Monthly Bulletin 5 



LEGISLATION 



Certain bird bills will come before the Legislature this winter which 

 ought to pass. One of these will be to make our State laws coincide with 

 the regulations of the federal migratory bird treaty act in all cases where 

 the State laws are not as strict as the federal laws. This will give the 

 wardens full authority to arrest under the State laws and prosecute in the 

 State Courts. As the matter stands now they can arrest under the Federal 

 law, but the evidence goes to Washington and the matter, in most cases, 

 seems to end there. In the State courts there would be quick action. 



Another matter which will probably be included in the recommenda- 

 tions of the State Department of Fisheries and Game will be a further 

 closed season for the ruffed grouse. This was effective in 1919, but in 

 1920 the ban was removed, with disastrous results in many portions of the 

 State. It is believed by many authorities that these birds are nearer 

 extirpation in this State than many of the sportsmen are willing to 

 acknowledge. The birds hang on against unfortunate conditions with 

 remarkable vigor, but the small army of nearly a hundred thousand licensed 

 gunners is going to be too many for them unless they are let alone for a 

 term of years and given a chance to recuperate. 



A bill will be presented authorizing the publication of a two-volume 

 monograph on the Birds of Massachusetts by the State Ornithologist, Edward 

 Howe Forbush, with illustrations in color of all our birds. This plan is of 

 great importance to all bird students. There would be a constant demand 

 for this book and without question the State would get its money back in 

 the course of a few years and have had the satisfaction of doing a fine 

 educational work along conservation lines. Two books of Mr. Forbush's, 

 "Useful Birds and Their Protection" and "Gamebirds and Waterfowl" have 

 been published in this way. Editions of both have sold out completely, 

 with satisfactory results. 



Dr. Hornaday and Mr. Hough suggest a radical curtailment in the 

 number of wild animals that a person may kill in a season as well as better 

 enforcement of the existing game laws. It is surprising that in a state 

 like New York one may legally kill in a single year as many as 800 deer, 

 rabbits, hares and squirrels and more than 9,000 birds of various species. 

 An Alaskan may kill animals representing 3,850 pounds of dressed meat 

 in a year. Dr. Hornaday recommends a reduction in the length of the 

 open season on migratory birds which now varies in different states from two 

 to three and a half months. 



Dr. Hornaday writes: "The only possible way we can retain what 

 game we have is to limit our greed and our speed in killing it. There is 

 no short cut, no royal road, no panacea, no cure all, no open sesame about 

 it. Shorter open seasons, more closed seasons, a strictly limited day's bag, 

 governed by laws actually enforced, actually understood, actually respected 

 — this is the only course which can possibly keep for us any sport worth 

 the name." Dr. Hornaday would permit individual hunters to obtain per- 

 mits only once in two years and would increase the license fees 200 per 

 cent. This is a subject that deserves the sympathetic attention of all hu- 

 manitarians. 



