42 



THE OSPREY. 



Garnoniia^pariiiieiit. 



Edited by DONALD A. COHEN, 

 Alameda, Cal. 



All Ornithologists west of the Rocky Mountains will favor the 

 editor of this Department, as well as the publisher of Uhe 

 OsTREV. by furnishing notes, news, or articles and dlustrations 

 for publication. 



THE Cooper Ornoitholg-ical Club, of 

 California, held its October meet- 

 ing- on the 3d, at the residence of 

 Mr. W. E. Bryant, at Oakland. The fol- 

 lowing- members being- present: R. C. 

 Mc(;reg-or, W. H. Osg-ood, W. E. Bryant, 

 R. S. Wheeler, C. Barlow, D. A. Cohen, 

 (;e(). Chamberlin, Rev. E. L. Hood, H. R. 

 Taylor and Mr. Moran. An interesting- 

 paper by Mr. H. B. Kaeding- on the Olive- 

 sided Flycatcher, was, in the absence of 

 the author, read by Mr. Cohen, and Mr. 

 W. O. Emerson's article on the unusual 

 and heavy w^ave of migrating- Louisiania 

 Tanag-ers at Hay wards last spring-, was 

 read by Mr. Taylor in the absence of the 

 author. The usual business was trans- 

 acted, and the meeting- adjourned untill 

 Nov. 7, when it will meet at Berkeley at 

 the residence of Rev. E. L. llood. 



WE do not know what the result of 

 the inter - colleg-iate foot-ball 

 g-ame will be this fall, but we do 

 know that last spring- a University of 

 California man went to Palo Alto and 

 carried home a line set of eg-g-s of the 

 White-tailed Kite from a nest in a tree 

 in plain view of Stanford University. 



California Game Laws, 



EAME Laws are causing- trouble in 

 and about San Francisco. The sea- 

 son opens Oct. 15th and closes Feb. 

 15th, but the sale of g-ame is forbidden, 

 except from Nov. 15th to Jan. 15th. This 

 law went into effect in 1895, and was en- 

 forced wherever practicable, not without 

 considerable opposition, however, for the 

 market hunters and commission men 

 claimed that if g-ame could be leg-ally 

 killed it could be leg-ally sold. 



In 1894 the open season extended from 

 Oct. 1st to March 1st, under the State 

 Law, with some counties extending- the 

 closed season. The object of the State 



Law in shortening- the open season ( in 

 1895 ) did not have the desired effect of 

 protecting- g-ame as much as intended, 

 and consequently it was revised, extend- 

 ing the closed season fifteen days and 

 shortening- the open season fifteen days, 

 making- one month's less shooting-. 



It will be seen that there are four 

 months in the year in which any one can 

 shoot for recreation and pleasure, and 

 but two months in which to shoot for 

 financial g-ain. This the market hunters 

 and commission men claim is class leg-is- 

 lation, in favor of the rich and to the dis- 

 advantag-e of the poor. If a man has not 

 time or money to eng-ag-e in the popular 

 pastime of killing- wdld g-ame he must 

 either depend on some more fortunate 

 person to donate him an occasional brace 

 of ducks or quail or must abide his time 

 until it is lawful to buy them. It may be 

 class leg-islation, but, it has the desired 

 effect of preventing- the unlimited 

 slaug-hter of g-ame, and then these fowls 

 are not necessities of life, only luxuries, 

 and can be easily dispensed with for the 

 short time. 



A g-reat many birds, however, found 

 their way into the market, invoiced as 

 rabbits or squirrels, and were disposed of 

 on the sly to confiding- buyers. Arrests 

 and convictions followed in cases detected, 

 but, this year many of the San Francisco 

 commission men openly violated the law 

 in a most flag-rant manner by offering- 

 ducks and quail for sale over two weeks 

 prior to the open season. It is reported 

 that there is a compact of commission 

 men formed to openly violate the game 

 law that provides that no g-ame can be 

 sold except between Nov. 15 and Jan. 15, 

 and they have notified the market hunt- 

 ers to beg-in shipping- on the first day of 

 the open season (Oct. 15. ) 



They are simply taking- advantag-e of 

 a defect in the law. Owing- to someone's 

 bung-ling- work the minimum penalty for 

 violations is stated in the statutes, and 

 not the maximums. Therefore the pen- 

 alty cannot be leg-ally g-uag-ed. On this 

 fine point a rail hunter who killed his 

 g-ame before the open season was dis- 

 charged. 



The g-ame warden surprised a San 

 Francisco dealer selling- ducks on Sept. 

 25, and confiscated the lot. Many of 

 them were "flappers," their wing- feath- 



