INTRODUCTION 
XXXIX 
As birds are the check nature has put upon insect life, the pro¬ 
blem is a grave one. How shall we profit by the good offices of 
the birds, and prevent the injury they in turn are capable of doing 
to our crops ? 
In the east Professor Beal has found that birds as a rule prefer 
wild fruit to cultivated, and are drawn away from the orchard and 
garden by the cultivation of wild fruit-bearing bushes. In parts of 
the west the mulberry and elder and pepper are favorite bird foods, 
and might be useful for such purposes. The question is a large one, 
however, and can only be settled by patient study and investiga¬ 
tion on the part of earnest bird students. 
BIRD PROTECTION. 
By T. S. Palmer. 
Laws for the protection of birds are necessary even in sparsely 
settled regions. No place, however remote, is beyond the reach of the 
market hunter, provided a demand for game or feathers for millinery 
purposes exists, and prices are sufficient to warrant capture of the 
birds. Game birds have been shipped by thousands from the states 
beyond the Missouri River; pelicans, terns, and gulls have been 
decimated along the gulf coast of Texas; and grebes have been 
slaughtered on their breeding grounds on distant lakes in the interior 
of Oregon, — all to supply eastern markets. To meet such conditions 
every western state and territory now has its game law; but few 
of these laws protect all the birds within the state, and several of 
them are capable of being improved and made much more effective. 
From the legislative standpoint birds may be divided into three 
categories: (1) Game birds, such as quail and ducks, which are 
hunted at stated seasons for food or sport. (2) Non-game birds, such 
as thrushes and gulls, which are valuable as insect destroyers or 
scavengers, and hence are protected throughout the year. (3) Inju¬ 
rious species, such as the English sparrow an$ the great horned 
owl, which are given no protection. Under the definition framed 
by the Committee on Protection of Birds of the American Orni¬ 
thologists’ Union, game birds are restricted to four or five well 
marked groups : the Anatidae, comprising ducks, geese, and swans; 
the Rallidae, including rails, coots, and gallinules ; the Limicolae, or 
shore birds in general; the Gallinae, including quails, pheasants, 
grouse, and wild turkeys; and (in some states) the Columbae, in¬ 
cluding wild pigeons and doves. All other birds are classed as 
