330 



APPENDIX III. 



as evidence of illegal killing, but is now made an offence punisli- 

 able by fine in several States. The right of a State to make 

 laws regarding birds imported from other States has been vigor- 

 ously contested and has been variously decided by the courts, 

 but the question has now been practically set at rest by the 

 ])assage of the Lacey Act. Some States have hesitated to en- 

 croach upon the rights of the individual, as shown by the excep- 

 tion in favor of land-owners in the section of the Delaware law 

 relating to insectivorous birds, and also by the provisions in the 

 laws of Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, and South 

 Carolina which i)ermit a person to kill birds found destroying 

 fruit on his own premises. On the other hand, Massachusetts 

 declares that game artificially reared shall be the exclusive prop- 

 erty of the person raising it, but for1)ids the owner to sell it for 

 food during close seasons. Illinois exacts a ten-dollar hunting 

 license from non-residents, even though they lease or own a 

 game preserve within the State, and Wyoming, in the famous 

 " Race Horse case," carried up to the Supreme Court in 189G, 

 has successfully maintained her right to compel Indians to ol)ey 

 her game laws (103 l\ S., 504). 



During the last fifty years the sentiment in favor of bird pro- 

 tection has develo])ed rapidly. Many laws have been enacted, 

 amended, and sustained l)y the courts. That these laws are still 

 imperfect is partly the residt of carelessness and partly of strong 

 o])position due to ignorance or selfishness. Our game laws, un- 

 like those of Euroi)e. are maintained for the good of the people, 

 as a whole, not for the benefit of any one class, and their enforce- 

 ment depends very largely on a general appreciation of the prin- 

 ciples upon which they are based. — Bird Lore, vol. iii., pages 

 79-81. 



