. Bulletin (Pennsylvania Game Commision), no. 9. Game protection; Birds. Photograph by Game Protector Miles Reeder, Mifflinburg. Fig. 14. SPORTSMEN REGARD CROWS AS THE ENEMY OF GAME State-wide Crow-killing contests are not to be encouraged, however be- cause innocent birds too often suffer along with the guilty species. More- over, Crows are not altogether bad. Man's destruction of birds has been concerned not only with his food supply, but also with what seems a most useless cause for destruction—the millinery trade. The story of the development and curbing of this amazing traffic, which has
. Bulletin (Pennsylvania Game Commision), no. 9. Game protection; Birds. Photograph by Game Protector Miles Reeder, Mifflinburg. Fig. 14. SPORTSMEN REGARD CROWS AS THE ENEMY OF GAME State-wide Crow-killing contests are not to be encouraged, however be- cause innocent birds too often suffer along with the guilty species. More- over, Crows are not altogether bad. Man's destruction of birds has been concerned not only with his food supply, but also with what seems a most useless cause for destruction—the millinery trade. The story of the development and curbing of this amazing traffic, which has not by any means been stopped, is one of the most shameful tales connected with human afifairs. The destruction has been utterly vain. Our most beautiful birds, only because they were beautiful, have suffered most severely of all, and some of them have virtually been exterminated. The craze for feather adornment led to the development of huge slaughtering enterprises as part of the millinery trade. Entire colonies of herons, gulls, terns, and other birds of America were wiped out sometimes for only a small portion of the plumage of each bird. Thus were only the nuptial plumes of American Egrets and Snowy Herons stripped from their backs, the bodies thrown 25 aside to decay, and the motherless nestlings left to starve. Breasts of Western Grebes were used, and only the wings of terns and gulls. This millinery traffic has largely been stopped m North America, but only sentiment against the wearing of bird plumage will banish it completely. Man has been an enemy of birds not only in his direct killmg but he has caused their inevitable disappearance by invading and dominating their normal range, by cutting or burning the forests where they lived, by killing their food in the streams, and by drain- ing and cultivating the places where they lived. Man cannot be blamed too severely for this, for some of it is the most normal out- come of civilization. But had care been used, when it
Size: 2097px × 1191px
Photo credit: © Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1911
