Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 218, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 September 1915 — GAME BIRDS ARE SCARCE [ARTICLE]

GAME BIRDS ARE SCARCE

Few Coveys Remain on Prairies Where Once There Were Many Thousands. ' Sabetha, Kan. —Thirty years ago the prairies of Nemaha county were populated with coveys of quail and flocks of prairie chickens. Professional hunters came from the river cities and killed them for market. These destroyers counted it a poor day’s work of 200 birds. These were drawn when killed and shipped daily. On the city markets the' chickens .brought $2 a dozen and the quail sl. The chickens have been exterminated from the county and a farmer who possesses a covey of quail these days considers them so valuable as insect destroyers that he prosecutes hunters who even scare the birds. In those days the quail in the month of September gathered in droves and migrated. They were very tame and quiet when in numbers. They walked or ran as a rule, so that the weakest were not lost. Bird lovers in those days tried to protect the young, but the professional hunters slaughtered them even with clubs.