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CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 



CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 



A publication devoted to the conserva- 

 tion of wild life and published quarterly 

 by the California State Fish and Game 

 Commission. 



Sent free to citizens of the State of Cali- 

 fornia. Offered in exchange for ornitho- 

 log^ical, mammalogical and similar period- 

 icals. 



The articles published in California Fish 

 AND Game are not copyrighted and may be 

 reproduced in other periodicals, provided 

 due credit is given the California Fish and 

 Game Commission. Editors of newspapers 

 and periodicals are invited to make use of 

 pertinent material. 



All material for publication should be 

 sent to H. C. Bryant, Museum of Verte- 

 brate Zoology, Berkeley, Cat. 



April 15, 1917. 



THE NEW COMMISSIONER. 

 On December S, 1916, Mr. Edward L. 

 Bosqui of San Francisco was appointed 

 fish and game commissioner to succeed 

 Carl Westerfeld, who was elected at that 

 time to the office of executive officer of 

 the commission. Mr. Bosqui is a son of 

 Edward Bosqui, a pioneer printer and 

 publisher of San Francisco. The pres- 

 ent commissioner, like his father, is a 

 lover of field sports and has found recre- 

 ation in fishing and hunting since bis 

 boyhood days. This long experience 

 with the fish and game of California 

 makes of Mr. Bosqui a most valuable ally 

 of the men who hunt and fish and of 

 those interested in wild life conservation. 



Acquainted with the out-of-doors as few 

 men are, he brings to his new position a 

 knowledge of conditions that is sure to 

 count for better fish and game conserva- 

 tion. His slogan is: "More fish and 

 game for all of the people." 



NEW GAME LEGISLATION. 



As in past years there has been much 

 interest taken in the fish and game legis- 

 lation before the present legislature. In 

 all 60 senate bills and 106 assembly bills 

 relative to fish and game were introduced 

 during the month of January. Some of 

 these bills are constructive conservation 

 bills ; others would tear down much of 

 the protective work of past years. 



Noticeable among destructive bills are 

 those relating to the taking of protection 

 from such nongame birds as the red- 

 shafted flicker or "yellowhammer," the 

 meadowlark and the blackbird, and the 

 taking of protection from ducks and geese 

 in certain areas where it is claimed they 

 are causing damage to rice. Provisos in 

 our laws already stipulate that crops 

 may be protected from the depredations 

 of nongame birds. At least four bills 

 provide for extensive bounties on preda- 

 tory birds and animals. One bill sets 

 aside $80,000 for bounties, and still an- 

 other, one-fourth of all hunting license 

 fees. Any such step would be a back- 

 ward step, judging from the experience of 

 other states. The bounty system has no- 

 where been a success except in those rare 

 instances where a single animal of un- 

 common occurrence is the one on which 

 a bounty is paid. In almost every case 

 where the bounty system has been tried 

 it has resulted in fraud and misrepresen- 

 tation and in an early depletion of the 

 public treasury. 



A number of bills of constructive char- 

 acter have been introduced by the Fish 

 and Game Commission. Many of them 

 are amendments to existing laws and are 

 designed to make enforcement easier. 

 For instance, the laws protecting beaver 

 and sea otter have been amended to in- 

 clude green skins as well as the posses- 

 sion of the animals themselves. During 

 the past two or three years two attempts 

 at conviction have failed owing to the 

 inadequacy of these two laws. Amend- 

 ments have also been made to the Bow- 

 man law, so that game breeding can be 



