Editorial 



251 



iltrtf^itore 



A Bi-Monthly Mairazine 



Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds 



OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETIES 



Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



ContributinK Editor. MABELOSGOOD WRIGHT 



Published by D. APPLETON & CO. 



Vol. XV Published August 1, 1913 No. 4 



SUBSCRIPTION RATES 

 Price in the United Suies. Cwada and Mexico, twenty c 

 . number, one dollar a year, postage paid. 



COPYRIGHTED, 1913, BY FRANK M. CHAPM/ 



Bird-Lore's Motto: 

 A Bird in the Bush Is Worth Two 



the Hand 



Biological Survey Circular No. 92, 

 "Proposed Regulations for the Protection 

 of Migratory Birds," which we reprint in 

 this issue of Bird-Lork, is doubtless the 

 most important document in relation to 

 bird-protection which has ever appeared 

 in this country — possibly in any country. 

 Indeed, in application, its provisions 

 promise to be so far-reaching that the 

 mind cannot at once grasp its full signifi- 

 cance. In brief, the government at Wash- 

 ington has declared that migratory birds 

 are the property of the nation, and not the 

 individual assets of sportsmen, market- 

 gunners, game-dealers, or millinery col- 

 lectors, and that they shall be protected 

 by a federal law, based on due considera- 

 tion of all the facts involved, and not 

 subject to the endless variety of local in- 

 fluences which render state laws so un- 

 stable. Hereafter, therefore, it will not 

 be necessary to watch with apprehension 

 every legislature in session, lest some 

 pernicious measure be introduced or some 

 hard-won law be repealed or so modified 

 as to be rendered useless. 



But wholly aside from its potentialities 

 as a preserver of bird-life, one is impressed 

 by the fact that in passing the act on which 

 this Circular No. 92 is based, the law has 

 paid an eloquent tribute to science. The 

 drafting of the "regulations" for which 

 the act provided was not placed in the 

 hands of committeemen whose proceed- 

 ings might be controlled by the wishes of 

 their constituents, but, fully appreciating 



the need of the service of experts, the mat- 

 ter was entrusted to the Department of 

 .\griculture, with the knowledge that its 

 Ihireau of Biological Survey was equipped 

 both with men and data to prepare satis- 

 factorily the regulations called for. Only 

 those who have appeared before legisla- 

 tive committees to combat ignorance, 

 prejudice, self-interest, perhaps worse, 

 in the effort to secure the passage of some 

 desirable bill, can understand how truly 

 miraculous it seems to learn* that, in effect, 

 so far as migratory birds are concerned, 

 the "Game Committee" of every state in 

 the Union consists of T. S. Palmer, A. K. 

 Fisher, and W. W. Cooke! — members of 

 the Biological Survey, who have prepared 

 the regulations proposed. 



But our satisfaction goes further. These 

 professional ornithologists were qualified 

 to act not only because of their individual 

 fitness, but because they were in posses- 

 sion of adequate information concerning 

 the distribution, migration, and food of 

 North American birds. And for this in- 

 formation they are largely indebted to the 

 thousands of volunteer observers and 

 contributors who, ever since 1885 (when 

 the Committee of the American Orni- 

 thologists' Union from which the Survey 

 sprung, issued its first call for cooperation) 

 have been supplying the Survey with data. 



While, therefore, we gladly give our 

 thanks to Messrs. Shiras, Weeks, and 

 McLean, champions in Congress of 

 federal bird-protection, and to all the 

 individuals and organizations who helped 

 to secure the passage of this law, let us not 

 forget the generally isolated workers who 

 have supplied the ammunition, without 

 which the battle could not have been won. 



As for the regulations themselves, the 

 committee appears to have handled suc- 

 cessfully a novel and exceedingly difficult 

 problem. Doubtless, the discussion in- 

 vited will make even more effective the 

 law finally adopted, and we particularly 

 hope that the Bobolink will be protected 

 at all seasons. 



*From Biological Survey Circular No. 93 'Ex- 

 planation of the Proposed Regulations for the Pro- 

 tection of Migratory Birds.' 



