44 



THE OOLOGIST 



BLUE LAWS AND YOUNG ORNI- 

 THOLOGISTS 



I note an article in the January Oolo- 

 gist recommending old timers to en- 

 courage study among the boys (and 

 why not the girls). Many of my 

 rarest birds were shown to me by a 

 little girl, the daughter of a settler liv- 

 ing back in the woods where bird life 

 abounded. I agree with everything 

 Mr. Baynard says atid have more tlian 

 once been tempted to send the Oolo 

 gist to some boy or girl interested in 

 birds, but on second thought have re- 

 frained. 



There is a fly in the ointment, a 

 snake in the grass. What is the use 

 of interesting boys and girls in a sub 

 ject which seems to be frowned on by 

 all the powers that be. It would only 

 lead to a natural desire to collect 

 specimens and so bring them into con- 

 flict with prejudiced and ignorant 

 officials, whose only interest in life is 

 to draw their salaries, and pretend to 

 earn them by making themselves gen- 

 erally obnoxious to anyone who takes 

 an interest in birds and desires to col- 

 lect a few specimens. 



I speak only of Alberta, the Do- 

 minion officials seem much more lib- 

 eral and better informed. In regard 

 to my own permit, I had no trouble 

 with the Dominion officials, but it was 

 twice refused endorsement by tlie Al- 

 berta Chief Game Warden. Having 

 complied with the regulations, I was 

 entitled to it strictly on my merits and 

 the recommendation of my endorsers, 

 two of the most prominent ornitholo- 

 gists in Canada. In the end I was 

 only able to secure his reluctant con- 

 sent through the exercise of pull. 



As I seem to be a particularly des- 

 perate criminal he abrogates the 

 treaty between Great Britian and the 

 United States to the extent that I am 

 not allowed to export a specimen from 

 the Province, though the permit as 

 issued by the Dominion authorities al- 

 low it. I continually receive letters 



from ornithologists and museum 

 officials desiring me to secure them 

 specimens of some of our northern 

 species. I would like to accommodate : 

 those gentlemen but am compelled to 

 refuse. 



I believe that an association of every 

 ornithologist and oologist in the 

 United States and Canada should b? 

 formed for the purpose of protecting 

 our interest and having some of these 

 severe restrictions modified. It is of 

 very little use for any individual to 

 protest against them. 



The weak point in the laws is that 

 in practice they are only enforceable 

 aaginst those who permanently pre- 

 serve what they take, that is the 

 scientific collector. If he breaks the 

 law he preserves the evidence for his 

 own conviction 



The man or boy who kills wantonly 

 simply throws the evidence away. The 

 Indian or Halfbreed who takes eggs 

 wholesale to eat also destroys the evi- 

 dence, and what about cats, dogs, 

 coyotes, crows, etc. The bird life des- 

 troyed by the ornithologist is a mere 

 drop in the bucket compared to that 

 destroyed by the other agencies, to 

 say nothing of the sportsman who kills 

 mere (and of the most valuable 

 species) than all other a'gencies com- 

 bined. Yet, the laws are very liberal 

 to sportsmen while only a few crumbs 

 are throwji in the direction of the or- 

 nithologist and oologist. 



The ornithologist is not by any 

 means the destroyer of bird life, that 

 the severity of the enactments against 

 him would lead the average person to 

 believe. Personally, I am a poor nat- 

 uralist because I hate to kill any non- 

 game bird and many species remain 

 unknown to me for that reason alone. 

 Although entitled to do so I did not 

 collect a single bird or eggs last sea- 

 son contenting myself with a note- 

 book and camera'. 



I regard oologiy as one of the most 

 fascinating and healthy of pursuits. It 



