THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



419 



Our Native Birds' Protectorate 



Under the Direction of the Committees on Bird Preservation and Propagation. 



National Association of Gardeners, L. H. Jensen, St. Louis, Mo., Chairman. 



American Association of Park Superintendents, Hermann Merkel, New York, Chairman. 



COMMITTEE MEETING AT SAN FRANCISCO. 



At a joint niectini; of the (.niuniittecs of [5ird i'reserva- 

 tion anti IVopai^ation of the Xalional .Association of (iar- 

 deners and the American .Association of Park Superin- 

 tendents, held in San Francisco on Atigu.st 19. 1915, it 

 was decided to help in the preservation and propagation 

 of insectivorous and other desirable birds in private and 

 public parks, and with tliis end in view, to, first: encour- 

 age the erection of nesting boxes, feeding and bathing 

 appliances; second: the planting of berry bearing trees 

 and shrubs, useful as bird food ; third : the co-operation 

 with Audubon .SocieticN and others working towards the 

 preservation and propagation of useful birds, and recom- 

 mend that park boards and others join the National As- 

 sociation, of -Audubon Societies. We recommend that 

 the work of this kind in public jiarks be carried out under 

 the supervision of the [lark boards of the various cities 

 and towns, and that su])erintendents be called upon to 

 bring this matter to the attention of their respective 

 boards. L. P. Jensen, Chairman, 



Xational .Association of Gardeners, 

 n. W. AIekkkl, Chairman. 

 American .\ssociation of Park Superintendents. 



HOW TO PROTECT OUR BIRDS. 

 By Hermann Merkel, New York. 



When asked what nietliods should lie ])ursued for the 

 protection and encouragement of the birds in public 

 parks, my answer has always been : 



First. — Kill the cats. Every cat is a potential enemy 

 to bird life. Even the most pampered pet of some house- 

 hold will hunt birds when it has a chance, and while the 

 a])])lication of a gaudy ribbon and a bell will ])revent the 

 cats from preying upon adult ))irds, young tledglings and 

 nestlings are still at their mercy. The best method for 

 eradicating cats in pulilic or private parks is to supply 

 some good shot among the emjiloyees with a .22 rifle, a 

 .M;i\im silencer, and iilentv of ammunition. Let him 

 pr(i\\l around early in the morning and evening, and if 

 his b.eart is in his \\firk, there will be a great deal less 

 music on the back fences in the neighborhood of that 

 particular jjark in a surprisingly short time. ( )ften cats 

 become so wary that they cannot be reached with a .22 

 calibre rifle, and since it is not safe to use a high power 

 rifle, in most of these parks, traps must be resorted to. 

 .A box trap baited with fi^h will usually do the business. 



Second. — Supply nesting sites liy means of bird 

 houses, and by leaving a few jiartially dead trees in the 

 wilder portions of the parl<. 



Third. — Feed the bird-~ I I nder the conilitions usually 

 fountl in citv parks there will l)e times when insectivorous 

 as well as seed eating binls will suffer for food, and mi- 

 grate unless artificially supplied. Enough has been writ- 

 ten bv Audubon societies, and the lliological Survey, and 

 others, about nesting and bird feeding places, to make it 

 unnecessary for me to go into the subject thoroughly, but 

 I may state that for winter feeding we use a simple wire 

 basket into which suet is dropped, and a small platform 



u|)on whicli is placed a mixture of wild >ee(ls which we 

 are able to purchase very cheaply. 



Protection .Against ( iunners. — In or near every large 

 city, there are settlement- wliicli contain bird lumters 

 (we have found the Italians to lie the worst offenders). 

 To these people all birds are food. We have caught them 

 with such birds as the \ ellow-billed cuckoo, lilue-jay, 

 catbird, robin, warblers and linches. These hunters nuist 

 be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and if the 

 magistrates will not punish them, the^■ must be made to 

 do so, by enlisting public (jpinion. .A few convictions 

 under the Federal Song llird Law. which provides a fine 

 of $25 for each bird found, will soon get noised about, 

 and will stop the hunting, and just a few determined men 

 can bring this about. 



There are a luimber of \\a\s by which sentiment in 

 favor of bird |)rotection may be created and fostered. 

 .Among those tried and found good, mav be mentioned 

 lectures on birds in the schools and elsewhere, descriptive 

 and news articles in the daily papers, competitive bird 

 house Iniilding by school children, the winner to be L;i\en 

 small jjrizes, etc., etc. 



I^et each superintendent of a private or public pnvk 

 communicate with the nearest Audubon society and 

 promise his co-operation. Get his school board to en- 

 courage nature studies, and help teachers and others with 

 information and s])ecimens, such as old bird nests, etc. 

 Let each of us follow the above directions, and such 

 others as more able ach-isors can give us, and we will give 

 a new impetus to this good vyork, and be amply rewarded 

 by the birds theiuselves, in song, and in tree protection 

 against insects. 



THE BIRDS IN COURT. 



Every lover of birds await- with great interest the 

 appearance of their representatives before the U. S. 

 Supreme Court next October. ( )ur readers will remem- 

 Ijer the universal rejoicing that followed the passage of 

 the migratory bird law two years ago. By this act of 

 Federal legislation our migratory birds passed under the 

 protection of the national government. The claim was 

 made, and justly, it seems to us, that migratory birds 

 belong to no single State, and can not be destroyed 

 by hunters even if an individual .State so \yills it. 



.A hunter in Arkansas defied the I'^deral law. and the 

 courts of .\rkansas sustained his contention on the 

 ground that the law was unconstitutional. An a])peal 

 has been taken to the Su|)reme Court at Washington. 

 The case will be heard in October, when the .Attorney 

 General of the L'nited States will ajjpear for the birds. 



We are informed that up to the present the law has 

 been very generally observed ; that in many sections it 

 has stopped certain kinds of shooting altogether. Its 

 opponents are those hunters whose desire for "sport," or 

 whose profits from their trade, have been interfered with. 

 It is certain that during this present year many of us have 

 observed a large increase in the number of several va- 

 rieties of migratory birds. May a gracious Providence 

 incline the minds nf the nation's most distinguished 

 judges to give the birds every possible chance as against 

 the lumters! — Our Dumb .liiinial.^. 



