Page 74 - Our Vanishing Wild Life

52 OUR VANISHING WILD LIFE
small non-game birds. The sea otter is almost extinct.—(A. Bryan Williams, Pro- vincial Game Warden, Vancouver.)
Manitoba:
Whooping crane, vs^ood-duck and golden plover. Other species begin to show a
markedincrease,duetoourstringentprotectivemeasures. Forexample,thepinnated grouse and sharp-tailed grouse are more plentiful than in 15 years. Prong-homed antelope and wolf are threatened with extinction.—(J. P. Turner, Winnipeg.)
The game birds indigenous to this Province are fairly plentiful. Though the prairie chicken was very scarce some few years ago, these birds have become very plentiful again, owing to the strict enforcement of our present "Game Act." The elk are in danger of becoming extinct if they are not stringently guarded. Beaver and otter were almost extinct some few years ago, but are now on the increase, owing to a strict enforcement of the "Game Act."—(Charles Barber, Winnipeg.)
New Brunswick:
Partridge,ploverandwoodcock. Mooseanddeeraregettingmoreplentifulevery
year.—(W. W. Gerard, St. John.)
Nova Scotia:
The Canada grouse may possibly become extinct in Nova Scotia, unless the pro-
tection it now enjoys can save it. The American golden plover, which formerly came in immense flocks, is now very rare. Snowflakes are very much less common than formerly, but I think this is because our winters are now usually much less severe. The caribou is almost extinct on the mainland of Nova Scotia, but is still found in NorthCapeBretonIsland. Thewolfhasbecomeexcessivelyrare,butasitisfound inNewBrunswick,itmayoccurhereatanytimeagain. Thebeaverhadbeenthreat- ened with extinction; but since being protected, it has multiplied, and is now on a fairly safe footing again.—(Curator of Museum, Halifax.)
Ontario:
Quail are getting scarce. —(E. Tinsley, Toronto.)
Wood-duck, bob white, woodcock, golden plover, Hudsonian curlew, knot and dow-
itcher [are threatened with extinction.]—(C. W. Nash, Toronto.)
Prince Edward Island:
The species threatened with extinction are the golden plover, American woodcock,
pied-billed grebe, red-throated loon, sooty shearwater, gadwall, ruddy duck, black- crowned night heron, Hudsonian godwit, kildeer, northern pileated woodpecker, chimney swift, yellow-bellied flycatcher, red-winged blackbird, pine finch, magnolia warbler, ruby-crowned kinglet. ^(E. T. Carbonell, Charlottetown.)
In closing the notes of this survey, I repeat my assurance that they are not offered on a basis of infalHbiHty. It would require years of work to obtain answers from forty-eight states to the three questions that I have asked that could be offered as absolutely exact. All these reports are submitted on the well-recognized court-testimony basis,—"to the best ofourknowledgeandbelief." Gatheredastheyhavebeenfrompersons whose knowledge is good, these opinions are therefore valuable; and they furnish excellent indices of wild-life conditions as they exist in 1912 in the various states and provinces of North America north of Mexico.