GAME PROTECTION 



XIX 



It is sometimes said that game legislation will not save a species from destruction, 

 and this fact is shown by the history of the buffalo and the pigeon. The most casual 

 examination of their history will show that game legislation played no part in the fate of 

 these species. A close season during the period of reproduction was denied them until 

 too late, and even then there was little serious attempt to enforce the laws. 



One of the most important features of the work under the Federal law has been co- 

 operation with State officials and aiding them, so far as possible, in their efforts to secure 

 more effective laws and solve the numerous problems which constantly arise in game-law 

 enforcement. Thus in Massachusetts the game commission has been placed in possession 

 of facts relating to the protection of non-game birds and the restriction of sale of birds for miUi- 



MAP SHOWING NATIONAL AND STATE GAME PRESERVES 



nery purposes. In Pennsylvania the secretary of the game commission has been supplied with 

 information on various matters of legislation and game protection; in Delaware the State 

 Game Protective Association has been aided in securing more effective laws; and in Mary- 

 land and North Carolina the State authorities have been furnished summaries of the local 

 laws and annual posters showing the close seasons for game in each of the counties of these 

 States. These are merely illustrative examples. 



WORK OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETIES 



The most important factor in the protection of non-game birds in the United States 

 has been the work of the Audubon Societies. In educating the general public in the 

 economic value of birds and in creating public sentiment in favor of bird protection, these 

 organizations have met with remarkable success, and their educational work has paved the 

 way for still more successful efforts in securing the adoption and enforcement of uniform laws 

 and in specific measures for bird protection. 



However successful the Audubon societies may have been in their efforts to secure 

 legislation, their practical work of enforcement has been more effective. Though the aid 

 of funds, raised chiefly by popular subscription, protection has been extended to all the 

 important colonies of sea birds breeding along the Atlantic coast from Maine to Chesapeake 

 Bay, on the coasts of North Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana, and at certain points in 



