The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-01-08
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The Passing Of American Birds.

The Passing Of American Birds.
The almost total extinction of the
larger wild animals of the United
States in so short time is circum-
stance without parallel in natural his
tory That they should gradually
vanish before advancing civilization is
thing to be expected, and fact Of
ten recorded in history. Thus we
read of Great Britain being infested
with wolves down to comparatively y
recent period until they were extermi-
mated in self-defence, and that her
woods were filed with great herds Of
deer until they were slain to meet the
wants of her increasing population,
but nowhere else do we read of SO
wanton and wasteful destruction of
useful animals as has taken place in
our Western States within the past
thirty years.
Pioneers who are not yet old men
tell that when they first lived in the
West they could look across the prai-
ries from their calm doors and see
countless numbers Of buffalo darkening
the face of the land, and that the
ground fairly shook beneath the thun-
der of their hoofs when the herds were
stampeded by some sudden fright.
But now the few buffalo that1are to be
found in geological gardens or in the
Government reserves at the Yellow
stone Park are the sole representatives
Of the species in our country. Moose,
elk and mountain sheep are still to be
found in remote parts of the West,
but it will not be long until they share
the fate of the bison. And yet SO
recent has been the determination Of
this big game, in many places in the
West, that the trails they made in
moving from one pasture to another
are still distinctly visible, sunken
several feet below the common surface
Of the ground.
Not only are these species Of big
American game dying out but many Of
our native birds are also disappearing.
The early colonists have left glowing
accounts. of thesmultitudes of brilliant
birds they found here in the primitive
forests, birds that delighted the eyes
Of the immigrants from Northern Eu-
rope by. their gay plumage and charm
ed their ears with their varied songs.
Afew Of these still remain, though in
much diminished numbers, but seve.
ral species Fave entirely disappeared
from our woods. Among the latter
may be noted. the parrots and paroquets
that were fofmerly seen in great flocks
in the Central States.and the Carolipas,
and ofwhich afeW still remained when
Aud ubon. wrote of, the "Birds Of
America These showed but little
fear Of man until the shotgun fright.
ened them from their accustomed
haunts and thiunedt their numbers.
As these are usually classed among
tropical birds it probable that they
only came so far north in midsummer,
butit is strange thatthey should never
be seen here at all now.
Long after the parrots and paroquets
had vanished .innumerable focks OF
wild pigeons dsrkened the skyan the
spring and autumn in their journeys
to- and from the warmer attitudes.
where they wintered As they slowly
treated before the increasing cold
they made many pause in those places
where acorns and other food was plen.
Itifulx filling the woods with their coo.
ling ands the whir of 'multitudiuous
wings. Dn their way. northward in
!ithe spring they stopped again long
enough to construct their rude nests
and to rear their young until the latter
were. sufficiently strongsto fol llowsthe
main body Of the flock in its further
flight. Many Of these Hpigeon roosts'
were of astonishing dimensions, One
at Petrosky, in Michigan, was twenty.
Ieight miles long and nearly four in
width, and it is said that from fifty tc
one hundred thousand pigeons were
annually slaughtered there by men
who made abusiness of shipping them
to, markets in other parts of the
country. These persons, who were
destitute of all the instincts of sports.
men, netted or shot the birds and even
killed them with sticks, neither sparine
the mother birds upon the nests mol
the young that had but just emerged
from the shell inztheir merciless mas
sacre. q
As the resultsofl this indiscriminate
slaughter the aocks grew smaller year
by year, and are now seldom seen al
all, or if any do pass they carefully
avoid their old haunts, instinctiyely
knowing the dangers awaiting them
there. In the name Pigeon SO otter
repeated in the names Of the valleys,
scoves and rivers of the Middle States
are the only traces now to be found OF
Ithe resting places Of the migratory
birds that were once so numerous.
Another species Of large and handsome
birds that is becoming quite rare is the
yscarlet-crested woodpecker. They used
to be found in every wood, Weakening
the echoes with the vigorous blows OF
their iron beaks, and giving touch OF
color to the green glades as they flashed
from tree to tree in search of their
food, These birds were about eighteen
inches in length, and they must have
had the strength of small trip-ham.
mer in the muscles of the neck if one
;cou!d Judge, by the noise they made.
Many Of the smaller species Of wood
,peckers have continued to hold their
own against the thinning of the woods
and the inerease of human h habitations.