346 Bird -Lore 



solidate it with another department, and to reorganize it with a single head. 

 All of these attempts failed, and, the term of Commissioner John W. Delano 

 having expired, the Governor appointed in his place Mr. George H. Graham, 

 of Springfield. This excellent appointment gives to western Massachusetts a 

 representative on the Commission — a privilege which that section has not 

 enjoyed for many years. 



Rhode Island. — The volume of attempted legislation in Rhode Island 

 was small. Only nine bills affecting the protection of birds and animals were 

 presented. The Rhode Island Audubon Society presented a bill establishing 

 an office of State Ornithologist. This bill was advocated before the Committee 

 on Agriculture by representatives of that association and by your agent; it 

 was favored by the Secretary of the Board of Agriculture, and met with no 

 public opposition. Secret and powerful influences worked successfully, how- 

 ever, to defeat it. As a matter of necessary economy, and because of the 

 great amount of work that was imperative in other states, your agent was 

 obliged to spend as little time as possible in Rhode Island, and depended on 

 others to keep him informed regarding the bills that were introduced. By a 

 misunderstanding, one bill did not reach him until nearly the last of the session, 

 when it had passed both houses. The part of this bill which is now a law pro- 

 hibits the sale of shore birds, but extends the open season fifteen days. The 

 advocates of protection believed that they were making a gain by conceding 

 fifteen days more open season, and securing the prohibition of sale. Undoubt- 

 edly, however, the season might have been held where it was, and the sale 

 prohibited, also, had the matter been taken up in time. An act for the extend- 

 ing of the open season of fifteen days on rabbits, hares and gray squirrels 

 was passed. The others were defeated, as, although some of them contained 

 good provisions, they also contained bad ones. The Hunters' License Bill 

 was strengthened by prohibiting issuance of licenses to boys under fifteen 

 years of age. 



Connecticut. — The mass of legislation proposed in Connecticut was 

 somewhat confusing, owing to the number and variety of bills covering certain 

 subjects. Some of these bills were legislative curiosities. One, for example, 

 proposed to allow each town to regulate the protection of birds and game in 

 any way that it might see fit. Such a law would have placed the State of Con- 

 necticut in a position worse than that of North Carolina, where a system of 

 county laws now exists. Laws w^ere proposed to allow night shooting, spring 

 shooting, the shooting of birds from power-boats, etc. Twelve bills were 

 Introduced to change the present law regarding wild fowl. Most of these 

 extended the shooting season beyond the first of January, and one was intended 

 to abolish the present law altogether. These were all finally defeated except 

 one, which proposed to close the month of September, and open the month of 

 January, to shooting. The Committee on Fisheries and Game did not agree 

 upon this, and made a divided report. After that, the bill was the football 



