^°|- ^^n DuTCHER, Report of Committee on Bird Protection. l8l 



ishing spring shooting of ducks and geese. These birds cannot 

 now be legally killed in New York State between January first and 

 September fifteenth. Other beneficial amendments were made 

 regarding possession, sale and transportation of woodcock, quail 

 and grouse. 



Sessions of the legislature are held annually. 



Warden system. — Three wardens were employed by the Thayer 

 Fund to care for the breeding colonies of terns on the north and 

 south ends of Gardiner's Island and on Fisher's Island. The 

 latter colony suffered somewhat from the swarms of rats on the 

 island. The warden used poison to destroy them and in one day 

 found 47 dead ones near the nesting grounds. The south colony 

 on Gardiner's Island was flooded early in the season and many eggs 

 were destroyed, while the north colony was raided by a boat's crew 

 from the U. S. vessel 'Chesapeake', who took many eggs. Not- 

 withstanding these unfortunate incidents the birds made a fine 

 increase. During the southward migration in September larger 

 numbers of terns v^ere seen on the New York coast than for many 

 years. In New York Harbor, as far up as the Jersey ferries, it 

 was not unusual to see a score or more of them while crossing the 

 Hudson River. 



During the past year suits were commenced against two of the 

 large department stores of New York for having on sale protected 

 birds. In both cases the defendants settled by payment of a 

 nominal fine and the entire costs in the cases, thus establishing the 

 legal fact that protected birds cannot be sold for millinery orna- 

 ments in New York. These suits were started before the agree- 

 ment was made between the Millinery Merchants Protective 

 Association and the New York Audubon Society and the American 

 Ornithologists' Union. 



In many parts of the State the farmers and sportsmen are organ- 

 izing associations for the protection of game and birds in their 

 several localities. These societies will be the means of doing a 

 great amount of real protective work. 



The Chairman of the National Committee has suspected for 

 some time that illegal shipments of live native birds were being 

 made from the port of New York. This suspicion was verified 

 last spring when he caught a dealer, one G. Sebille, with a large 



