The Portland daily press., 1896-03-21
DISAPPEARANCE OF NATIVE BIRDS.
Many Causes Uniting to Bring About their
Practical determination.
(From the Philadelphia Ledger

From the Philadelphia Ledger.
A lecture was given at the Academy O.
Natural Sciences Wednesday afternoon by
Mr.. Wilmer stone, Conservation of the
pathological section, on "The Protec-
ton and Preservation of Our Native
Birds"
Many causes, the speaker said, COM
bined to bring about the determination
of various species of birds besides the
warfare waged upon them by man. The
conditions necessary to their existence
were changing and some species were
| unable to adapt themselves to the change.
The clearing away of the forests and
settlement of the country had diminished
the number and exterminatsd many
species. The wild pigeons which, with
in the recollection of many Of the present
generation, darkened the sky with their
light, cannot now be found In focks
in any portion of the country. For the
last sixteen years there is record Of On
ly six wild pigeons being killed in this
State.
The common quail, or "Bob White"
Is becoming very scarce, and but for the
prote ctiOn afforded by the game laws,
and the vigilance of sportsmen who pros
ecute the violators of those laws, would
soon become extinct. The pheasant, or
ruffed grouse, once SO plentiful, is now
found only in uninha bited wilds, or
where they have been placed and protect
ed by sportsmen's clubs. The little wren
and bluebird, known and loved by the
Children of tho last generation, are now
seldom seen where sparrows are plenty.
The hnrlV nn0n1ninna foToinnor oar
here to stay the year round. He does not
migrate as the tiny soug birds do, but
takes possession of the bird boxes erected
for his musical kindred, and, when they
return in the spring, their homes are
gone; every hole in the trees and every
Granny where they used to nest has now
resident sparrow, and the little wab-
blers are driven back TO the woods, if
they can find any, to end their days.
The greatest destroyer Of Birds how
ever, Is fashion. About the year 1880 she
deoreed that complete birds should be
used to decorate the ladies hats. What
fashion DEGREES must, of necessity, be fol-
lowed. The smaller birds first became
ths victims of this cruel craze, and mil
lions upon millions were sacrificed to it.
Some species have been utterly extermi-
mated. The wholesale millinery firms
sent out collectors (taxidermists they
called themselyes), who established camps
about nesting time, when birds congre-
gate most and slaughtered them without
mercy, leaving their unfed young in the
nests to starve.
Some sections near home may be in
stanoed where this business was carried
on. Time was-only a few years back
when the graceful little terms were pIen-
tiful on our Atlantic beaches. Flocks of
these tiny gulls could be seen at the wat
er's edge, on the wave, and on the sand,
T.act lose, nr,I Nv Axir
poin t to another. They were bred in
grea mum bers on Brigantine Beach the
laid their eggs in the sand above high
tide. The 'taxidermists" came there in
1888. and in two or three years had killed
all the old birds, and now they have dis.
appeared. The same thing occurred at
Beach Haven. One New York dealer
had at one time in stock 80, 600 of thes C
little terms, and one gunner sent to that
market over 3, GOO of them in one year.
In the same way Florida has been de-
spoiled of her birds. In 1880 the eastern
coast of Florida swarmed with herons,
eight diff erent species Of them; the rose
ate ibis, brown pelicans, gulls, and small
Ter birds in clouds. In 1885,, after the
milliners' taxidermists had dopopulated
it, many of these birds could not be
found, and only an occasional pair of the
remaining species. Only the change of
fashion, which is inevitable. will save
the birds that are yet left US from utter
extinction. Scarcity has already driven
the lnilliners to the use Of the feathers of
domestic fowls, colored in all the hues
Of the rainbow
Collectors of BIRDS eggs are also re-
snonsi bic for the destruction of the bird
species Scientific societies cut but
small figure. Probably there are not
500, 600 specimens in all the collections
made in 100 years. Protection can only
l. -AIsx
and by protective legislation sustained
by game wardens; by a better under
standing of their practical value as in
scot destroyers, and the cultivation of a
love for birds in the rising generation.
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