The Audubon Societies 



143 



South Carolina. — By the provisions of 

 the recent state bird and game law enacted 

 by the South Carolina Legislature, the mem- 

 bers of the National Association of Audu- 

 bon Societies resident in that state were in- 

 corporated and clothed with all the powers 

 usually enjoyed by a State Game Commis- 

 sion. Under its provisions, the Audubon 

 Society has the authority to select all the 

 game-wardens of the state who will operate 

 under its directon. Money gathered from 

 the sale of the $10 state non-resident hunt- 

 ers' license goes to the society, and this, to- 

 gether with the membership fee, constitutes 

 the fund which the society will have for 

 carrying forward its work. 



On April 9, the society was formally 

 organized under its charter and includes, 

 among the members of the Board of Direc- 

 tors, some of the best known people of the 

 state. President B. F. Taylor, of Columbia, 

 has already begun work by renovating the 

 present list of game-wardens, and is carry- 

 ing forward the educational work begun by 

 the National Association. — T. Gilbert 

 Pearson. 



South Dakota. — In this state the model 

 law was adopted during the present ses- 

 sion of the Legislature, and an Audubon 

 Society has been organized which bids 

 fair to be both active and aggressive. Its 

 president is Charles E. Holmes, of Sioux 

 Falls, and the secretary is George A. Petti- 

 grew, of the same place. 



Oregon. — A bill amending the model 

 law was introduced and, notwithstanding 

 the hard work done in opposition to the 

 amendment by the Oregon Audubon Society 

 and others interested in the preservation of 

 the wild birds of that state, it passed the 

 Legislature. The bill was vicious in its 

 character, since it provided that all protec- 

 tion should be removed from "Owls, Hawks, 

 Butcher - birds. Magpies, Black - birds. 

 Woodpeckers and Applebirds, and, further, 

 that nothing in this act shall be considered as 

 preventing farmers, gardeners and orchard- 

 ists from destroying any birds other than 

 game-birds when necessary to prevent de- 

 struction of crops from the ravages of birds." 



Governor George E. Chamberlain, after a 

 careful examination of the bill, discovered 

 how prejudicial it was to the best interests 

 of the state, and very wisely vetoed the 

 measure. 



The National Association will take steps 

 to have a large amount of educational liter- 

 ature circulated and many bird lectures 

 given in that state before the next session of 

 the Legislature, in order that the people 

 may fully understand the value of wild 

 birds, an.i will also have the claimed 

 "depredations" of birds thoroughly investi- 

 gated, in order to see how much truth 

 there may be in the charges made by the 

 orchardists. 



Texas. — ^The Texas Legislature enacted, 

 and the Governor signed, two bills for the 

 protection of the wild birds and wild ani- 

 mals of this state, one being a game-warden 

 statute, and the other a reenactment of the 

 general game and bird law passed by the 

 Legislature in 1903, the new bill being 

 practically the same as the old bill, the 

 changes being mostly unimportant. Under 

 the law, which will be operative next July, 

 the non-marketing and non-transportation 

 sections are retained in all their strength, 

 and that we conceive to be the most impor- 

 tant of all. The law enacted in 1903, with- 

 out a warden system for its enforcement, 

 was, nevertheless, a means of saving to the 

 state its wild birds and game in a great 

 measure, although thousands of dozens of 

 Quail were marketed and water fowl were 

 slaughtered and sold in carload lots. The 

 Texas Audubon Society estimates that the 

 old law, without the warden system, re- 

 duced the slaughter after its enactment 

 fully 50 percent annually, and that if it had 

 failed of enactment in 1903, and the state 

 left unprotected from that time until now, 

 there would be no game birds and game 

 animals in the state now in sufficient quan- 

 tity to make it an object to look after them. 

 Prior to 1903, the slaughter was progress- 

 ing at a rate which would have resulted in 

 annihilation, and after the model bird and 

 game law was enacted, it was only through 

 constant vigilance of the Audubon societies 

 and kindred organizations that its partial. 



