Conservation Reader Part 17

Rising above all other sounds, as the morning advances, are the cheery calls of the quail who seems to say: "Where are you? Where are you? Stay right there; stay right there." Both in the morning and in the evening the almost heavenly music of the thrush echoes through the deep woods.

In the quiet night the hoot of the owls is most entertaining.

Would you for anything have the birds leave us? Would you for anything lose these airy creatures whose music, bright plumage, and graceful movements not only add so much to the pleasure of our daily lives but also serve us in so many ways? The woods, fields, and waters would be lonely without them.

Did you ever think that it is possible, that it is indeed likely, that many of these beautiful creatures will leave us for all time if we do not treat them kindly and give them every protection in our power? Did you ever think of all the enemies that are constantly on the watch for the birds,--the thoughtless boy who robs their nests, the angry farmer who mistakenly believes they injure him, the hunter who thinks only of how good they taste, the sleek cat lying so innocently by your fireside, which loves a bird above everything else, and last of all, the blue jay, butcher bird, and some of the hawks and owls?

To realize how our home would seem without birds, let us take an imaginary journey far across the water to "sunny Italy." Here you will rarely hear bird music upon spring mornings, unless it be that of some poor caged creature. If you will walk through the country, you will see few birds where once they must have been abundant. But upon every holiday you will see the fields filled with hunters, who with keen eyes are watching for any stray birds that have happened to stop on their journey across the country to rest and to hunt worms or taste a bit of fruit. The Italian does not know the good the birds do his garden and that it would be the part of wisdom for him to let them have a little of his corn and fruit.

We will now journey to Spain and learn something about the treatment of our bird friends there. This country was once rich and prosperous. From it came many of the early explorers of our own land. The people of the central highlands of Spain never loved to hear the birds sing, because they were always thinking of the grain which the birds took. Thinking to save their crops, they not only killed and scared away all the birds they could, but they also cut down the trees so that the birds would have no places to nest.

Thus the people freed themselves from the birds, but what was the harvest that they reaped? When the trees were gone they had no fuel, the soil dried out more quickly, and the insects increased until they destroyed far more of the grain and fruit than the birds could possibly have done. The people are now very poor and just manage to live from one harvest to another.

Now let us learn a little about our own birds and what they are doing for us. We ought to know the habits of all the common birds that frequent our gardens and be able to tell each by its note. This would add greatly to our pleasure when out of doors and make us appreciate the services they are rendering.

Go where you will through the open fields or among the trees and bushes, you will find different kinds of birds and all of them busily engaged.

They are searching over every bit of ground as well as over the trunks, branches, and leaves of the trees. Some are after the seeds of different kinds of weeds. Others are getting the worms and insects that infest the trees. Watch a flock of the little t.i.tmice going carefully over all the leaves and branches of an oak tree. When they have finished, there are few insects or their eggs left upon it.

How anxious are some of our farmers as well as the sportsmen to have the meadow lark cla.s.sed as a pest or as a game bird. Would that the farmers knew how much good this bird does them! The stomachs of many of these larks have been carefully examined in order to find out what they really do eat. The contents show that more than half of the food of the meadow lark is made up of harmful insects, including beetles, gra.s.shoppers, crickets, Jerusalem crickets, cutworms, caterpillars, wireworms, bugs, bees, ants, wasps, flies, spiders, and many others.

These birds also eat large quant.i.ties of the seeds of weeds and at times damage the grain fields. The good that they do, however, far outweighs the evil.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Finley & Bohlman_ A young meadow lark.]

Woodp.e.c.k.e.rs belong to another cla.s.s of birds that are very useful to us.

How often have we heard them hammering upon a dead tree as they drill holes in search of the worms and beetles that are hidden under the bark or in the heart of the wood. It has long been the habit of hunters to shoot woodp.e.c.k.e.rs just for sport, although no one eats them nor are they known to do any harm. With a decrease in their numbers there has been an increase in insect pests which are now destroying so many trees in all parts of our country. The woodp.e.c.k.e.rs in the Sierra Nevada Mountains are worth almost their weight in gold, for they destroy millions of beetles that are killing the great sugar pines and yellow pines. Here and there you will find a tree, attacked by the beetles, from which the woodp.e.c.k.e.rs have almost stripped the bark in their search for these insects.

The food of the martins and swallows is wholly made up of insects. We have all seen them in their graceful flight and have noticed how they seize their insect prey while on the wing. The martins are of little value for food, and yet, in some parts of our country they have become almost extinct because of the pursuit of them by pot hunters.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Finley & Bohlman_ A barn swallow.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Finley & Bohlman_ A least sandpiper or snipe, one of the sh.o.r.e birds.]

The sh.o.r.e birds form a group of very great value. They include those long-legged birds with slender bills which are found, usually along the sh.o.r.es of the ocean and of lakes and small bodies of water, but sometimes in the interior away from the water. The food of these birds is almost wholly insects, which are harmful in various ways. Among these insects are gra.s.shoppers, army worms, cutworms, cabbage worms, grubs, horseflies, and mosquitoes.

So cruelly and relentlessly have the sh.o.r.e birds been pursued by men who call themselves "sportsmen;" that many species are nearly extinct. We hope that the Migratory Bird Law will be enforced and that with the protection this gives them they will again increase and fill their old haunts. But we must ever be on the watch, for there will still be greedy hunters trying to evade the law until all our boys grow up with love and appreciation for the birds. The killdeer, snipe, and other plovers, whose habits make them the most interesting of the sh.o.r.e birds, especially need our protection. We have all seen these birds in our walks along the sh.o.r.e. Small and delicate their bodies are; each one would make scarcely a mouthful, and yet the pot hunters have seemed determined to kill them all.

How many people ever think of the quail in any other light than as a delicious morsel to be served up on toast for dinner? The quail is not only useful because of the insects which it destroys, but is a most wonderfully interesting and attractive bird. If you have ever disturbed a mountain quail with a brood of young, you will never forget what an interesting sight the mother presented as she strutted back and forth on a log, warning her little ones to keep out of sight.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Finley & Bohlman_ A white heron.]

Quail eat over a hundred kinds of insects, and happy should be that farmer who can get them to come about his home. Can you find it in your heart to shoot the father bird, as, perched upon some sightly point, he watches for danger while the mother just off the nest with her little brood feeds trustfully under his care?

The hunting of quail for market is now prohibited by law. But before protection came market hunters were known to carry out the most cruel methods in order to bag the quail in large numbers. In the drier parts of our country, the springs where quail came to drink were covered until the thirsty birds gathered in large numbers. In this way the hunters were able to obtain all they wanted.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Finley & Bohlman_ Gulls and terns on their resting ground.]

Let us henceforth show by our kindness and good will to the living things around us that we are not merciless savages, thinking only of something to eat, but rather that we appreciate their presence and the great good that they do.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

HOW TO BRING THE WILD CREATURES BACK AGAIN

In the preceding chapters we have learned something of the destructive warfare that men have carried on against wild creatures. We have learned that some species are already extinct and that many others have been so reduced in numbers that they are threatened with the same fate.

Nothing that we can do will bring back those that are gone, but we can save those that are left. Throughout our own country as well as many foreign countries, people are waking up to the necessity of protecting wild life. Thousands of men and women are spending their time and money trying to save birds and other animals. Among the things they are doing is the establishing of refuges and game preserves, working for better laws, and teaching boys and girls to be careful of life and not wantonly to destroy it.

The most important thing that we can do to bring wild creatures back again is to let them alone. Man is their worst enemy, and, if he can be kept from hunting, nearly all will be able to take care of themselves and increase in numbers. We can help Nature by supplying them with food when it is scarce and by protecting them from a few predatory animals and birds. The worst of these are the cougar or mountain lion, wild cat, lynx, wolves, and coyotes; the blue jay, butcher bird, and several of the hawks and owls. The cougar is the worst of all, for it has been estimated that one of these animals kills on the average fifty deer a year. Many of the states offer bounties for the killing of the mountain lion and coyote.

Ordinarily birds are able to secure their own food; but sometimes during long, snowy winters those that do not fly away South need food.

There are also many trees which bear fruit that is not much used by us but which is very attractive to the birds. The planting of such trees aids in bringing birds to our homes and encourages their increase.

[Ill.u.s.tration: We can help to conserve bird life by providing safe nesting places for our feathered friends.]

The settlement of the lands suitable to farming has deprived some of the hoofed animals, such as the elk, of their natural feeding grounds. The elk that are found in the summer in the meadows of the Yellowstone Park migrate in winter to the lower valleys outside of the park. These valleys are mostly fenced up, and to keep the elk from getting into trouble with the farmers it is often necessary for the government to buy hay and feed them.

In order to make sure that the wild animals shall be free to live and increase safe from the hunter, we have established great game preserves in different parts of the country. These are usually regions that are wild and unsettled and not useful for other purposes. All the great National Parks which we are trying to keep in their natural condition with their animals, birds, and plants are now game preserves. Among them are the Yellowstone, Yosemite, Rainier, and Crater Lake parks. Visitors to these preserves are not allowed to carry any guns, and wardens constantly patrol them.

The life of the Yellowstone Park is wonderfully interesting. Here we find droves of many of the animals that were in danger of becoming extinct. Among them are the buffalo, elk, and antelope. Here the grizzly and all the lesser bears are safe from the hunter. They have almost lost their fear of man and come about the camps and hotels for food, as the domestic animals do. In the park are some colonies of beaver, too, which will never again be disturbed by the fur hunter. On the higher peaks are a few Rocky Mountain sheep.

Another way in which we are protecting the wild animals is by making it legal to hunt them during only a short time each year. This is called the "open season." In the case of some of the animals that are nearly extinct we have made a "closed season" extending through a number of years. With this protection we are hoping that they will be saved and sometime become numerous again. All our states have made game laws which give more or less protection to the deer, elk, moose, antelope, squirrel, and other animals. In the case of some of these animals the females are absolutely protected, and the number of the males--as of the deer, for example--that may be killed in a season is often as small as two, and in two states it is only one. A heavy fine is imposed upon any one killing the protected animals or having their meat in his possession.

We are trying to protect the birds in much the same manner as the wild animals. But because of their migrations this is much more difficult.

Many kinds of birds travel with the changing seasons from north to south across different countries. If the people of one country protect them and those of another do not, they may easily become exterminated.

Some species have become extinct in the last fifty years, and others have been reduced to a few pairs in regions where they were once seen in thousands.

There are three things that have brought about this slaughter of the birds. The first is hunting them for food. This was not so serious until the market hunters began their work. Then the small game birds that were salable quickly began to disappear. In most of our states the sale of game birds in the market is now prohibited.

Another cause for the decrease in the birds is the wanton shooting of some just for sport, and the hunting of others that are mistakenly supposed to be harmful. We cannot wholly stop this until we teach people to respect the birds, to love them for their music, and to appreciate the great good which many of them do by their destruction of insects and small animal pests.

Many of the birds which we have too often tried to kill or drive away are among the best friends we have. When we have learned all about their habits and their food, we shall find that only a very few are really harmful, and that the others abundantly repay the toll that they take of our produce. The farmer and the fruit grower should be particularly interested in protecting and encouraging the birds. If the birds pull up the sprouting seeds in your garden, do not kill them but protect the plants with wire screens. It is likely that these very birds feed largely upon the insects that are so harmful to your crops.

If the children in our schools could spend a little of their time in the interesting study of bird life, we are sure that when they grow up the wanton destruction of birds will almost cease. The Boy Scouts and the Camp Fire Girls are learning to love and respect life in the wilds and would not for anything injure its inhabitants. The children of the Aga.s.siz a.s.sociations and the Junior Audubon Societies can also be proud of the work they are doing. They are not only saving the birds about our homes but are attracting others by putting out food, planting trees that bear attractive fruit, and making nesting places for the birds.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _American Forestry a.s.sociation_ The boys who are going to see that our wild life is protected.]

The third important thing which has been bringing about the decrease of the birds is hunting them for their plumes. For fifty years the demand for plumes for millinery purposes has been growing. The trade has spread until it now reaches the most remote islands of the sea. No bird, be its home in the most remote and inaccessible jungles, has until recently been safe from the plume hunter.

Now some of the foremost nations have pa.s.sed laws for the protection of many of the water and jungle birds, which, unfortunately for themselves, are so beautiful that milady longs to have them for her bonnet. Nearly all the states of our own land offer more or less protection to birds of beautiful plumage. There is, however, much yet to be done, for in parts of our country birds that should be protected are still at the mercy of the plume hunter.

The Migratory Bird Law recently pa.s.sed by Congress is one of the most important things which we have ever done for the birds. This law protects the mult.i.tude of water birds as well as land birds, that migrate with the changing seasons. It is especially important that all such birds be protected in the regions where they nest.

In the case of the water birds the nests are often grouped in colonies in certain places and not scattered singly here and there as with most land birds. Thus when a colony, say of the heron, tern, or flamingo, is found it is very easy for the hunter to break it up and destroy all the birds. Among the water birds the gulls, terns, grebes, herons, egrets, osprey, flamingos, and pelicans have been so hunted for their plumes that some of them are almost extinct. Several of these species love the rocky coasts, where their nests are found upon the almost bare ledges of the cliffs. Others establish colonies about the marshy lagoons of the Gulf and South Atlantic coasts and about the marshy sh.o.r.e of the lakes of the interior.

During recent years many bird refuges have been established in various parts of the country. Such refuges are now scattered all along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, as well as at various other localities throughout the country which are favorite nesting places for the birds.

Some of these refuges have been established and are guarded by the government; others have been donated by wealthy persons who love birds and want to see them preserved.