The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-02-01
FRANK &. HaEE, Eaitor aSd PubHshs
The Hunters Llesnso.

bush, the naturalist, gives one Of the
leading reasons for the hunters r.
Genss law recently enacted in this
state.
Many good people were Mortified
when they read the statement pub
lished in the press a year ago that
million robins were killed each year
by the Southern people Nevertheless
/ have no doubt that within recent
years million robins have been kill
ed annually In the north by our for
eign-born population and their chill
dren. A few figures may be needed
to convince the reader. The people
Of eastern and southern Europe are
largely bird killers; they shoot, trap
and net birds to eat, or for millinery
purposes. Game officers in this coun-
try frequently find Italians, Greeks,
and Slays with large bags OF small
birds A party of Greeks who had
lined up to drive the woods of New
Hampshire town were taken in the
act Such people go out in gangs and
use all sorts of means to evade the
officers. Robins, meadow larks, cuck-
COS, thrushes, bluebirds, swallows.
sparrows and all kinds of small birds
are taken Some of these people
work quietly with nets, snares and
bird lime.
The Metropolitan police arrested
two Italians near Boston several
years ago with bag full of birds Ia
ken with bird lime. A game warden
within ten miles of Boston found that
gang of contract laborers practic-
ally cleared the woods of all birds in
section of his town, leaving the
earth about their camps strewn with
feathers. Their chief game bird, the
robin, now has a market value of six
ty cents a dozen. Within a few miles
of the capital building Of one OF the
New England states six Polackers"
armed with pistols and small guns
loaded with fine shot sat under the
wild cherry trees one Saturday after
noon and early Sunday morning and
shot robins. The next day the heads
Of 105 robins were counted where the
women had plucked and dressed them
for the pot. These things are done
regularly and frequently. Immigrants
from northwestern Europe are not as
rule of the bird-killing class, but
great part of our immigration now
comes from southern and eastern hur-
ope. Taking foreign-born persons as
whole, it is safe to assume from our
| knowledge OF the hunting statistics
that three per cent. kill birds, and
It is within the bounds to say that
each bird killer will destroy fifty
birds per year. We need not reckon
the number of birds destroyed by their
children or by our native men and
boys. l have known a native boy TO
kill fifty small birds in day with
shotgun.
The census of 1900 enumerated s.,
921 ,270 foreign-born persons in the
more northern and eastern states
Three per cent of this number would
be 1867 foreign-bon bird hunters
and trappers in the north, with
out taking account of those in the
states of Nevada, Idaho and Washing
ton If each of these people kills but
fifty birds each year we have 1881
$50 birds killed in the northern and
eastern states, It Is certainly within
bounds to say that one million of
these birds would be their favorite
robins. The number OF immigrants
is constantly increasing, and the num-
Der OF birds killed by them would con
tinue to Increase were not our people
beginning to apply the remedy in the
shape OF a high license law for the
alien hunter and its supplemental and
necessary statute the license for the
resident hunter. Within few years
all the northern state will have such
laws upon their statute books, and
then and not until then shall we be
able to check this slaughter of the IN
! nncents