The Audubon Societies 



49 



H. R. 10276 was introdiuc'd in the Housi- 

 •of Representatives on May 28, 1901;, by 

 Hon. John W. Weeks, of the Twelfth 

 Congressional District, Massachusetts. It 

 is a bill to protect migratory birds in the 

 United Stales, and reads as follows: 



"Be it enacted by the Senate and House 

 of Representatives of the United States of 

 .\merica. in Congress assembled, that all 

 Geese, Swans, Brant, Ducks, Snipe, Plover, 

 Woodcock, Rail, Pigeons and all other 

 migratory birds which, in their northern 

 and southern migrations, pass through or 

 do not remain permanently the entire year 

 within the borders of any state or territory, 

 shall hereafter be deemed to l)e within the 

 custody and protection of the Govern- 

 ment of the United States, and shall not 

 be destroyed or taken contrary to regu- 

 lations hereinafter provided for. 



"Sec. 2. That the Department of -Agri- 

 culture is hereby authorized to adopt suit- 

 able regulations to give effect to the pre- 

 vious section by prescribing and fixing 

 closed seasons, having due regard to the 

 zones of temperature, breeding habits, 

 and times and line of migratory flight, 

 thereby enabling the department to select 

 and designate suitaljle distrit Is for differ- 

 ent portions of the c(juntry within which 

 said closed seasons it shall not be lawful 

 to shoot or by any device kill or seize and 

 capture migratory birds within the pro- 

 tection of this law, and by declaring penal- 

 ties by fine or imprisonment, or both, f<^r 

 violations of such regulations. 



"Sec. .V That the Department of .Agri- 

 culture, after the preparation of said 

 regulations, shall cause the same to be 

 made public, and shall allow a period of 

 three months in which said regulations may 

 be examined and considered before final 

 adopting, permitting, when deemed proper, 

 public hearings thereon, and, after final 

 adoption, to cause same to l)e engrossed 

 and submitted to the Pre>i(lent of the 

 United States ior approval: Provided, 

 however, That nothing herein contained 

 shall be deemed to affect or interfere with 

 the local laws of the States and Territories 

 for the protection of game localized within 

 their borders, nor to prevent the States and 



Territories from enai ling laws and regu- 

 lations lo promote and render efficient 

 the regulations of the Dejjartment of 

 .Agriculture provided under this statute." 



.\udubon work has been carried on for 

 lwent\-five years, atid a material part of 

 the efforts made by it have been for the pur- 

 l)ose of securing uniform laws for the pro- 

 tection of wild birds in the United States. 

 While considerable progress has been 

 made, yet there is practically no uniformity 

 f)f protective laws. The passage of the 

 l)resenl bill will do more good than a cen- 

 tury of effort with state legislatures. 



This bill has received the endorsement 

 of the .American Ornithologists' Union, 

 which passed the following resolution at 

 its Twenty-seventh Congress, giving, in a 

 clear and comprehensive manner, the 

 reasons why it advocates the bill. 



Resolved: That the American Orni- 

 thologists' Union heartily approves of 

 H. R. 10276, introduced May 28, 1909 by 

 the Hon. Mr. Weeks, of Massachusetts, 

 entitled ".A bill to Protect Migratory 

 Birds of the United States," for the reason 

 that the Union recognizes the difficulty of. 

 obtaining uniform and satisfactory legis- 

 lation for migratory birds from State 

 Legislatures, and it further believes that 

 all l)irds which do not remain permanently 

 during the entire year within the borders 

 of any Stiite or Territory, are logically 

 the wards of the Nation, and should be 

 placed in the care of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture. 



.Attest: Jno. H. Sack, Secretary. 



St.\te. — The readers of BiRD-LouE are 

 well acquainted with the effort made 

 last year l)y the .Audubon Society of the 

 state of Xcw A'ork to secure an amend- 

 ment to the plumage law of the state, and 

 how the matter ended. That society 

 does not propose to abandon its efforts 

 until it has secured what it considers a 

 necessary amendment to the wild bird 

 law in the state. It has introduced an 

 amendment to Sections g8 and 240 of the 

 state law as follows: 



Sec. I. Section ninety-eight of chapter 

 twentv-four of the laws of nineteen hun- 



