Wilson's Promontory. Adelaide, is a peninsula well suited to the preservation of wild life, especially birds, and it is now a sanctuary.

Many private bird refuges have been created in Australia.

TASMANIA:

Eleven Bird Refuges have been created, with a total area of 26,000 acres,—an excellent record for Tasmania!

Freycinet's Peninsula.—At present this wild-life sanctuary is not adequately protected from illicit hunting and trapping; but its full protection is now demanded, and no doubt this soon will be provided by the government. I am informed that this offers a golden opportunity to secure a fine wild-life sanctuary at ridiculously small cost to the public. The whole world is interested in the preservation of the remarkable fauna of Tasmania. The extermination of the thylacine would be a zoological calamity; but it is impending.

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CHAPTER XL

BREEDING GAME AND FUR IN CAPTIVITY

GAME BREEDING.—The breeding of game in captivity for sale in the markets of the world is just as legitimate as the breeding of domestic species. This applies equally to mammals, birds, reptiles and fishes. It is the duty of the nation and the state to foster such industries and facilitate the marketing of their products without any unnecessary formalities, delays or losses to producers or to purchasers.

Already this principle has been established in several states. Without going into the records, it is safe to say that Colorado was the pioneer in the so-called "more-game" movement, about 1899; but there is one person who would like to have the world believe that it started in the state of New York, about 1909. The idea is not quite as "old as the hills," but the application of it in the United States dates back through a considerable vista of years.

The laws of Colorado providing for the creation of private game preserves and the marketing of their product under a tagging system, are very elaborate, and they show a sincere desire to foster an industry as yet but slightly developed in this country. The laws of New York are much more simple and easy to understand than those of Colorado.

There is one important principle now fully recognized in the New York laws for game breeding that other states will do well to adopt. It is the fact that certain kinds of wild game can not be bred and reared in captivity on a commercial basis; and this being true, it is clearly against public policy to provide for the sale of any such species. Why provide for the sale of preserve-bred grouse and ducks which we know can not be bred and reared in confinement in marketable numbers? For example, if we may judge by the numerous experiments that thus far have been made,—as we certainly have a right to do,—no man can successfully breed and rear in captivity, on a commercial basis, the canvasback duck, teal, pintail duck, ruffed grouse or quail. This being the case, no amount of clamor from game dealers and their allies ever should induce any state legislature to provide for the sale of any of those species until it has been fully demonstrated that they have been and can be bred in captivity in large numbers. The moment the markets of a state are thrown open to these impossible species, from that moment the state game wardens must make a continuous struggle to prevent the importation and sale of those birds contrary to law. This proposition is so simple that every honest man can see it.

All that any state legislature may rightfully be asked to do is to provide for the sale, under tags, of those species which we know can be bred in captivity in large numbers.

When the Bayne law was drafted, its authors considered with the utmost care the possibilities in the breeding of game in the United States on a commercial basis. It was found that as yet only two wild native species have been, and can be, reared in captivity on a large scale. These are the white-tailed deer and mallard duck. Of foreign species we can breed successfully for market the fallow deer, red deer of Europe and some of the pheasants of the old world. For the rearing, killing and marketing of all these, the Bayne law provides the simplest processes of state supervision that the best game protectors and game breeders of New York could devise. The tagging system is expeditious, cheap and effective. Practically the only real concession that is required of the game-breeder concerns the killing, which must be done in a systematic way, whereby a state game warden can visit the breeder's premises and affix the tags without any serious sacrifice of time or convenience on either side. The tags cost the breeder five cents each, and they pay the cost of the services rendered by the state.

By this admirable system, which is very plainly set forth in the New York Conservation Commission's book of game laws, all the wild game of New York, and of every other state, is absolutely protected at all times against illegal killing and illegal importation for the New York market. Now, is it not the duty of Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas and every other state to return our compliment by passing similar laws? Massachusetts came up to public expectations at the next session of her legislature after the passage of our Bayne law. In 1913, California will try to secure a similar act; and we know full well that her ducks, geese, quail, grouse and band-tailed pigeon need it very much. If the California protectors of wild life succeed in arousing the great quiet mass of people in that state, their Bayne bill will be swept through their legislature on a tidal wave of popular sentiment.

Elk.—For people who own wild woodlands near large cities there are good profits to be made in rearing white-tailed deer for the market. I would also mention elk, but for the fact that every man who rears a fine herd of elk quickly becomes so proud of the animals, and so much attached to them, that he can not bear to have them shot and butchered for market! Elk are just as easy to breed and rear as domestic cattle, except that in the fall breeding season, the fighting of rival bulls demands careful and intelligent management. Concerning the possibilities of feeding elk on hay at $25 per ton and declaring an annual profit, I am not informed. If the elk require to be fed all the year round, the high price of hay and grain might easily render it impossible to produce marketable three-year-old animals at a profit.

White-tailed Deer.—Any one who owns from one hundred to one thousand acres of wild, brushy or forest-covered land can raise white-tailed (or Virginia) deer at a profit. With smaller areas of land, free range becomes impossible, and the prospects of commercial profits diminish and disappear. In any event, a fenced range is absolutely essential; and the best fence is the Page, 88 inches high, all horizontals of No. 9 wire, top and bottom wires of No. 7, and the perpendicular tie-wires of No. 12. This fence will hold deer, elk, bison and wild horses. In large enclosures, the white-tailed deer is hardy and prolific, and when fairly cooked its flesh is a great delicacy. In Vermont the average weights of the deer killed in that state in various years have been as follow:—in 1902, 171 lbs.; in 1903, 190 lbs.; in 1905, 198 lbs.; in 1906, 200 lbs.; in 1907, 196 lbs.; in 1908, 207 lbs.; and in 1909, 155 lbs. The reason for the great drop in 1909 is yet to be ascertained.

In 1910, in New York City the wholesale price of whole deer carcasses was from 22 to 25 cents per pound. Venison saddles were worth from 30 to 35 cents per pound. On the bill of fare of a first class hotel, a portion of venison costs from $1.50 to $2.50 according to the diner's location. It is probable that such prices as these will prevail only in the largest cities, and therefore they must not be regarded as general.

Live white-tailed deer can be purchased for breeding purposes at prices ranging from $25 to $35 each. A good eastern source of supply is Blue Mountain Forest, Mr. Austin Corbin, president (Broadway and Cortlandt St., New York). In the West, good stock can be procured from the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company, through C.V.R. Townsend, Negaunee, Mich., whose preserve occupies the whole of Grand Island, Lake Superior.

The Department of Agriculture has published for free distribution a pamphlet entitled "Raising Deer and Other Large Game Animals" in the United States, by David E. Lantz, which contains much valuable information, although it leaves much unsaid.

All breeders of deer are cautioned that during the fall and early winter months, all adult white-tailed bucks are dangerous to man, and should be treated accordingly. A measure of safety can be secured in a large park by compelling the deer always to keep at a respectful distance, and making no "pets," whatever. Whenever a buck finds his horns and loses his fear of man, climb the fence quickly. Bucks in the rutting season sometimes seem to go crazy, and often they attack men, wantonly and dangerously. The method of attack is to an unarmed man almost irresistible. The animal lowers his head, stiffens his neck and with terrible force drives straight forward for your stomach and bowels. Usually there are eight sharp spears of bone to impale you. The best defense of an unarmed man is to seize the left antler with the left hand, and with the right hand pull the deer's right front foot from under him. Merely holding to the horns makes great sport for the deer. He loves that unequal combat. The great desideratum is to put his fore legs out of commission, and get him down on his knees.

Does are sometimes dangerous, and inflict serious damage by rising on their hind feet and viciously striking with their sharp front hoofs. These tendencies in American deer are mentioned here as a duty to persons who may desire to breed deer for profit.

The Red Deer of Europe.—Anyone who has plenty of natural forest food for deer and a good market within fair range, may find the European red deer a desirable species. It is of size smaller, and more easily managed, than the wapiti; and is more easily marketed because of its smaller size. As a species it is hardy and prolific, and of course its venison is as good as that of any other deer. Live specimens for stocking purposes can be purchased of S.A. Stephan, Agent for Carl Hagenbeck, Cincinnati Zoological Gardens, or of Wenz & Mackensen, Yardley, Pa., at prices ranging from $60 to $100 each, according to size and age. At present the supply of specimens in this country on hand for sale is very small.

The Fallow Deer.—This species is the most universal park deer of Europe. It seems to be invulnerable to neglect and misuse, for it has persisted through countless generations of breeding in captivity, and the abuse of all nations. In size it is a trifle smaller than our white-tailed deer, with spots in summer, and horns that are widely flattened at the extremities in a very interesting way. It is very hardy and prolific, but of course it can not stand everything that could be put upon it. It needs a dry shed in winter, red clover hay and crushed oats for winter food; and no deer should be kept in mud. As a commercial proposition it is not so meaty as the white-tail, but it is less troublesome to keep. The adult males are not such vicious or dangerous fighters as white-tail bucks. Live specimens are worth from $50 to $75. The Essex County Park Commissioners (Orange, New Jersey) have had excellent success with this species. In 1906 they purchased twenty-five does and four bucks and placed them in an enclosure of 150 acres, on a wooded mountain-side. In 1912 they had 150 deer, and were obliged to take measures for a disposal of the surplus. Messrs. Wenz & Mackensen, keep an almost continuous supply of fallow deer on hand for sale.

The Indian Sambar Deer.—I have long advocated the introduction in the southern states, wherever deer can be protected, of this great, hulking, animated venison-factory. While I have not delved deeply into the subject of weight and growth, I feel sure from casual observations of the growth of about twenty-five animals that this species produces more venison during the first two years of its life than any other deer with which I am acquainted. I regard it as the greatest venison-producer of the whole Deer Family; and I know that is a large order. The size of a yearling is almost absurd, it is so great for an animal of tender years. When adult, the species is for its height very large and heavy. As a food-producing animal, located in the southern hill forests and taking care of itself, "there's millions in it!" But it must be kept under fence; for in no southern (or northern) state would any such mass of juicy wild meat long be permitted to roam at large unkilled. Through this species I believe that a million acres of southern timber lands, now useless except for timber growth, could be made very productive in choice venison. The price would be,—a good fence, and protection from poachers.

The Indian sambar deer looks like a short-legged big-bodied understudy of our American elk. It breeds well in captivity, and it is of quiet and tractable disposition. It can not live in a country where the temperature goes down to 25 degrees F. and remains there for long periods. It would, I am firmly convinced, do well all along the Gulf coast, and if acclimatized along the Gulf, with the lapse of time and generations it would become more and more hardy, grow more hair, and push its way northward, until it reached the latitude of Tennessee. But then, in a wild state it could not be protected from poachers. As stated elsewhere, Dr. Ray V. Pierce has successfully acclimatized and bred this species in his St. Vincent Island game preserve, near Apalachicola, Florida. More than that, the species has crossed with the white-tailed deer of the Island.

Living specimen of the Indian Sambar deer are worth from $125 to $250, according to size and other conditions. Just at present it seems difficult for Americans to procure a sufficient number of males! We have had very bad luck with several males that we attempted to import for breeding purposes.

The Mallard Duck.—A great many persons have made persistent attempts to breed the canvasback, redhead, mallard, black duck, pintail, teal and other species, on a commercial basis. So far as I am aware the mallard is the only wild duck that has been bred in sufficient numbers to slaughter for the markets. The wood duck and mandarin can be bred in fair numbers, but only sufficient to supply the demand for living birds, for park purposes. One would naturally suppose that a species as closely allied to the mallard as the black duck is known to be, would breed like the mallard; but the black duck is so timid and nervous about nesting as to be almost worthless in captivity. All the species named above, except the mallard, must at present, and in general, be regarded as failures in breeding for the market.

Of all American ducks the common mallard is the most persistent and successful breeder. It quickly becomes accustomed to captivity, it enjoys park life, and when given even half a chance it will breed and rear its young.

Unquestionably, the mallard duck can be reared in captivity in numbers limited only by the extent of breeder's facilities. The amount of net profit that can be realized depends wholly upon the business acumen and judgment displayed in the management of the flock. The total amount of knowledge necessary to success is not so very great, but at the same time, the exercise of a fair amount of intelligence, and also careful diligence, is absolutely necessary. Naturally the care and food of the flock must not cost extravagantly, or the profits will inevitably disappear.

As a contribution to the cause of game-breeding for the market, and the creation of a new industry of value, Mr. L.S. Crandall and the author wrote for the New York State Conservation Commission a pamphlet on "Breeding Mallard Ducks for Market." Copies of it can be procured of our State Conservation Commission at Albany, by enclosing ten cents in stamps.

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BREEDING FUR-BEARING ANIMALS

When hundreds of persons wrote to me asking for literature on the breeding of fur-bearing animals for profit, for ten years I was compelled to tell them that there was no such literature. During the past three years a few offerings have been made, and I lose not a moment in listing them here.

"Life Histories of Northern Animals", by Ernest T. Seton (Charles Scribner's Sons, 2 volumes, $18), contains carefully written and valuable chapters on fox farming, skunk farming, marten farming, and mink farming, and other valuable life histories of the fur-bearing animals of North America.

Rod and Gun in Canada, a magazine for sportsmen published by W.J. Taylor, Woodstock, Ontario, contained in 1912 a series of articles on "The Culture of Black and Silver Foxes," by R.B. and L.V. Croft. Country Life in America has published a number of illustrated articles on fox and skunk farming.

With its usual enterprise and forethought, the Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture has published a valuable pamphlet of 22 pages on "Silver Fox Farming," by Wilfred H. Osgood, copies of which can be procured by addressing the Secretary of Agriculture. In consulting that contribution, however, it must be borne in mind that just now, in fox farming, history is being made more rapidly than heretofore.

I do not mean to say that the above are the only sources of information on fur-farming for profit, but they are the ones that have most impressed me. The files of all the journals and magazines for sportsmen contain numerous articles on this subject, and they should be carefully consulted.

BLACK-FOX FARMING.—The ridiculous prices now being paid in London for the skins of black or "silver" foxes has created in this country a small furore over the breeding of that color-phase of the red fox. The prices that actually have been obtained, both for skins and for live animals for breeding purposes, have a strong tendency to make people crazy. Fancy paying $12,000 in real money for one pair of live black foxes! That has been done, on Prince Edward Island, and $10,000 per pair is now regarded as a bargain-counter figure.

On Prince Edward Island, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, black-fox breeding has been going on for ten years, and is now on a successful basis. One man has made a fortune in the business, and it is rumored that a stock company is considering the purchase of his ten-acre fox ranch at a fabulous figure. The enormous prices obtainable for live black foxes, male or female, make diamonds and rubies seem cheap and commonplace; and it is no wonder that enterprising men are tempted to enter that industry.

The price of a black fox is one of the wonders of a recklessly extravagant and whimsical age. All the fur-wearing world knows very well that fox fur is one of the poorest of furs to withstand the wear and tear of actual use. About two seasons' hard wear are enough to put the best fox skin on the wane, and three or four can be guaranteed to throw it into the discard. Even the finest black fox skin is nothing superlatively beautiful! A choice "cross" fox skin costing only $50 is far more beautiful, as a color proposition; but London joyously pays $2,500 or $3,000 for a single black-fox skin, to wear!

Of course, all such fads as this are as ephemeral as the butterflies of summer. The Russo-Japanese war quickly reduced the value of Alaskan blue foxes from $30 to $18; and away went the Alaskan fox farms! A similar twist of Fortune's fickle wheel may in any year send the black fox out of royal favor, and remove the bottom from the business of producing it. Let us hope, however, that the craze for that fur will continue; for we like to see our friends and neighbors make good profits.

PHEASANT REARING.—This subject is so well understood by game-breeders, and there is already so much good literature available regarding it, it is not necessary that I should take it up here.

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CHAPTER XLI

TEACHING WILD LIFE PROTECTION TO THE YOUNG

Thousands of busy and burdened men and women are to-day striving hard, early and late, to promote measures that will preserve the valuable wild life of the world. They desire to leave to the boys and girls of tomorrow a good showing of the marvelous bird and animal forms that make the world beautiful and interesting. They are acting on the principle that the wild life of to-day is not ours, to destroy or to keep as we choose, but has been given to us in trust, partly for our benefit and partly for those who come after us and audit our accounts. They believe that we have no right to squander and destroy a wild-life heritage of priceless value which we have done nothing to create, and which is not ours to destroy.

DUTY OF PARENTS.—This being the case, it is very necessary that the young people of to-day should be taught, early and often, the virtue and the necessity of wild-life protection. There is no reason that the boy of to-day should not take up his share of the common burden, just as soon as he is old enough to wander alone through the woods. Let him be taught in precise terms that he must not rob birds' nests, and that he must not shoot song-birds, woodpeckers and kingfishers with a 22-calibre rifle, or any other gun. At this moment there lies upon my side table a vicious little 22-calibre rifle that was taken from two boys who were camping in the woods of Connecticut, and amusing themselves by shooting valuable insectivorous birds. Now those boys were not wholly to blame for what they were doing; but their fathers and mothers were very much to blame! They should have been taught at the parental knee that it is very wrong to kill any bird except a genuine game bird, and then only in the lawful open season. Those two fathers paid $10 each for having failed in their duty; and it served them right; for they were the real culprits.

Small-calibre rifles are becoming alarmingly common in the hands of boys. Parents must do their duty in the training of their boys against bird-shooting! It is a very serious matter. A million boys who roam the fields with small rifles without having been instructed in protection, can destroy an appalling number of valuable birds in the course of a year. Some parents are so slavishly devoted to their children that they wish them to do everything they please, and be checked in nothing. Such parents constitute one of the pests of society, and a drag upon the happiness of their own children! It is now the bounden duty of each parent to teach each one of his or her children that the time has come when the resources of nature, and especially wild life, must be conserved. To permit boys to grow up and acquire guns without this knowledge is very wrong.

THE DUTY OF TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS.—A great deal of "nature study" is being taught in the public schools of the United States. That the young people of our land should be taught to appreciate the works of nature, and especially animal life and plant life, is very desirable. Thus far, however, there is a screw loose in the system, and that is the shortage in definite, positive instruction regarding individual duty toward the wild creatures, great and small. Along with their nature studies all our school children should be taught, in the imperative mood:

1. That it is wrong to disturb breeding birds, or rob birds' nests;

2. That it is wrong to destroy any harmless living creature not properly classed as game, except it be to preserve it in a museum;

3. That it is no longer right for civilized man to look upon wild game as necessary food; because there is plenty of other food, and the remnant of game can not withstand slaughter in that basis;

4. That the time has come when it is the duty of every good citizen to take an active, aggressive part in preventing the destruction of wild life, and in promoting its preservation;

5. That every boy and girl over twelve years of age can do something in this cause, and finally,

6. That protection and encouragement will bring back the almost vanished birds.

We call upon all boards of education, all principals of schools and all teachers to educate our boys and girls, constantly and imperatively, along those lines. Teachers, do not say to your pupils,—"It is right and nice to protect birds," but say:—"It is your Duty to protect all harmless wild things, and you must do it!"

In a good cause, there is great virtue in "Must."

Really, we are losing each year an immense amount of available wild-life protection. The doctrine of imperative individual duty never yet has been taught in our schools as it should be taught. A few teachers have, indeed, covered this ground; but I am convinced that their proportion is mighty small.

TEXT BOOKS.—The writers of the nature study text books are very much to blame because nine-tenths of the time this subject has been ignored. The situation has not been taken seriously, save in a few cases, by a very few authors. I am glad to report that in 1912 there was published a fine text book by Professor James W. Peabody, of the Morris High School, New York, and Dr. Arthur E. Hunt, in which from beginning to end the duty to protect wild life is strongly insisted upon. It is entitled "Elementary Biology; Plants, Animals and Man."

Hereafter, no zoological or nature study text book should be given a place in any school in America unless the author of it has done his full share in setting forth the duty of the young citizen toward wild life. Were I a member of a board of education I would seek to establish and enforce this requirement. To-day, any author who will presume to write a text book of nature study or zoology without knowing and doing his duty toward our vanishing fauna, is too ignorant of wild life and too careless of his duty toward it, to be accepted as a safe guide for the young. The time for criminal indifference has gone by. Hereafter, every one who is not for the preservation of wild life is against it and it is time to separate the sheep from the goats.

From this time forth, the preservation of our fauna should be regarded as a subject on which every candidate for a teacher's certificate should undergo an examination before receiving authority to teach in a public school. The candidate should be required to know why the preservation of birds is necessary; why the slaughter of wild life is wrong and criminal; the extent to which wild birds and mammals return to us and thrive under protection; why wild game is no longer a legitimate food supply; why wild game should not be sold, and why the feathers of wild birds (other than game birds) never should be used as millinery ornaments.

As sensible Americans, and somewhat boastful of our intelligence, we should put the education of the young in wild-life protection on a rational business basis.

STATE EFFORTS.—In several of our states, systematic efforts to educate children in their duty toward wild life are already being made. To this end, an annual "Bird Day" has been established for state-wide observance. This splendid idea is now legally in force in the following states:

California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Bird Day is also more or less regularly observed, though not legally provided for, in New York, Indiana, Colorado and Alabama, and locally in some cities of Pennsylvania. Usually the observance of the day is combined with that of Arbor Day, and the date is fixed by proclamation of the Governor.

Alabama and Wisconsin regularly issue elaborate and beautiful Arbor and Bird Day annuals; and Illinois, and possibly other states, have issued very good publications of this character.

THE PHILLIPS EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR THE BIRDS.—Quite recently there has come under my notice an episode in the education of school children that has given the public profound satisfaction. I cite it here as an object lesson for pan-America.

In Carrick, Pennsylvania, just across the Monongahela River from the city of Pittsburgh, lives John M. Phillips, State Game Commissioner, nature-lover, sportsman and friend of man. He is a man who does things, and gets results. Goat Mountain Park (450 square miles), in British Columbia, to-day owes its existence to him, for without his initiative and labor it would not have been established. It was the first game preserve of British Columbia.

Three years ago, Mr. Phillips became deeply impressed by the idea that one of the best ways in the world to protect the wild life, both of to-day and the future, would be in teaching school children to love it and protect it. His fertile brain and open check-book soon devised a method for his home city. His theory was that by giving the children something to do, not only in protecting but in actually bringing back the birds, much might be accomplished.



In studying the subject of bringing back the birds, he found that the Russian mulberry is one of the finest trees in the world as a purveyor of good fruit for many kinds of birds. The tree does not much resemble our native mulberry, but is equally beautiful and interesting. "The fruit is not a long berry, nor is it of a purple color, but it grows from buds on the limbs and twigs something after the manner of the pussy-willow. It is smaller, of light color and has a very distinct flavor. The most striking peculiarity about the fruit is that it keeps on ripening during two months or more, new berries appearing daily while others are ripening. This is why it is such good bird food. Nor is it half bad for folks, for the berries are good to look at and to eat, either with cream or without, and to make pies that will set any sane boy's mouth a-watering at sight."—(Erasmus Wilson).

Everyone knows the value of sweet cherries, both to birds and to children.

Mr. Phillips decided that he would give away several hundred bird boxes, and also several hundred sweet cherry and Russian mulberry trees. The first gift distribution was made in the early spring of 1909. Another followed in 1910, but the last one was the most notable.

On April 11, 1912, Carrick had a great and glorious Bird Day. Mr. Phillips was the author of it, and Governor Tener the finisher. On that day occurred the third annual gift distribution of raw materials designed to promote in the breasts of 2,000 children a love for birds and an active desire to protect and increase them. Mr. Phillips gave away 500 bird boxes, 500 sweet cherry trees and 200 mulberry trees. The sun shone brightly, 500 flags waved in Carrick, the Governor made one of the best speeches of his life, and Erasmus Wilson, faithful friend of the birds, wrote this good story of the occasion for the Gazette-Times of Pittsburgh:

The Governor was there, and the children, the bird-boxes, and the young trees. And was there ever a brighter or more fitting day for a children and bird jubilee! The scene was so inspiring that Gov. Tener made one of the best speeches of his life.

The distribution of several hundred cherry and mulberry trees was the occasion, and the beautiful grounds of the Roosevelt school, Carrick, was the scene.

Mr. John M. Phillips, sane sportsman and enthusiastic friend of the birds, has been looking forward to this as the culmination of a scheme he has been working on for years, and he was more than pleased with the outcome. The intense delight it afforded him more than repaid him for all it has cost in all the years past.

But it was impossible to tell who were the more delighted,—he, or the Governor, or the children, or the visitors who were so fortunate as to be present. County Superintendent of Schools Samuel Hamilton was simply a mass of delight. And how could he be otherwise, surrounded as he was by 2,000 and more children fairly quivering with delight?

Children will care for and defend things that are their very own, fight for them and stand guard over them. Realizing this Mr. Phillips undertook to show them how they could have birds all their own. Being clever in devising schemes for achieving things most to be desired, he began giving out bird-boxes to those who would agree to put them up, and to watch and defend the birds when they came to make their homes with them. And he found that no more faithful sentinel ever stood on guard than the boy who had a bird-house all his own.

Here was the solution to the vexed problem. Provide boxes for those who would agree to put them up, care for the birds, and study their habits and needs. The children agreed at once, and the birds did not object, so Mr. Phillips had some hundreds, four or five, blue-bird and wren boxes constructed during the past winter. These were passed out some weeks ago to any boys or girls who would present an order signed by their parents, and countersigned by the principal of the school.

He knows enough about a boy to know that he does not prize the things that come without effort, nor will he become deeply interested in anything for which he is not held more or less responsible. Hence the advantage in having him write an order, have it indorsed by his parents, and vouched for by his school principal.

That he had struck the right scheme was proven by the avidity with which the girls and boys rushed for the boxes. The fact that a heavy rain was falling did not dampen their ardor for a moment, nor did the fact that they were tramping Mr. Phillips' beautiful lawn into a field of mud.

Mr. Phillips, seeing the necessity of providing food for the prospective hosts of birds, and wishing to place the responsibility on the boys and girls, offered to provide a cherry tree or mulberry tree for every box erected, provided they should be properly planted and diligently cared for.

This was practically the culmination of the most unique bird scheme ever attempted, and yesterday was the day set apart for the distribution of these hundreds of fruit trees, the products of which are to be divided share and share alike with the birds.

Nowhere else has such a scheme been attempted, and never before has there been just such a day of jubilee. The intense interest manifested by the children, and the earnest enthusiasm manifested, leaves no doubt about their carrying out their part of the contract.



Up to date (1912) Mr. Phillips has given away about 1,000 bird boxes, 1,500 cherry and Russian mulberry trees, and transformed the schools of Carrick into seething masses of children militantly enthusiastic in the protection of birds, and in providing them with homes and food. As a final coup, Mr. Phillips has induced the city of Pittsburgh to create the office of City Ornithologist, at a salary of $1200 per year. The duty of the new officer is to protect all birds in the city from all kinds of molestation, especially when nesting; to erect bird-houses, provide food for wild birds, on a large scale, and report annually upon the increase or decrease of feathered residents and visitors. Mr. Frederic S. Webster, long known as a naturalist and practical ornithologist, has been appointed to the position, and is now on active duty.

So far as we are aware, Pittsburgh is the first city to create the office of City Ornithologist. It is a happy thought; it will yield good results, and other cities will follow Pittsburgh's good example.

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CHAPTER XLII

THE ETHICS OF SPORTSMANSHIP

I count it as rather strange that American and English sportsmen have hunted and shot for a century, and until 1908 formulated practically nothing to establish and define the ethics of shooting game. Here and there, a few unwritten principles have been evolved, and have become fixed by common consent; but the total number of these is very few. Perhaps this has been for the reason that every free and independent sportsman prefers to be a law unto himself. Is it not doubly strange, however, that even down to the present year the term "sportsmen" never has been defined by a sportsman!

Forty years ago, a sportsman might have been defined, according to the standards of that period, as a man who hunts wild game for pleasure. Those were the days wherein no one foresaw the wholesale annihilation of species, and there were no wilderness game preserves. In those days, gentlemen shot female hoofed game, trapped bears if they felt like it, killed ten times as much big game as they could use, and no one made any fuss whatever about the waste or extermination of wild life.

Those were the days of ox-teams and broad-axes. To-day, we are living in a totally different world,—a world of grinding, crunching, pulverizing progress, a world of annihilation of the works of Nature. And what is a sportsman to-day?

A SPORTSMAN is a man who loves Nature, and who in the enjoyment of the outdoor life and exploration takes a reasonable toll of Nature's wild animals, but not for commercial profit, and only so long as his hunting does not promote the extermination of species.

In view of the disappearance of wild life all over the habitable globe, and the steady extermination of species, the ethics of sportsmanship has become a matter of tremendous importance. If a man can shoot the last living Burchell zebra, or prong-horned antelope, and be a sportsman and a gentleman, then we may just as well drop down all bars, and say no more about the ethics of shooting game.

But the real gentlemen-sportsmen of the world are not insensible to the duties of the hour in regard to the taking or not taking of game. The time has come when canon laws should be laid down, of world-wide application, and so thoroughly accepted and promulgated that their binding force can not be ignored. Among other things, it is time for a list of species to be published which no man claiming to be either a gentleman or a sportsman can shoot for aught else than preservation in a public museum. Of course, this list would be composed of the species that are threatened with extermination. Of American animals it should include the prong-horned antelope, Mexican mountain sheep, all the mountain sheep and goats in the United States, the California grizzly bear, mule deer, West Indian seal and California elephant seal and walrus.

In Africa that list should include the eland, white rhinoceros, blessbok, bontebok, kudu, giraffes and southern elephants, sable antelope, rhinoceros south of the Zambesi, leucoryx antelope and whale-headed stork. In Asia it should include the great Indian rhinoceros and its allied species, the burrhel, the Nilgiri tahr and the gayal. The David deer of Manchuria already is extinct in a wild state.

In Australia the interdiction should include the thylacine or Tasmanian wolf, all the large kangaroos, the emu, lyre bird and the mallee-bird.

Think what it would mean to the species named above if all the sportsmen of the world would unite in their defense, both actively and passively! It would be to those species a modus vivendi worth while.

Prior to 1908, no effort (so far as we are aware) ever had been made to promote the establishment of a comprehensive and up-to-date code of ethics for sportsmen who shoot. A few clubs of men who are hunters of big game had expressed in their constitutions a few brief principles for the purpose of standardizing their own respective memberships, but that was all. I have not taken pains to make a general canvass of sportsmen's clubs to ascertain what rules have been laid down by any large number of organizations.

The Boone and Crockett Club, of New York and Washington, had in its constitution the following excellent article:

"Article X. The use of steel traps, the making of large bags, the killing of game while swimming in water, or helpless in deep snow, and the unnecessary killing of females or young of any species of ruminant, shall be deemed offenses. Any member who shall commit such offenses may be suspended, or expelled from the Club by unanimous vote of the Executive Committee."

In 1906, this Club condemned the use of automatic shotguns in hunting as unsportsmanlike.

The Lewis and Clark Club, of Pittsburgh, has in its constitution, as Section 3 of Article 3, the following comprehensive principle:

"The term 'legitimate sport' means not only the observance of local laws, but excludes all methods of taking game other than by fair stalking or still hunting."

At the end of the constitution of this club is this declaration, and admonition:

"Purchase and sale of Trophies.—As the purchase of heads and horns establishes a market value, and encourages Indians and others to "shoot for sale," often in violation of local laws and always to the detriment of the protection of game for legitimate sport, the Lewis and Clark Club condemns the purchase or the sale of the heads or horns of any game."

In 1906 the Lewis and Clark Club condemned the use of automatic shotguns as unsportsmanlike.

The Shikar Club, of London, a club which contains all the big-game hunters of the nobility and gentry of England,[Q] and of which His Majesty King George is Honorary President, has declared the leading feature of its "Objects" in the following terms:

"To maintain the standard of sportsmanship. It is not squandered bullets and swollen bags which appeal to us. The test is rather in a love of forest, mountains and desert; in acquired knowledge of the habits of animals; in the strenuous pursuit of a wary and dangerous quarry; in the instinct for a well-devised approach to a fair shooting distance; and in the patient retrieve of a wounded animal."

[Footnote Q: This organization contains in its list of members the most distinguished names in the modern annals of British sport and exploration. Its honorary membership, of eight persons, contains the names of three Americans: Theodore Roosevelt, Madison Grant and W.T. Hornaday; and of this fact at least one person is extremely proud!]

In 1908 the Camp-Fire Club of America formally adopted, as its code of ethics, the "Sportsman's Platform" of fifteen articles that was prepared by the writer and placed before the sportsmen of America, Great Britain and her colonial dependencies in that year. In the book of the Club it regularly appears as follows:

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CODE OF ETHICS OF THE CAMP-FIRE CLUB OF AMERICA Proposed by Wm. T. Hornaday and adopted December 10, 1908

1. The wild animal life of to-day is not ours, to do with as we please. The original stock is given to us in trust, for the benefit both of the present and the future. We must render an accounting of this trust to those who come after us.

2. Judging from the rate at which the wild creatures of North America are now being destroyed, fifty years hence there will be no large game left in the United States nor in Canada, outside of rigidly protected game preserves. It is therefore the duty of every good citizen to promote the protection of forests and wild life and the creation of game preserves, while a supply of game remains. Every man who finds pleasure in hunting or fishing should be willing to spend both time and money in active work for the protection of forests, fish and game.

3. The sale of game is incompatible with the perpetual preservation of a proper stock of game; therefore it should be prohibited by laws and by public sentiment.

4. In the settled and civilized regions of North America there is no real necessity for the consumption of wild game as human food: nor is there any good excuse for the sale of game for food purposes. The maintenance of hired laborers on wild game should be prohibited everywhere, under severe penalties.

5. An Indian has no more right to kill wild game, or to subsist upon it all the year round, than any white man in the same locality. The Indian has no inherent or God-given ownership of the game of North America, anymore than of its mineral resources; and he should be governed by the same game laws as white men.

6. No man can be a good citizen and also be a slaughterer of game or fishes beyond the narrow limits compatible with high-class sportsmanship.

7. A game-butcher or a market-hunter is an undesirable citizen, and should be treated as such.

8. The highest purpose which the killing of wild game and game fishes can hereafter be made to serve is in furnishing objects to overworked men for tramping and camping trips in the wilds; and the value of wild game as human food should no longer be regarded as an important factor in its pursuit.

9. If rightly conserved, wild game constitutes a valuable asset to any country which possesses it; and it is good statesmanship to protect it.

10. An ideal hunting trip consists of a good comrade, fine country, and a very few trophies per hunter.

11. In an ideal hunting trip, the death of the game is only an incident; and by no means is it really necessary to a successful outing.

12. The best hunter is the man who finds the most game, kills the least, and leaves behind him no wounded animals.

13. The killing of an animal means the end of its most interesting period. When the country is fine, pursuit is more interesting than possession.

14. The killing of a female hoofed animal, save for special preservation, is to be regarded as incompatible with the highest sportsmanship; and it should everywhere be prohibited by stringent laws.

15. A particularly fine photograph of a large wild animal in its haunts is entitled to more credit than the dead trophy of a similar animal. An animal that has been photographed never should be killed, unless previously wounded in the chase.

This platform has been adopted as a code of ethics by the following organizations, besides the Camp-Fire Club of America:

The Lewis and Clark Club, of Pittsburgh, John M. Phillips, President.

The North American Fish and Game Protective Association (International)

Massachusetts Fish and Game Protective Association, Boston.

Camp-Fire Club of Michigan, Detroit.

Rod and Gun Club, Sheridan County, Wyoming.

The platform has been endorsed and published by The Society for the Preservation of the Wild Fauna of the British Empire (London), which is an endorsement of far-reaching importance.

Major J. Stevenson-Hamilton, C.M.Z.S., Warden of the Government Game Reserves of the Transvaal, South Africa, has adopted the platform and given it the most effective endorsement that it has received from any single individual. In his great work on game protection in Africa and wild-animal lore, entitled "Animal Life in Africa" (and "very highly commended" by the Committee on Literary Honors of the Camp-Fire Club), he publishes the entire platform, with a depth and cordiality of endorsement that is bound to warm the heart of every man who believes in the principles laid down in that document. He says, "It should be printed on the back of every license that is issued for hunting in Africa."

I am profoundly impressed by the fact that it is high time for sportsmen all over the world to take to heart the vital necessity of adopting high and clearly defined codes of ethics, to suit the needs of the present hour. The days of game abundance, and the careless treatment of wild life have gone by, never to return.

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CHAPTER XLIII

THE DUTY OF AMERICAN ZOOLOGISTS AND EDUCATORS TO AMERICAN WILD LIFE

The publication of this chapter will hardly be regarded as a bid for fame, or even popularity, on the part of the author. However, the subject can not be ignored simply because it is disagreeable.

Throughout sixty years, to go no further back, the people of America have been witnessing the strange spectacle of American zoologists, as a mass, so intent upon the academic study of our continental fauna that they seem not to have cared a continental about the destruction of that fauna.

During that tragic period twelve species of North American birds have been totally exterminated, twenty-three are almost exterminated, and the mammals have fared very badly.

If "by their works ye shall know them," then no man can say that the men referred to have been conspicuous on the firing line in defense of assaulted wild life. In their hearts, we know that in an academic way the naturalists of America do care about wild-life slaughter, and the extermination of species; and we also know that perhaps fifty American zoologists have at times taken an active and serious interest in protection work.

I am speaking now of the general body of museum directors and curators; professors and teachers of zoology in our institutions of learning—a legion in themselves; teachers of nature study in our secondary schools; investigators and specialists in state and government service; the taxidermists and osteologists; and the array of literary people who, like all the foregoing, make their bread and butter out of the exploitation of wild life.

Taken as a whole, the people named above constitute a grand army of at least five thousand trained, educated, resourceful and influential persons. They all depend upon wild life for their livelihood. When they talk about living things, the public listens with respectful attention. Their knowledge of the value of wild life would be worth something to our cause; but thus far it never has been capitalized!

These people are hard workers; and when they mark out definite courses and attainable goals, they know how to get results. Yet what do we see?

For sixty long years, with the exception of the work of a corporal's guard of their number, this grand army has remained in camp, partly neglecting and partly refusing to move upon the works of the enemy. For sixty years, with the exception of the non-game-bird law, as a class and a mass they have left to the sportsmen of the country the dictating of laws for the protection of all the game birds, the mammals and the game fishes. When we stop to consider that the game birds alone embrace 154 very important species, the appalling extent to which the zoologist has abdicated in favor of the sportsman becomes apparent.

It is a very great mistake, and a wrong besides, for the zoologists of the country to abandon the game birds, mammals and fishes of North America to the sportsmen, to do with as they please! Yet that is practically what has been done.

The time was, thirty or forty years ago, when wild life was so abundant that we did not need to worry about its preservation. That was the golden era of study and investigation. That era ended definitely in 1884, with the practical extermination of the wild American bison, partly through the shameful greed and partly through the neglect of the American people. We are now living in the middle of the period of Extermination! The questions for every American zoologist and every sportsman to answer now are: Shall the slaughter of species go on to a quick end of the period? Shall we give posterity a birdless, gameless, fishless continent, or not? Shall we have close seasons, all over the country, for five or ten years, or for five hundred years?

If we are courageous, we will brace up and answer these questions now, like men. If we are faint-hearted, and eager for peace at any price, then we will sidestep the ugly situation until the destroyers have settled it for us by the wholesale extermination of species.

If the zoologist cares to know, then I will tell him that to-day the wild life of the world can be saved by law, but not by sentiment alone! You cannot "educate" a poacher, a game-hog, a market-gunner, a milliner or a vain and foolish woman of fashion. All these must be curbed and controlled by law. Game refuges alone will not save the wild life! All species of birds, mammals and game fishes of North America must have more thorough and far-reaching protection than they now have.

Do not always take your cue from the sportsmen, especially regarding the enactment of long close seasons! If you need good advice, or help about drafting a bill, write to Dr. T.S. Palmer, Department of Agriculture, Washington, and you will receive prompt and valuable assistance. The Doctor is a wise man, and there is nothing about protective laws that is unknown to him. Go to your state senator and your assemblyman with the bills that you know should be enacted into law, and assure them that those measures are necessary for the wild life, and beneficial to 98 per cent of the people who own the wild life. You will be heard with respectful attention, in any law-making body that you choose to enter.

People who cannot give time and labor must supply you with money for your campaigns. Ask, and you will receive! I have proven this many times. With care and exactness account to your subscribers for the expenditure of all money placed in your hands, and you will receive continuous support.

In times of great stress, print circulars and leaflets by the ten-thousand, and get them into the hands of the People, calling for their help. Our 42,000 copies of the "Wild Life Call" (sixteen pages) were distributed by organizations all over the state of New York, and along with Mr. Andrew D. Meloy's letters to the members of the New York State League, aroused such a tidal wave of public sentiment against the sale of game that the Bayne bill was finally swept through the Legislature with only one dissenting vote! And yet, in the beginning not one man dared to hope that that very revolutionary measure could by any possibility be passed in its first year in New York State, even if it ever could be!

It was the aroused Public that did it!

This volume has been written (under great pressure) in order to put the whole situation before the people of America, including the zoologists, and to give them some definite information, state by state, regarding the needs of the hour. Look at the needs of your own state, in the "Roll Call of States," and you will find work for your hand to do. Clear your conscience by taking hold now, to do everything that you can to stop the carnage and preserve the remnant. Twenty-five or fifty years hence, if we have a birdless and gameless continent, let it not be said that the zoologists of America helped to bring it about by wicked apathy.

At this juncture, a brief survey of the attitude toward wild life of certain American institutions of national reputation will be decidedly pertinent. I shall mention only a few of the many that through their character and position owe specific duties to this cause. Noblesse oblige!

* * * * *

The Biological Survey of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is a splendid center of activity and initiative in the preservation of our wild life. The work of Dr. T.S. Palmer has already been spoken of, and thanks to his efforts and direction, the Survey has become the recognized special champion of preservation in America.

The U.S. Forestry Bureau is developing into a very valuable ally, and we confidently look forward to the time when its influence in preservation will be a hundred times more potent than it is to-day. That will be when every national forest is made a game preserve, and every forest ranger is made a game warden. Let us have both those developments, and quickly.

In 1896 the AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY became a center of activity in bird protection, and the headquarters of the New York State Audubon Society. The president of the Museum (Professor Henry Fairfield Osborn) is also the president of that organization.

In several of the New York State movements for bird conservation, especially those bearing on the plumage law, the American Museum has been active, and at times conspicuous. No one (so I believe) ever appealed to the President of the Museum for help on the firing line without receiving help of some kind. Unfortunately, however, the preservation of wild life is not one of the declared objects of the American Museum corporation, or one on which its officers may spend money, as is so freely and even joyously done by the Zoological Society. The Museum's influence has been exerted chiefly through the active workers of the State Audubon Society, and it was as president of that body that Professor Osborn subscribed to the fund that was so largely instrumental in creating the New York law against the sale of game.

There is room for an important improvement in the declared objects of the American Museum. To the cause of protection it is a distinct loss that that great and powerful institution should be unable to spend any money in promoting the preservation of our fauna from annihilation. An amendment to its constitution is earnestly recommended.

The activities of the NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY began in 1896, and they do not require comment here. They have been continuous, aggressive and far-reaching, and they have been supported by thousands of dollars from the Society's treasury. It is true that the funds available for protection work have not represented a great annual sum, such as the work demands, but the amount being expended from year to year is steadily increasing. In serious emergencies there is always something available! During the past two years, to relieve the Society of a portion of this particular burden, the director of the Park secured several large subscriptions from persons outside the Society, who previously had never entered into this work.

The MILWAUKEE PUBLIC MUSEUM has entered actively and effectively into the fight to preserve the birds of Wisconsin from annihilation by the saloon-loafer element that three years ago determined to repeal the best bird laws on the books, and throw the shooting privilege wide open. Mr. Henry L. Ward, Director of the Museum, went to the firing line, and remained there. Last year the saloon element thought that they had a large majority of the votes in the legislature pledged to vote their way. It looked like it; but when the decent people again rose and demanded justice for the birds, the members of the legislature stood by them in large majorities. The spring-shooting, bag-limit and hunting-license laws were not repealed.

THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS (Lawrence) scored heavily for the cause of wild-life protection when in 1908 it gave to the Governor of the state the services of a member of its faculty, Professor Lewis Lindsay Dyche, who was wanted to fill the position of State Fish and Game Commissioner. Professor Dyche proved to be a very live wire, and his activities have covered the State of Kansas to its farthest corners. We love him for the host of enemies he has made—among the poachers, game-butchers, pseudo-"sportsmen" and lawbreakers generally. The men who thought they had the "pull" of friendship for lawbreaking were first warned, and then as second offenders hauled up to the bar, one and all. The more the destroyers try to hound the Commissioner, the more popular is he with the great, solid mass of good citizens who believe in the saving of wild life.

THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY has at last made a beginning in the field of protection. Last winter, while the great battle raged over the Wharton no-sale-of-game bill, several members of the Museum staff appeared at the hearings and otherwise worked for the success of the measure. It was most timely aid,—and very much needed. It is to be hoped that that auspicious beginning will be continued from year to year. The Museum should keep at least one good fighter constantly in the field.

THE BOSTON SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY takes a very active part in promoting the preservation of the fauna of Massachusetts, and in resisting the attempts of the destroyers to repeal the excellent laws now in force. Its members put forth vigorous efforts in the great campaign of 1912.

THE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES is well represented in the field of protection by Director Franklin W. Hooper, now president of the American Bison Society, and an earnest promoter of the perpetuation of the bison. When, the Wind Cave National Bison Herd is fully established, in South Dakota, as it practically is already, the chief credit for that coup will be due to the unflagging energy and persistence of Professor Hooper.

THE BUFFALO ACADEMY OF SCIENCES in 1911 entered actively and effectively, under the leadership of Dr. Lee H. Smith, into the campaign for the Bayne bill. Besides splendid service rendered in western New York, Dr. Smith appeared in Albany with a strong delegation in support of the bill.

THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA was the first institution of learning to enter the field of wild-life protection for active, aggressive and permanent work. W.L. Taylor and Joseph Grinnell, of the University Museum, have taken up the fight to save the fauna of California from the dangers that now threaten it.

At this point our enumeration of the activities of American zoological institutions comes to an unfortunate end. There are many individuals to be named elsewhere, in the roll of honor, but that is another story. I am now going to set before the public the names of certain institutions largely devoted to zoology and permeated by zoologists, which thus far seem to have entirely ignored the needs of our fauna, and which so far we know have contributed neither men, money nor encouragement to the Army of the Defense.

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PARTIAL LIST OF INSTITUTIONS OWING SERVICE TO WILD LIFE.

The United States National Museum contains a large and expensive corps of zoological curators and assistant curators, some of whom long ago should have taken upon themselves the task of reforming the laws of the District of Columbia, Virginia and Maryland, at their very doors! This museum should maintain at least one man in the field of protection, and the existence of the Biological Survey is no excuse for the Museum's inactivity.

The Field Museum of Chicago is a great institution, but it appears to be inactive in wild-life protection, and indifferent to the fate of our wild life. Its influence is greatly needed on the firing line, especially in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and northern Minnesota. First of all the odious sale-of-game situation in Chicago should be cleaned up!

The Philadelphia Academy of Sciences has been represented on the A.O.U. Committee on Bird Protection by Mr. Witmer Stone. The time has come when this Academy should be represented on the firing line as a virile, wide-awake, self-sacrificing and aggressive force. It is perhaps the oldest zoological body in the United States! Its scientific standing is unquestioned. Its members must know of the carnage that is going on around them, for they are not ignorant men. The Pennsylvania State Game Commission to-day stands in urgent need of active, vigorous and persistent assistance from the Philadelphia Academy in the fierce campaign already in progress for additional protective laws. Will that help be given?

The Carnegie Institute of Washington (endowment $22,000,000) unquestionably owes a great duty toward wild life, no portion of which has yet been discharged. Academic research work is all very well, but it does not save faunas from annihilation. In the saving of the birds and mammals of North America a hundred million people are directly interested, and the cause is starving for money, men and publicity. Education is not the ONLY duty of educators!

The Carnegie Museum at Pittsburgh should be provided by Pittsburgh with sufficient funds that its Director can put a good man into the field of protection, and maintain his activities. The State of Pennsylvania, and the nation at large, needs such a worker at Pittsburgh; and this statement is not open to argument!

The California Academy of Sciences; The Chicago Academy of Sciences; Appear to have done nothing The New York Academy of Sciences; noteworthy in promoting The National Academy of Sciences; the preservation and increase The Rochester Academy of Sciences; of the wild life of America. The Philadelphia Zoological Society; The National Zoological Park;

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A FEW OF THE INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING WHICH SHOULD EACH DEVOTE ONE MAN TO THIS CAUSE.

Columbia University, of New York, has a very large and strong corps of zoological professors in its Department of Biology. No living organism is too small or too worthless to be studied by high-grade men; but does any man of Columbia ever raise his voice, actively and determinedly, for the preservation of our fauna, or any other fauna? Columbia should give the services of one man wholly to this cause.

There are men whose zoological ideals soar so high that they can not see the slaughter of wild creatures that is so furiously proceeding on the surface of this blood-stained earth. We don't want to hear about the "behavior" of protozoans while our best song birds are being exterminated by negroes and poor whites.

Cornell University should now awaken to the new situation. All the zoological Neros should not fiddle while Rome burns. For the sake of consistency, Cornell should devote the services of at least one member of its large and able faculty to the cause of wild-life protection. Cornell was a pioneer in forestry teaching; and why should she not lead off now in the new field?

Yale University, in Professor James W. Toumey, Director of the School of Forestry, possesses a natural, ready-made protector of wild life. From forestry to wild life is an easy step. We hopefully look forward to the development of Professor Toumey into a militant protectionist, fighting for the helpless creatures that must be protected by man or perish! If Yale is willing to set a new pace for the world's great universities, she has the Man ready at hand.

The University of Chicago should become the center of a great new protectionist movement which should cover the whole Middle West area, from the plains to Pittsburgh. This is the inflexible, logical necessity of the hour. Either protect zoology, or else for very shame give up teaching it!

Every higher institution of learning in America now has a duty in this matter. Times have changed. Things are not as they were thirty years ago. To allow a great and valuable wild fauna to be destroyed and wasted is a crime, against both the present and the future. If we mean to be good citizens we cannot shirk the duty to conserve. We are trustees of the inheritance of future generations, and we have no right to squander that inheritance. If we fail of our plain duty, the scorn of future generations surely will be our portion.

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CHAPTER XLIV

THE GREATEST NEEDS OF THE WILD-LIFE CAUSE AND THE DUTY OF THE HOUR

The fate of wild life in North America hangs to-day by three very slender threads, the names of which you will hardly guess unaided. They are Labor, Money and Publicity! The threads are slender because there is so little raw material in them.

We do not need money with which to "buy votes" or "influence," but money with which to pay workers; to publish things to arouse the American people; to sting sportsmen into action; to hire wardens; to prosecute game-hogs and buy refuges for wild life. If a sufficient amount of money for these purposes cannot be procured, then as sure as the earth continues to revolve, our wild life will pass away, forever.

This is no cause for surprise, or wonder. In this twentieth century money is essential to every great enterprise, whether it be for virtue or mischief. The enemies of wild life, and the people who support them, are very powerful. The man whose pocket or whose personal privilege is threatened by new legislation is prompted by business reasons to work against you, and spend money in protecting his interests.

Now, it happens that the men of ordinary means who have nothing personal at stake in the preservation of wild life save sentimental considerations, cannot afford to leave their business more than three or four days each year on protection affairs. Yet many times services are demanded for many days, or even weeks together, in order to accomplish results. Bad repeal bills must be fought until they are dead; and good protective bills must be supported until the breath of life is breathed into them by the executive signature.

With money in hand, good men aways can be found who will work in game protection for about one-half what they would demand in other pursuits. With the men whom, you really desire, sentiment is always a controlling factor. It is my inflexible rule, however, in asking for services, that men who give valuable time and strength to the cause shall not be allowed to take their expense money from their own pockets. Soldiers on the firing line cannot provide the sinews of war that come from the paymaster's chest!

Campaigns of publicity are matters of tremendous necessity and importance; but their successful promotion requires hundreds, or possibly thousands of dollars, for each state that is covered.

I believe that the wealthy men and women of America are the most liberal givers for the benefit of humanity that can be found in all the world. New York especially contains a great number of men who year in and year out work hard for money—in order to give it away! The depth and breadth of the philanthropic spirit in New York City is to me the most surprising of all the strange impulses that sway the inhabitants of that seething mass of mixed humanity. Every imaginable cause for the benefit of mankind,—save one,—has received, and still is receiving, millions of gift dollars.

Some enterprises for the transcendant education of the people are at this moment hopelessly wallowing in the excess of wealth that has been thrust upon them. Men are being hired at high salaries to help spend wealth in high, higher, highest education and research. It is now fashionable to bequeath millions to certain causes that do not need them in the least! In education there is a mad scramble to educate every young man to the topmost notch, often far above his probable station in life, and into tastes and wants far beyond his powers to maintain.

In all this, however, there would be no cause for regret if the wild life of our continent were not in such a grievous state. If we felt no conscience burden for those who come after us, we would not care where the millions go; but since things are as they are, it is heartbreaking to see the cause of wild-life protection actually starving, or at the best subsisting only on financial husks and crumbs, while less important causes literally flounder in surplus wealth.

This regret is intensified by the knowledge that in no other cause for the conservation of the resources most valuable to mankind will a dollar go so far, or bring back such good results, as in the preservation of wild life! The promotion of "the Bayne bill" and the enactment of the Bayne law is a fair example. That law is to-day on the statute books of the State of New York because fifty men and women promptly subscribed $5,000 to a fund formed with special reference to the expenses of the campaign for that measure; and the uplift of that victory will be felt for years to come, just as it already has been in Massachusetts.

At one time I was tempted to show the financial skeleton in the closet of wild-life protection, by inserting here a statement of the funds available to be expended by all the New York organizations during the campaign year of 1911-1912. But I cannot do it. The showing is too painful, too humiliating. From it our enemies would derive too much comfort.

Even in New York State, in view of the great interests at stake, the showing is pitiful. But what shall we say of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Jersey, and a dozen other states where the situation is much worse? In the winter of 1912 a cry for help came to us from a neighboring state, where a terrific fight was being made by the forces of destruction against all reform measures, and in behalf of retrogression on spring shooting. The appeal said: "The situation in our legislature is the worst that it has been in years. Our enemies are very strong, well organized, and they fight us at every step. We have no funds, and we are expected to make bricks without straw! Is there not something that you can do to help us?"

There was!

Only one week previously, a good friend (who declines to be named) gave us two thousand dollars, of real money, for just such emergencies.

Within thirty-six hours an entirely new fighting force had been organized and equipped for service. Within one week, those reinforcements had made a profound impression on the defenses of the enemy, and in the end the great fight was won. Of our small campaign fund it took away over one thousand dollars; but the victory was worth it.

With money enough,—a reasonable sum,—the birds of North America, and some of the small-mammal species also, can be saved. The big game that is hunted and killed outside the game preserves, and outside of such places as New Brunswick and the Adirondacks, can not be saved—until each species is given perpetual protection. Colorado is saving a small remnant of her mountain sheep, but Montana and Wyoming are wasting theirs, because they allow killing, and the killers are ten times too numerous for the sheep. They imagine that by permitting only the killing of rams they are saving the species; but that is an absolute fallacy, and soon it will have a fatal ending.

With an endowment fund of $2,000,000 (only double the price of the two old Velasquez paintings purchased recently by a gentleman of New York!) a very good remnant of the wild life of North America could be saved.

But who will give the fund, or even a quarter of it?

Thus far, the largest sums ever given in America for the cause of wild-life protection, so far as I know personally, have been the following:

Albert Wilcox, to the National Association of Audubon Societies, $322,000 Mary Butcher Fund, to the National Association of Audubon Societies 12,000 Mrs. Russell Sage, for the purchase of Marsh Island 150,000 American Game Protective and Propagation Association, from the manufacturers of firearms and ammunition, annually 25,000 Charles Willis Ward and E.A. McIlhenny, purchase of game preserve presented to Louisiana 39,000 Mrs. Russell Sage, miscellaneous gifts to the National Audubon Society 20,000 The American Bison Society for the Montana National Herd 10,526 New York Zoological Society, total about 20,000 John E. Thayer, purchase of game preserve 5,000 Caroline Phelps Stokes Bird Fund, N.Y. Zoological Society 5,000 Boone and Crockett Fund for Preservation 5,000 A Friend in Rochester 2,500 Henry C. Frick 1,500 Samuel Thorne 1,250

Of all the above, the only endowment funds yielding an annual income are those of the National Association of Audubon Societies and the Caroline Phelps Stokes fund of $5,000 in the treasury of the Zoological Society.

A fund of $25,000 per year for five years has been guaranteed by the makers of shot-guns, rifles and ammunition, to the American Game Protective and Propagation Association. This is like a limited endowment.

In the civilized world there are citizens of many kinds; but all of them can be placed in two groups: (1) those with a sense of duty toward mankind, and who will do their duty as good citizens; and (2) those who from the cradle to the grave meanly and sordidly study their own selfish interests, who never do aught save in expectation of a quick return benefit, and who recognize no such thing as duty toward mankind at large.

Men and women of the first class are honored in life, mourned when dead, and gratefully remembered by posterity. They leave the world better than they found it, and their lives have been successful.

Men and women of the second class are merely so many pieces of animated furniture; and when they pass out the world cares no more than when old chairs are thrown upon the scrap-heap.

There are many men so selfish, so ignorant and mean of soul that even out of well-filled purses they would not give ten dollars to save the whole bird fauna of North America from annihilation. To all persons of that brand, it is useless to appeal. As soon as you find one, waste no time upon him. Get out of his neighborhood as quickly as you can, and look for help among real MEN.

The wild life of the world cannot be saved by a few persons, even though they work their hearts out in the effort. The cause needs two million more helpers; and they must be sought in Group No. 1. They are living, somewhere; but the great trouble is to find them, before it is too late.

There are times and causes in which the good citizen has no option but to render service. The most important of such causes are: the relief of suffering humanity, the conservation of the resources of nature, and the prevention of vandalism. If the American Nation had refused aid to stricken San Francisco, the callous hard-heartedness of it would have shocked the world. If the German army of 1871 had destroyed the art treasures and the libraries of Paris, it would have set the German nation back ten centuries, into the ranks of the lowest barbarians.

And yet, in America, and in the regions now being scourged by the feather trade, a wonderful FAUNA is being destroyed! It took millions of years to develop that marvelous array of wild life; and when gone it never can be replaced! Yet the Army of Destruction is sweeping it away as joyously as a hired laborer cuts down a field of corn.

That wild life can be saved! If done, it must be done by the men and women of Group No. 1. The means by which it can be saved are: Money, labor and publicity. Every man of ordinary means and intelligence can contribute either money or labor. The men on the firing line must not be expected to furnish their own food and ammunition. The Workers MUST be provided with the money that active campaign work imperatively demands! Those who cannot conveniently or successfully labor should give money to this cause; but at the same time, every good citizen should keep in touch with his lawmaking representatives, and in times of need ask for votes for whatever new laws are necessary.

With money enough to arouse the American people in certain ways, the wild life of North America (north of Mexico) can be saved. Money can secure labor and publicity, and the People will do the rest. For this campaign work I want, and must have, a permanent fund of $10,000 per annum,—cash always ready for every emergency in field work. I greatly need, and must have, immediately, an endowment Wild-Life Fund of at least $100,000, and eventually $250,000. I can no longer "pass the hat" each year. This is needed in addition to the several thousands of dollars annually being expended by the Zoological Society in this work. The Society is already doing its utmost in wild-life protection, just as it is in several other fields of activity.

Outside of New York many wealthy men will say, "Let New York do it!" That often is the way when national campaigning is to be done. In national wild-life protection work, New York is to-day bearing about nine-tenths of the burden. It is my belief that in 1912 outside of New York City less than $10,000 was raised and expended in wild-life protection save by state and national appropriations. We know that in the year mentioned New York expended $221,000 in this cause, all from private sources.

In a very short time I shall call for the $100,000 that I now must have as an endowment fund for nation-wide work, to be placed at 5-1/2 per cent interest for the $5,500 annual income that it will yield. How much of this will come from outside the State of New York? Some of it, I am sure, will come from Massachusetts and Pennsylvania; but will any of it come from Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis and San Francisco?

* * * * *

THE DUTY OF THE HOUR

I have now said my say in behalf of wild life. Surely the path of duty toward the remnant of wild life is plain enough. Will those who read this book pass along my message that the hour for a revolution has struck? Will the millions of men commanded by General Apathy now arouse, before it is too late to act?

Will the true sportsmen rise up, and do their duty, bravely and unselfishly?

Will the people with wealth to give away do their duty toward wild life and humanity, fairly and generously?

Will the zoologists awake, leave their tables in their stone palaces of peace, and come out to the firing-line?

Will the lawmakers heed the handwriting on the wall, and make laws that represent the full discharge of their duty toward wild life and humanity?

Will the editors beat the alarm-gong, early and late, in season and out of season, until the people awake?

On the answers to these questions hang the fate of the wild creatures of the world,—their preservation or their extermination.

* * * * *

INDEX

Abundance of wild life. Accuracy, value of, in campaigning. Acklen, J.H. Actinomycosis. Adams, Cyrus C., on the lion. Adirondack State Park. Adjutant. Africa, big game of game preserves in rinderpest in "soon to be shot out". African big game disappearing. African game that needs exemption. Agriculture, Department of. Aigrette. Akeley, C.E. Alabama, deer killed in laws of. Alabama Game Commissioner. Alaska, brown bears of new laws needed in game of Sitka National Monument in. Alaska—Yukon region. Albatross, steamer, seals taken by. Albatrosses, Laysan. Alberta, at fault on antelope-shooting laws of parks of. Alden, M.P., Percy. Algonquin National Park. Aliens, game wardens killed by prohibited from owning firearms slaughter of song-birds by. Altai Mountains of western China. American Bison Society. American Game Protective and Propagation Association. "American Natural History" on hawks and owls. American, North, Fish and Game Protective Association. American private game preserves. Amsterdam. Animallai Hills to-day and in 1877. "Animal Life in Africa," on status of settlers. Animals, predatory caught by cats wild, may become nuisances. Antelope, prong-horned attempts to transplant in Alberta in Montana in Nevada in Texas in Wyoming lumpy jaw in physical weakness of present status of preserve in Montana wrong to kill. Anthony bill for migratory birds. Antelopes, African, for the South. Aphis devouring potato-tops. Apple crop, losses on. Aquarium, West Indian seals in. Areas inhabited by big game. Argali, Siberian. Arizona new laws needed in national monuments in. Arizona elk exterminated. Arkansas new laws needed in. Army of Defense. Army of Destruction. Army worm. Arnold, Craig D. Ashe, T.J. Asia, future of big game of. Asiatic game that should be close-seasoned. Askins, Charles, article in Recreation by. Association in Pennsylvania fighting Game Commission. Association, Wool-Growers, fighting antelope preserve. Astley, Hubert D. Atkinson, George. Atlanta Journal. Audubon Societies, National Association of. Auk, Great. Austrians in Minnesota. Australia, animal pests in game preserves in. Automatic and pump shot-guns campaign against, won in New Jersey denounced by organizations use of, prohibited by law. Automobile, use of, in hunting forbidden. Automobiles detrimental to wild life. Avare, Game Warden Henry Avery, Carlos Avery Island, La., robin slaughter at Avicultural Magazine Avocet

+ + + + +

Bag insects Bag limit, in Africa; a delusion, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan Baird, Spencer F. Baker, Frank Bancroft, W.F. Barber, Charles Barren grounds of the Arctic regions Baynard, Oscar E. Bayne law against sale of game in New York bill, breeding game under, genesis of Beal, F.E.L. Bear, black, in South Carolina grizzly, ethics of hunting the, almost gone from United States, California grizzly Bears, Alaskan brown; alleged damages by, grizzly, bag limit demanded on, in Yellowstone Park, estimated, killed by Forestry Bureau, of Yellowstone Park Beard, Daniel C., cartoon by on bird destruction Beaver in New Brunswick Bedford, Duke of, David's deer saved by, Beebe, C. William; chapter written by Bell, Rudolph Bell, W.B. Berlin feather trade Beyer, G.E. Big Horn Game Preserve Biological Survey; on duck disease, work of, on wood-duck Biology, Elementary, by Peabody and Hunt Bird, Charles S. Bird boxes distributed by J.M. Phillips Bird Day in various states Bird Refuges, National, full list of Birds, becoming extinct in North America; feeding in winter, killed by cats, by dogs, by foxes, by mongoose, by negroes, by telephone wires, by wild animals, destruction of, in Far East, extinct, food habits of certain, extinct in North America, in distress, killed in New York City, list of, that devour codling moth, threatened with extermination Bird skins purchased in London Bishop, Dr. Louis B. Bison, American, now living; last of Colorado, killed, Yellowstone Park, wild, in Yellowstone Park, value of Bison herd, Wichita National Bison ranges created Bison ranges, National: in United States, in Canada Bison Society, American proposes National herd Beaman, D.C. Blackbird, Crow Blackbirds, destroy cotton-boll weevil killed as "game" Black-Snake, Pilot Blair, Dr. W. Reid Blaubok, extinct Blauvelt, George A. Blesbok in Cape Colony Blinding decoy birds Blooming Grove Park Bluebirds killed by cold weather Blue Mountain Forest Association Bontebok in Cape Colony Bob-White, food habits of Boone and Crockett Club Boston Society of Natural History Bowdish, B.S. Boxes for birds distributed Boy Scouts of America, appeal to Bradley, Guy M., killed by a plume-hunter Brazil, birds' plumage from Breeding, ducks in captivity game and fur in captivity Breeding wild animals need seclusion Brett, Lieut.-Col. L.M., animal census from Brewster, William Brimley, H.H. and C.S. Bringing back birds and game vanishing species British Columbia game conditions in, game preserves in British East Africa, remarkable bag "limit" in Bronx River, ducks killed by pollution of Brooklyn Institute Brooks, Earle A. Brown, William Harvey, at Salisbury Brown, William P. Bryan, W.A. Buckland, James Buckskin Mountain Buffalo Academy of Sciences Buffalo in Cape Colony Buffalo, American, now living, see Bison. Buffalo Park, Alberta Bunting, Snow, killed for food. Burnham, John B. portrait. Burtch, Verdi. Bustard being exterminated. Butcher bird. Butler, A.L. Butler, Amos W.