Page 69 - Our Vanishing Wild Life

EXTERMINA TION STATE BY STATE 47
California :
Swan, white heron, bronze ibis. CaUfornia valley quail are getting very scarce,
and unless adequate protection is afforded them shortly, they will be found hereafter only in remote districts. Ducks also are decreasing rapidly.—(H. W. Keller, Los Angeles.)
Sage grouse and Columbian sharp-tailed grouse are so nearly extinct that it may practicallybesaidthattheyareextinct. Amongspecieslikelytobeexterminatedin the near future are the wood-duck and band-tailed pigeon. —^(W. P. Taylor, Berkeley.)
Colorado:
Sage grouse and sharp-tailed grouse; nearly all the shore birds.
Connecticut:
All the shore birds; quail, purple martin.
Delaware:
Wood duck, upland plover, least tern, Wilson tern, roseate tern, black skimmer,
oystercatcher, and numerous other littoral species. Pileated woodpeckers, bald eaglesandalltheducksaremuchmorerarethanformerly. Swanareaboutgone, geese scarce. The list of ducks, geese and shore-birds, as well as of terns and gulls that are nearing extinction is appalling.—(C. J. Pennock, Wilmington.)
Wood-duck, woodcock, turtle dove and bob-white.—(A. R. Spaid, Wilmington.)
Florida:
Limpkin, ivory-billed woodpecker, wild turkey (?).
Georgia:
Ruffed grouse, wild turkey.
Idaho:
Harlequin duck, mountain plover, dusky grouse, Columbian sharp-tailed grouse,
sagegrouse. Elk,goatsandgrizzlybearsarebecomingveryscarce. Ofthesmaller animalsIhavenotseenafisherforyears,andmartenarehardlytobefound. The same is true of other species.—(Dr. Charles S. Moody, Sand Point.)
Illinois:
Pinnatedgrouse,exceptwhererigidlyprotected. InVermillionCounty,bylong
and persistent protection Harvey J. Sconce has bred back upon his farm about 400 of these birds.
Indiana:
Pileated woodpecker, woodcock, ruffed grouse, pigeon hawk, duck hawk.—(Amos
W. Butler, Indianapolis.)
In northern and northwestern Indiana, a perpetual close season and rigid protec- tion have enabled the almost-extinct pinnated grouse to breed up to a total number now estimated by Game Commissioner Miles and his wardens at 10,000 birds. This is a gratifying illustration of what can be done in bringing back an almost-vanished species. The good example of Indiana should be followed by every state that still possesses a remnant of prairie-chickens, or other grouse.
Iowa:
Pinnated grouse, wood-duck. Notwithstanding an invasion of Jasper County,
Iowa, in the winter of 1911-12 by hundreds of pinnated grouse, such as had not been known in 20 years, this gives no ground to hope that the future of the species is worth amoment'spurchase. ThewintermigrationcamefromtheDakotas,andwasbe- lievedtobeduetotheextraseverewinter,andthescarcityoffood. Commentingon
this unprecedented occurrence,
L. Sloanaker in the "Wilson Bulletin" No. 78, says:
J.
"In the opinion of many, the formerly abundant prairie chicken is doomed to early
extinction. Manywilltestifytotheirabundanceinthoseyears[inSouthDakota, 1902]whenthegreatlandmovementwastakingplace. Theinfluxofhungrysettlers,