196 
WILD LIFE PROTECTION FUND 
Third:—The open season on them commences too early; 
and I have repeatedly emphasized that fact to sportsmen 
and to everyone within hearing, during numerous special 
trips to Wyoming for Sage Chicken shooting and trout fish¬ 
ing. At the same time, I have called attention to the fact 
that on the same day we would shoot young birds that, ow¬ 
ing to their size and flight, could hardly be distinguished 
from the old birds, and could only settle our disputes upon 
picking them up, by testing the flexibility of their beaks 
and examining the density of the breast plumage; and at the 
same time we have seen flocks of young birds that were 
little, if any, larger than quail, and barely able to get on to 
wing; and on these trips I have seen many a game-hog 
claiming to be a sportsman shoot any of these young birds 
that could rise into the air. 
Fourth:—But not the least of these contributors toward 
the extinction of this species, (and this I don’t see how to 
overcome), is the fact that almost all the sage-brush coun¬ 
try now owned by the Government is leased to cattle men 
and sheep men, for grazing purposes, and their cattle, as 
well as numerous flocks of thousands of sheep grazing over 
the sage-brush range, trample out the nests and eggs, and 
even young birds, during the nidification period. 
Realizing fully, from frequent experiences, all of the fore¬ 
going, it seems to me that the saving of the Sage Hen will 
be about the most difficult and uncertain task you have un¬ 
dertaken ; but I am in accord, with your idea of a closed 
season, and assure you that I will not only vote for it, should 
opportunity occur, but shall cheerfully and as vigorously as 
possible, individually, whenever and wherever I see an open¬ 
ing or opportunity to do so, express my views in favor of 
the same.” 
Wyoming: 
William L. Simpson, Attorney-at-Law, Cody. 
“Under present protection, I believe the Sage Hen will be 
practically extinct in ten years. I was over a large portion 
of the Shoshone Reservation this last year [1915], and saw 
only a few birds where there used to be thousands. 
The great trouble is that female grouse are the greatest 
sufferers from hunting, legal or otherwise. . . . Illegal hunt¬ 
ing, from numerous sources, is the bane of the sage grouse. 
Its distribution is over a country remote from settlements. 
