in in- 
troducing birds and mammals into the islands recently 
acquired by the United States. Much remains to be 
learned about the fauna of these new possessions. Puerto 
Rico is less known than any of the larger islands of the 
West Indies, but it probably has no indigenous mam- 
mals except bats. About 150 species of birds have been 
recorded from the island," of which twenty are not found 
elsewhere. The fauna of the Hawaiian Islands is still 
more limited; indigeneous mammals, except one bat 
(Lasiurus), are entirely wanting, but many of the birds 
are of great interest. Although no complete list of them 
has yet been published, about 100 species are known to 
occur on the islands. The fauna of the Philippines is 
much richer. The mammals are comparatively unknown, 
and until recently were supposed to be poorly repre- 
sented, but at present the list includes some fifty species, 
of which about half are bats. The birds have received 
much more attention, and nearly 600 species have been 
recorded from the archipelago," 286 occurring on Luzon 
alone. 
All of the islands have probably suffered more or less 
from the introduction of noxious species, especially rats 
and mice. In Hawaii rats have don« so much damage 
that the sugar planters have imported the mongoose to 
destroy them, and this animal is now becoming a pest. 
The mina of India is also present in considerable num- 
bers, and the house finch (Carpodacus mexicanus fron- 
ii Gundlach, J. F. O., XXVI., 1879, p. 163. 
^2 This number includes the species found on Palawan. Worcester 
and Burns class Palawan with Borneo on zoological grounds 
giving- for the Philippines proper 526 species; of these, 323 are 
confined to the group. (Proc. U. S. Nat. Museum, XX. 1898, 
pp. 664, 575. ■ ' 
talis) has been introduced, notwithstanding the fact that 
it is usually considered a great pest by fruit growers in 
California. 
During the last fifty years a number of acclimatization 
societies have been organized for the purpose of intro- 
ducing anitnals and plants from foreign countries. Pri- 
vate individuals, too, have devoted both time and money 
to importing birds or mammals which they consider neces- 
sary or desirable additions to the native fauna. Four or 
five societies exist in New Zealand, and several have 
been formed in the United States. During the year.s 
1872-1874 the Acclimatization Society of Cincinnati, O., ex- 
pended $9,000 in the purchase and importation of Euro- 
pean birds, and introduced some 4,000, belonging to about 
twenty species, at an average cost of about $4.50 a pair. 
These included several birds of doubtful value, such as 
the starling, skylark, and great titmouse or kohlmeise.^* 
This experiment proved a failure. 
In 1888 the Society for the Introduction of European 
Song Birds was organized at Portland, Oregon, and im- 
ported two lots of birds in 1889 and 1892, at a cost of about 
$2,000. Among the numbers were fifty pairs of skylarks, 
thirty-five pairs of black thrushes, thirty-five pairs of 
-Starlings, fifteen pairs of green linnets, and a number of 
others, representing in all some twenty species. Recently 
the introduction of the kohlmeise into the Northwest ha? 
been seriously considered, and the spa.smodic attempts to 
acclimatize the skylark and starling have been renewed. 
Whatever may be the difference of opinion concern- 
ing the desirability of introducing exotic species, it will 
be generally admitted that some restriction should be 
placed on the importation of bids and mammals which 
may become injurious. Since it has been found neces- 
sary to restrict immigration and to have laws preventing 
the introduction of diseases dangerous to man or domesti- 
cated animals, is it not also important to prevent the 
introduction of any species which may cause incalcidable 
harm. Experience with the English sparrow, -the work of 
rabbits in Australia and of the mongoose in Jamaica, all 
these have abundantly shown the necessity of preventing 
the repetition of similar costly blunders in the future. 
Twelve years ago Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Chief of the 
Biological Survey, urged the necessity of restricting the 
importation of exotic species, as follows 
"It seems desirable that a law be enacted conferring 
upon the Commissioner (Secretary) of Agriculture the 
power of granting or withholding permits for the im- 
portation of birds and mammals, except in the case of 
domesticated species, certain song and cage birds (to be 
specifically enumerated), and species intended for ex- 
hibition in zoological gardens, menageries and museums, 
which may be brought in without special permits. The 
question of the desirability of importing species of known 
beneficial qualities in other lands is one which sooner ot 
later must force itself upon our notice; and it is highly 
important that when such experiments are made thej 
should be conducted by or under the control of the De- 
partment of Agriculture." 
Ten years later Mr. Alexander Craw, quarantine officei 
of the California State Board of Horticulture, again called 
attention to the need of legislation, and in his annual re- 
port of 1896 recommended the passage by Congress of a 
stringent law preventing tlie introduction of noxiou§ ani- 
mals. 
At present there is no Federal statute on the subject 
and apparently California is the only State which has gives 
the matter serious attention or has taken steps to prevent 
thoughtless or intentional importation of injurious specie'=i 
In the act creating the State Board of Horticulture, ap- 
proved March 13, 1883, and amended March 8, 1889, 
authority was conferred on the board to make regulationg 
for the purpose of preventing the spread of fruit pests. In 
accordance with this act, certain quarantine regulations 
were adopted on Aug. 15, 1894, one of which. Rule XII., 
provides that 'animals known as flying fox, Australian or 
English wild rabbit, or other animals or birds detrimen- 
tal to fruit or fruit trees, plants, etc., are prohibited from 
being brought or landed in this State, and if brought they 
shall be destroyed."" This law has resulted in the destruc- 
tion of several flying foxes, and, so far as known, every 
mongoose thus far brought to the port of San Francisco 
It IS, perhaps, not too much to say that to this regulation 
and to the vigilance of the quarantine officer at San 
Prancisco the State owes its present freedom from the 
mongoose. 
The action of Cape Colony and Western Australia on 
this question stands out in marked contrast to the apathy 
of other countries. Cape Colony, in 1890, made it unlaw- 
lul to introduce rabbits, either by land or sea, or to turn 
them loose within the colony;"" required the rabbits al- 
ready in the colony to be confined in hutches or boxes con- 
striicted according to certain prescribed regulations and 
authorized anyone to destroy rabbits found on his 
premises. Crown lands, or along public roads. Western 
Australia, profiting by the experience of her sister colonies 
on the eastern side of the continent, has taken measures to 
secure -^protection from the evils of indiscriminate and ill- 
advised acclimatization by the passage of the so-called 
Destructive birds and animals act" (57 Vic, No. 22) 
i his law, passed m 1893, prohibits the introduction Of all 
birds or animals which, in the opinion of the governor-in- 
council, are destructive to vineyards, orchards, fruit trees 
or any agricultural produce. The act prohibits the keep- 
ing of such birds or animals on private premises, author- 
izes the destruction of those already in the colony pro- 
hibits the liberation of any destructive bird or animal 
and permits duly authorized officers to enter premises for 
the purpose of seizing or destroying such birds or animals. 
The term destructive" is interpreted to mean any species 
to which the governor-m-council may from time to time 
extend the provisions of the act by proclamation, and the 
selection of species is based mainly upon the recommenda- 
tions of the bureau of agriculture." The law is there- 
fore elastic and may be easily modified when necessary 
bparrows and rabbits were originally included in i8q^ fly- 
ing foxes were added in December, 1895, and starlin/s 
blackbirds, and thrushes in January, 1896 ''^^^^'^Ss, 
^^Tourn. Cincinnati Soc. Nat. Hist., IV., is81. p. 342 
a6^"fri,"B-'^^P°rT.^^P^''*:7'^"t °* Agriculture for 1886 o ^bs 
IIY.'^^A Biennial Report State Board of Horticulture 1896 n R 
Under a penalty not exceeding £5 for first oKe or £10 
