TES AUDUBON BULLETIN De 
of the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock there has followed the total ex- 
tinction of no less than six of our native species: The Great Auk, 
Eskimo Curlew, Passenger Pigeon, Labrador Duck, Pallas Cormorant, 
and Carolina Parrakeet, all with the possible exception of the Cor- 
morant exterminated by the hand of man. 
Four of these died because they made excellent eating or because their 
feathers made excellent beds. 
To this casualty list may be added the names of the Whooping-Crane, 
Sandhill Crane, Trumpeter Swan, American Flamingo, Scarlet Ibis, 
Hudsonian Godwit, Upland Plover, Willett, Black-Capped Petrel, Red 
Egret, Heath Hen, White-Tailed Kite, and Ivory Billed Woodpecker; 
thirteen birds so nearly extinct that some have not been recorded for 
several years. 
And there are also the Roseate Spoonbill, Long-Billed Curlew, Dow- 
witcher, Knot, Snowy Egret, Great White Heron, Wood-Duck, several 
species of hawk, and an owl or two, and a score of other birds, the sight 
of any one of which in its native haunts from its very rarity, now gives an 
ornithologist heart palpitations and thrills sufficient to last him a whole 
season. 
It is not an exaggeration to say that 10 per cent of the original species 
in the United States are now in a condition of virtual extinction, and 
fully 25 per cent of once-common birds may be relegated to the rare list. 
Our doves face the fate of extinction, as increasing numbers are ruth- 
lessly slaughtered each season by city hunters who find them easy prey. 
Such then, is the status of birds in the United States today; but even 
at that they are better off a hundred times than they were only twenty 
years ago, before avian protection and conservation as an actual practice 
gained a foothold in America. 
Conservation of its wild-life resources is now a policy of the United 
States government. School children are being taught the importance of 
bird life and states are passing laws for their protection and conservation. 
The National Association of Audubon societies and similar organizations 
and small Audubon societies are scattered thickly all over the country 
wherever there happen to be a number of bird lovers living in one com- 
munity. The object of these societies is not only to study birds, but 
locally and nationally to arouse public interest in them, to wage war 
against the human enemies of birds, and to seek legislation for their pro- 
tection. 
The annual insect damage to crops amounts to more than one billion 
dollars. It has been estimated by the National Biological Survey that 
each bird destroys insects to the value of 10 cents each season. With a 
population of four billion birds breeding in the United States their worth 
to the country in cash is $400,000,000, which should impress the minds 
of every one as to the importance of bird life to the nation and merit 
their wholehearted support of measures proposed for protection. The 
