130 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



INTERSTATE COMMERCE. 



Prosecutions were promptly begun under the new criminal code, 

 effective January 1, 1910, which removed certain technical difficulties 

 contained in the Lacey Act. In this connection investigation was 

 made of certain shipping centers of the Middle West, heretofore the 

 chief field of illegal traffic in game. As a result of these investiga- 

 tions and of the activity of local officials, the situation in this region 

 is now practically under control. 



PLUMAGE. 



The Department has cooperated with Oregon, California, Missouri, 

 and New York in an effective campaign against the use of plumage 

 of native birds for milHnery purposes. The broader question of 

 international cooperation in the protection of the plumage birds of 

 the world is steadily coming to the front. The latest important move 

 is the appointment of an international committee on bird protection 

 by the Fifth International Ornithological Congress, held at Berlin in 

 the latter part of May. Thirteen countries are represented on this 

 committee besides the United States, one of whose two representa- 

 tives is an official of this Department. 



BIRD RESERVATIONS. 



During the year an inspection was made of several of the bird reser- 

 vations by officers and agents of the Department. Wardens for six- 

 teen reservations were appointed, and several of these were assigned 

 the duty of studying special phases of bird life. Serious depredations 

 on the Hawaiian Reservation were reported to the Department, and 

 by arrangement with the Secretary of the Treasury a revenue cutter 

 was dispatched to the scene in January. Twenty-three poachers 

 were arrested on Laysan and Lisiansky islands, and 259,000 wings 

 and a large quantity of other plumage were seized. The poachers 

 were brought to Honolulu and were given a nominal sentence, pro- 

 ceedings being at once instituted against their employer. 



NATIONAL BISON RANGE. 



Thirty-seven pure-bred buffalo, most of them from the estate of 

 C. C. Conrad, at Kalispell, Mont., were placed on the Montana Bison 

 Range. An increase of eleven calves during the season raised the 

 total number of the herd to 48. In addition to the buffalo, several 

 white-tailed deer, presented by the city of Missoula, were placed on 

 the range. 



