Page 255 - Our Vanishing Wild Life

The above-named species are not the only ones that should be ex- empt from persecution, for all the shorebirds of the United States are in greatneedofbetterprotection. Theyshouldbeprotected,first,tosave them from the danger of extermination, and, second, because of their economic importance. So great, indeed, is their economic value, that their retenion on the game list and their destruction by sportsmen is a serious loss to agriculture.^—(End of the circular.)
The following appeared in the Zoological Society Bulletin, for Jan- uary, 1909, from Richard Walter Tomalin, of Sydney, N. S. W.
"In the subdistricts of Robertson and Kangaloon in the Illawarra district of New South Wales, what ten years ago was a waving mass of English cocksfoot and rye grass, which had been put in gradually as the dense vine scrub was felled and burnt off, is now a barren desert, and nine families out of every ten which were renting properties have been compelledtoleavethedistrictandtakeupotherlands. Thisisthrough the grubs having eaten out the grass by the roots. Ploughing proved tobeuseless,asthegrubsateoutthegrassjustthesame. Whilstthere recently I was informed that it took three years from the time the grubs were first seen until to-day, to accomplish this complete devastation; in other words, three years ago the grubs began work in the beautiful country of green mountains and running streams.
"The birds had all been ruthlessly shot and destroyed in that dis- trict, and I was amazed at the absence of bird life. The two sub-districts I have mentioned have an area of about thirty square miles, and form a table-land about 1200 feet above sea level."
The same kind of common sense that teaches men to go in when it rains, and keep out of fiery furnaces, teaches us that as a business prop- osition it is to man's interest to protect the birds. Make them plentiful and keep them so. When we strike the birds, we hurt ourselves. The protection of our insect-eating and seed-eating birds is a cash proposi-
tion,—protect or pay.
Were I a farmer, no gun ever should be fired on my premises at any
birdsavetheEnglishsparrowandthethreebadhawks. Anymanwho wouldkillmyfriendBobWhiteIwouldtreatasanenemy. Themanwho would shoot and eat any of the song-birds, woodpeckers, or shorebirds that worked for me, I would surely molest.
Every farmer should post every foot of his lands, cultivated and not cultivated. Thefarmerwhodoesnotdosoishisownenemy; andheneeds a guardian.
At this stage of wild life extermination, it is impossible to make our bird-protection laws too strict, or too far-reaching. The remnant of ourbirdsshouldbeprotected,withclubsandgunsifnecessary. Allour shore birds should be accorded a ten-year close season. Don't ask the gunners wh—ether they will agree to it or n—ot. Of course they will not agree to it, never! But our duty is clear,
to go ahead and do it!
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ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIRDS
233'.