868 
color, their song, their wonderful attainment of 
flight, of nest building and that especially mys¬ 
terious power that directs their movements, 
known as migration; the value of the life work 
of birds of all kinds, taken together, creating 
the balance wheel between insect life and vege¬ 
tation; the value of game as a food supply; the 
presence of game as an incentive to outdoor ex¬ 
ercise, which means better health and therefore 
better citizenship; the incentive to experience in 
camp life and the manipulation of guns that fits 
men cheaply in time of peace to become efficient 
soldiers quickly in time of war; the duty we 
owe of handing down to those who follow us 
at least some of the pleasures and benefits that 
have been preserved to us—are some of the rea¬ 
sons I see for the existence of game laws, and 
seeing it in this way, feel that this law means 
much to the Commonwealth, and that it is my 
duty, as the executive of the Game Commission, 
to give all the protection in my power to the 
game and wild birds of the Commonwealth, con¬ 
sidering also the spirit and intent of that law. 
I will not attempt in this paper, except in a 
limited way, to touch upon the aesthetic value 
of birds, or of the value of the life work of 
the birds, leaving that for another bulletin, but 
I want it understood that as the illustrations I 
may use show the value of the bird named, so 
each family of our birds has its specialty, each 
doing a particular work that no other family 
attempts to do, except to a limited extent. I 
do want it understood that anything I may say 
in this paper is said only in the hope that I 
may call to your mind conditions as they exist, 
and to impress upon the reader the need of help 
from him if our birds and game are to be pre¬ 
served. 
In the New York Legislature during the past 
winter a most strenuous battle was waged by 
those engaged in the sale of game, to strike from 
the statute books of that State all restrictions 
attempting in any manner to control this mat¬ 
ter, and to open the markets of New York to 
the sale of game killed anywhere in the world, 
and this meant not only birds classed by law as 
game, but anything that might be sold as game. 
Examination of the cold storage plants showed 
the presence of thousands upon thousands- .of 
little birds, such as the snowy bunting and 
others that were sold as game to satisfy the 
cravings for game of those who had the price 
to pay and demonstrated what some men will 
do for a dollar. 
In the same State a vigorous battle was 
fought at the same time by those engaged in 
the millinery trade for the right to sell the 
feathers of wild birds, the leading argument 
being that many girls and women, most of whom 
were aliens, were engaged in the preparation of 
these feathers for the market, and if this thing 
was stopped, these people would lose their em¬ 
ployment. No thought was given to the matter 
of how long the stock of game or wild birds 
could withstand the attacks made upon them for 
this purpose. No thought was given to the loss 
that would come to the many through the kill¬ 
ing of these birds. On the one side in this battle 
was found the individual who, regardless of the 
consequences to others, was looking for personal 
profit in dollars and cents that might come to 
him to-day. On the other side was 'found the 
one who, without hope of profit or personal re¬ 
ward, was striving to perpetuate and continue 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
the creatures that had helped to make this world 
beautiful to them, and that they hoped to con¬ 
tinue to those who might follow through the 
coming years. 
The Supreme Court of the United States has 
already ruled that game and wild birds belong to 
all the people, not as individuals, but instead in 
their collective capacity, and that through the 
Legislature the people could say what should be 
done, and what should not be done with the 
birds; also that where the benefits flowing from 
any cause, and especially game, to a limited 
number, came in conflict with the rights of the 
many, the benefit to the limited number must 
give place to the rights of the many. The 
Legislature of New York therefore said : Neither 
game nor wild bird feathers shall be sold in this 
State. Truly, there are many phases of this 
question that must be safeguarded if we hope 
to perpetuate our game and birds. What is the 
profit to the man who may shoot birds for sale 
or the pleasure of the one who may eat a bird, 
first having the price to pay, or the wages of 
the one working in bird feathers, or the pleasure 
of the one adorned with such feathers in com¬ 
parison with the value of the living birds to all 
the people? 
The Game Commission of Pennsylvania is 
composed of men of experience in hunting and 
in the business world, and each one is deeply 
interested in the conservation of our wild birds 
and game. They are giving of their time and 
money to further this work, for they do not in 
any manner receive pay for services rendered, 
or a return of the money necessary to pay even 
their expenses incurred in doing the work they 
are ca'led upon to do, so that the question of 
profit to them, through the success or failure of 
their efforts in a financial way, does not and 
cannot enter into the question. But it matters 
not who these men may be, what their knowl¬ 
edge of the work may be, or how energetically 
they may enter into the solution of the prob¬ 
lems presented to them. It is absolutely impos¬ 
sible for them to do the work assigned to them 
satisfactorily without the help of those of our 
citizens who are also interested in the same 
proposition, and this means every citizen of this 
Commonwealth; not on’y the man who goes 
hunting, but every man, woman and child in the 
State. 
Professor Surface, our State zoologist, says: 
“Birds are the great equalizers between insect 
life and vegetation,” and that in his opinion, 
“this world would not be inhabited by man in 
ten years if insects were permitted to increase 
unchecked.” And this opinion is entertained by 
every scientist who has given thought to the 
subject, and brings the matter down to you. 
Dr. Warren, one of our ex-State zoologists, 
says: “The great majority of young birds while 
in the nest are fed upon insect life, each one of 
them consuming daily an amount of animal food 
in the shape of insects, equal to and frequently 
exceeding its own weight.” 
Pennsylvania in round numbers has an area 
of 28.800,000 acres. At the rate of but one nest 
to the acre, each nest containing four young 
birds weighing one ounce each, only four ounces 
to the acre, it would require 3 600 tons of these 
forms of life to feed the young birds of our 
State for one day, and in addition the food con¬ 
sumed by the old birds during the same time. 
Say there is but a single bird to the acre and 
[Dec. 16, 1911. 
allow that bird but 100 bugs or insects each 
day, and they actually consume many times that 
number, and you will have the birds of the State 
destroying 2,880,000,000 injurious form of life 
besides the eggs of the same. Allow 200,000 of 
these forms to the bushel, and you will need 
14,400 bushels each day to feed the birds of 
our State alone. 
Think of what quantity in bushels would be 
destroyed if each bird consumed 200 or more 
of these forms, instead of 100, or what the re¬ 
sult would amount to if there happened to be 
ten or more birds to the acre instead of but one 
bird. 
No one attempts to say that our birds alone 
are responsible for the curbing of insect life, 
but every one who has to any degree studied 
the question, says: “Birds are great workers 
in this direction and are worthy of protection 
in every way possible.” 
Dr. Hornaday says: “Every one of the perch¬ 
ing birds is worth its weight in gold to- the 
farmer.” He says: “It will indeed be a sad 
day for the American agriculturist when the last 
insect-destroying bird is brought fluttering to 
the ground. Then if never before will he ap¬ 
preciate the value of the allies he has lost for¬ 
ever. Then, when it is too late, will he be 
willing to exchange any quantity of berries or 
cherries for just one pair of living robins, cat¬ 
birds or other birds, so despised and neglected 
to-day.” 
Dr. T. S. Palmer, assistant chief of the 
Biological Survey, whose duty it is to investi¬ 
gate and examine into the daily doings of birds 
from an economic standpoint, says: “Each 
family of our birds, almost without exception, 
is doing a work peculiar to itself, a special work 
that is of great value to the farmers and fruit 
growers of the Nation, and that entitles each 
family of birds to protection.” 
Without special consideration we do not begin 
to realize the possibilities of insect increase. 
Many species increase so rapidly as to astound 
even the one who calculates. U. S. Agricul¬ 
tural Bulletin No. 3, page 44, estimates it pos¬ 
sible for a single San Jose scale to become the 
ancestor of 3,216,080,400 of its kind in one sea¬ 
son. This increase may be exceptional, but it 
demonstrates the possibilities and dangers we 
are called upon to meet. If these calculations 
are correct, we can readily understand why this 
world would not be inhabitable by man in a few 
years if insect life were permitted to increase 
at will. 
The value of the life work of birds from an 
economic standpoint entitles almost every family 
of birds found in this State to some degree of 
protection, some of them to continuous protec¬ 
tion from one year’s end to the other, some of 
them, our game birds, to partial protection be¬ 
cause through their taking comes a value that 
cannot be expressed in words or figures and fhat 
far exceeds the value of their continuous life 
work as measured in dollars and cents. As 
an illustration of this take the value that comes 
to the hunter through recreation. 
Everywhere around us we see the erection of 
hospitals and sanitariums in which the ailing 
may be helped, and if possible made well. Mil¬ 
lions of dollars are semi-annually appropriated 
by the State for the building and maintenance 
of such institutions, while nothing, compara¬ 
tively speaking, is given to care for and increase 
