BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY. 265 



FEDERAL MIGRATORY-BIRD LAW. 



As experience hiis been gained in the administration of the migra- 

 tory-bird kw, act of March 4, 1913 (37 Stat., 828, 847), it has become 

 necessary to readjust some of the prescribed seasons under the regu- 

 lations first adopted by the department on October 1, 1913. Amended 

 regulations were prepared and promulgated October 1, 1914, and 

 again on August 21, 1916. These amendments eliminated certain 

 provisions which experience proved were not essential for the conser- 

 vation of migratory birds and prescribed seasons which were gen- 

 erally more satisfactory to State game officials and sportsmen, and 

 at the same time gave the birds adequate protection. 



For administrative purposes the United States is divided into 

 13 districts, now under the supervision of 16 inspectors, who, with 

 the assistance of 186 Federal wardens, enforce the regulations in the 

 various States. During the year the commissions of 33 Federal 

 wardens were terminated and 29 new wardens were appointed. 



The district inspectors and Federal wardens reported 208 cases of 

 violation of the regulations, which make a total of 859 cases to date. 

 Since the law became effective prosecutions have been had in 29 

 cases, resulting in convictions and impositions of penalties in all but 

 5. Fines were paid in 18 and suspended in 6 cases. Twenty-five 

 cases are now pending in district courts in various parts of the coun- 

 try; and the transmission to the Department of Justice of 805 cases, 

 including those reported this year, is withheld pending the decision 

 of the United States Supreme Court in the case of The Ignited States 

 V. Harvey C. Shauver, involving the constitutionality of the law. 



That the violations reported by no means approximate the number 

 that have occurred is to be expected and is due to the impossibility in 

 many cases under the law of securing evidence sufficient to con- 

 vict. Possession of wild fowl during the closed season is not a vio- 

 lation under the Federal act, and there must be evidence of actual 

 shooting or capture on which to base a prosecution. Furthermore, 

 inspectors and wardens appointed under authority of the law have 

 no power of arrest, and hence many violators escape. 



Notwithstanding the difficulties attending enforcement, the present 

 law is very generally observed, and communications received from 

 game and fish commissioners and other persons contain incont^o^'er- 

 tible evidence that since the law became effective a very marked in- 

 crease in the number of waterfowl and shorebirds has been noted 

 in most of the States ; that wild fowl have become unusually tame in 

 spring; and that many thousands of waterfowl are breeding in cer- 

 tain localities where they had not nested for many years. The 

 consensus of opinion attributes these greatly improved conditions 

 to the abolition of spring shooting and the general observance of 

 the regulations. 



Owing to the limited number of inspectors available, it has been 

 necessary to confine their activities to States where they were most 

 needed, leaving many States with little or no supervision. In many 

 instances the State authorities have cooperated and have rendered 

 efficient assistance. State legislatures have made progress in line 

 with the Federal law and regulations, and during the year 18 States 

 amended their laws to the extent of making the open seasons on 



