FOREST AND STREAM 
545 
N response to complaints forth¬ 
coming from professional fish¬ 
ermen and sportsmen anglers 
as to the great inroads that the 
double-crested cormorant ( Pha- 
lacrocorax Auritus ) had been 
making on the salmon fisheries 
of the Gaspe coast, the Cana¬ 
dian government last summer dispatched several 
members of the Biological department of 
the Geological Survey to Gaspe county, 
Quebec, to investigate. The report is ex¬ 
tremely interesting to all who are con¬ 
cerned in the propagation and preservation of 
game species. The Canadian scientists found on 
their arrival at the scene of trouble that the 
cormorant was charged with all manner of dep¬ 
redations against the salmon, and that some of 
the salmon clubs with leased territories in that 
section had gone so far as to place bounties upon 
the heads of the supposed worst offenders, the 
schedule ranging from twenty-five cents per 
head for cormorants, shelldrakes, kingfishers 
and divers, to two dollars for a kingfisher’s 
nest with female birds. 
The Canadian scientists have given the cormo¬ 
rant a pretty clean bill of health, examination of 
the stomachs of numerous specimens having dis¬ 
closed the fact that few if any small salmon had 
been taken for food and that on the other hand 
the birds had been living on coarser fish and 
harmful water vermin. The truth was that the 
influence of the cormorant in the matter of seek¬ 
ing food ran scarcely beyond tidal influence, al¬ 
though it was not denied that birds of other spe¬ 
cies had found in these young salmon a succu¬ 
lent variety of daily nourishment. While the of¬ 
ficial report does not say so, it is plainly evident 
that the conclusion was that if the salmon is suf¬ 
fering from any specie of cormorant, that specie 
is of the human variety. 
Since the above was written, complaints have 
been made to the Dominion authorities of sense¬ 
less and brutal slaughter of water fowl in and 
around the mouth of the St- Lawrence. Canada 
has a strict law against shooting of useful non¬ 
food birds and there is every likelihood that an 
example will be made of flagrant offenders who 
seem to find satisfaction in killing off birds 
and all forms of wild life that do not come 
under the protection of game laws. The diffi¬ 
culty is that people do not thoroughly appre¬ 
ciate the balance which rature maintains in the 
matter of wild species and as misconceptions 
arise as to the part that some species play in 
nature, results are witnessed in the enactment 
of foolish laws offering bounties and bringing 
about not only an extravagant waste of public 
money, but the killing off of birds and beasts 
which do vastly more good than harm. 
Forest and Stream has been favored with the 
paper prepared by Mr. P. A. Tavener, who head¬ 
ed the Canadian scientific party. This paper 
will form one of the biological series issued by 
the Government, and we believe that nothing 
more valuable to the student of natural history, 
or the sportsman has ever been written. Partic- 
Innumerable examples can be cited where the 
disturbing of the balance of nature has resulted 
disastrously, in cases of both removing from 
and adding to a fauna. Under changed condi¬ 
tions, some of the most innocent seeming species 
have developed unsuspected harmful traits and 
others apparently the most worthless have been 
seriously missed when removed. The balance 
of nature is too delicately adjusted to warrant 
our interference, until after exhaustive investiga¬ 
tion and careful weighing of evidence pro and 
con. Even then, the problem is too complicated 
for any one to confidently prognosticate the final 
resultant conditions and a certain amount of doubt 
always remains until practical results test the 
conclusions. 
Leaving out the practical economic questions 
altogether, common humanity prompts us to de¬ 
stroy life only when necessary. Man having 
great power for good or evil in nature has con¬ 
sequently equally great responsibilities. It is not 
enough to prove that a species is “useless” to 
justify its persecution; it must be proven to be 
actively harmful before such a course is justi¬ 
fied, not in a slight degree, but in a manner that 
seriously threatens our welfare. Even then the 
edict of extermination or persecution should only 
be pronounced when all other remedies fail. The 
neglect of this responsibility invariably reacts 
upon our heads. Even should we not thereby 
destroy unrecognized friends, we foster a dis¬ 
regard for lower life amongst our people that 
is often evidenced by the slaughter of other 
harmless or beneficial species. Bounties upon 
destructive hawks such as the Goshawk, and 
Cooper’s Hawk have time and again been death 
warrants to Sparrow Hawks and others whose 
influence is decidedly and actively beneficial to 
the farmers and mankind in general. The plac¬ 
ing of shotguns in the hands of irresponsible 
persons at all seasons tends to nullify our game 
laws, valuable species suffer, and protective 
measures are made more difficult to enforce. 
As it is, the useless slaughter of non-game life 
that now goes on in certain parts of our country 
is deplorable. The sight of hundreds of dead 
and wounded gannets shot near Perce during the 
summer of 1913 for sport (?) and left to lie 
where they fell indicates not only a wanton and 
unnecessary waste of innocent life but a loose¬ 
ness of moral fiber among certain people that is 
a danger to the country at large and should be 
curbed. The attitude of our laws should instill 
ularly interesting are the portions dealing with 
the plans of nature and the evil effects of their 
disturbance.—E d. 
a wholesome regard for the rights of lower life 
and the taking of it uselessly should be discour¬ 
aged in every way possible. This does not 
mean that a sentimental quixotic stand should be 
taken. Whenever the end justifies it, no weak 
sentimentality should be allowed to stand in the 
way of human welfare; but the spirit of our 
laws and people should be such that no creature 
should be destroyed without a good, sufficient, 
and well considered reason. 
For a proper understanding of the principles 
to be considered before a species is condemned, 
the following points bearing upon the subject are 
advanced. The number of a species is depend¬ 
ent upon three main factors: food supply, ene¬ 
mies. and birth rate. In order of importance 
they vary with the species and the conditions, 
permanent and fluctuating, under which they live. 
For the purpose of the present paper, and as 
they relate to salmon vs. birds, the .above order 
of importance probably represents normal com¬ 
parative values. 
The birth rate being controlled within the spe¬ 
cies itself, through the influence of evolution, is 
flexible and can reasonably be supposed to have 
reached that stage, in any dominant or successful 
species, most profitable to it under existing ex¬ 
ternal conditions. It is, therefore, self-correct¬ 
ing and can be placed last in the list. 
Food supply is largely dependent upon condi¬ 
tions outside the species and without its control; 
inasmuch as food habits can be changed, within 
certain broad lines, they are flexible. 
The effect of enemies upon a species is compli¬ 
cated in results; the species preying and preyed 
upon re-acting on each other in various ways. In 
general, a species is seldom if ever absolutely ex¬ 
terminated by these means. As soon as a food an¬ 
imal becomes too scarce to be profitably hunted, 
its pursuit is neglected and thereafter only oc¬ 
casional or accidental individuals are taken. On 
the other hand, any marked increase of food an¬ 
imals is followed by an increased attention from 
their present enemies and an influx of new ones 
from adjoining territories. If reduction of food 
supply stopped when normality was reached the 
result would be comparatively simple, but, while 
the number of enemies in the locality is super¬ 
normal their food supply has at this stage been 
reduced to normal. Attention is eventually 
turned toward other food sources, but, as the 
enemy population is temporarily greater than the 
supporting powers of the habitat, it is unusually 
Disturbing the Balance of Nature 
A few Observations on the Artificial Propagation and Increase of Species 
By P. A. Tavener. 
