66 
BY THE WAY SIDE 
tinct. Gray haired men can still remem¬ 
ber having seen them by millions. The 
golden plover, which was formerly 
abundant all over our fields in the spring 
and fall, is now rare. The curlews, 
familiar to most country lads in the 
Mississippi valley forty years ago, have 
almost disappeared, and of one variety, 
the Eskimo curlew, not a single example 
has been seen in the United States for 
several years.. If space were available, 
examples of this kind might be multi¬ 
plied to make a long list. In brief, it 
may he said that the majority of birds 
in the better populated eastern states, 
have decreased notably in numbers in the 
last few decades, and many have quite 
disappeared. Unless some change super¬ 
venes, the ultimate result is a simple 
calculation. 
The constant and rapid decrease of the 
birds in this country is of course due 
solely to the work of man and his domes¬ 
ticated animals, such as the cat, the 
sheep, and the hog. In competition with 
this group very few birds have an equal 
chance—only such varieties as the Eng¬ 
lish sparrow. It is clear that if we are 
to prevent the extermination of some 
species and the decimation of the rest, 
we must afford birds some practical pro¬ 
tection. For this purpose game laws 
have been enacted by nearly all the 
states in the union. The question is, 
“Are they adequate?” The answer 
must be, for a few kinds of birds “yes,” 
for the majority “no.” Closed seasons, 
established if we are to prevent the com- 
of from five to ten years, for the benefit 
of prairie chickens, quail, and other 
birds, have undoubtedly done much to 
restore the depleted numbers of the 
birds. But the majority of varieties 
have received too little protection. One 
of the worst features of most state game 
laws is the permission to shoot gome in 
the spring as well as in the fall. Mi¬ 
gratory birds—and this includes the vast 
majority of birds of the United States— 
come back to us in the spring after two 
long and difficult journeys, in the course 
of which they have been at the mercy of 
their numerous enemies all along the 
route. Great numbers of them have 
een destroyed, and only the more fortu¬ 
nate survivors make their way back 
again to the northern states. Upon 
the preservation of these depends the 
rearing of enough young birds during 
the summer to replenish the ranks of the 
individual kinds. Many of the birds are 
already mated when they arrive in our 
midst; if one of a pair is shot, the other 
in most cases does not mate, and is of 
no use in perpetuating the race as far as 
that season is concerned. Even aside 
from these considerations, spring shoot¬ 
ing should he abolished generally, be¬ 
cause it has been shown two open shoot¬ 
ing seasons are more than the birds can 
stand. The single long shooting season 
in the fall usually permitted is too 
much, and for many kinds of birds it 
should he reduced from two or more 
months to a few weeks at most. This is 
a matter of bird protection requiring 
careful study by experts. For some 
species of birds considerable shooting 
may perhaps he allowed without disad¬ 
vantage. For other species a closely 
limited season and a prescribed bag- 
limit for each gunner will have to be 
plete disappearance of the birds from 
this country. 
At all events it should be clear enough 
that in the United States today birds 
