I 88 DuTCHER, Report of Committee on Bird Protection. [ ^"^ 



"In the ensuing year the Society expects to continue the same 

 lines. We shall repeat and extend our aggressive work in the 

 schools. Most of the members of the central society are Cincin- 

 natians, but we hope this year to extend our work more widely 

 through the State and form more branch societies, which can 

 assist us in this. A law committee will be appointed to take 

 charge of all questions that may arise in the enforcement of the 

 bird laws." 



Oklahoma Territory. — Legislation. — An effort was made to 

 pass the A. O. U. model law, but it was not successful, notwith- 

 standing it was advocated by some very earnest people. 



The present law is worthless, but it cannot be improved until 

 the next session of the legislature, which will be held in 1905. 



Wardeti system. — No wardens were employed in this Territory, 

 ■owing to lack of legal backing. 



Audubon work. — The Society is local and seemingly inactive ; 

 no reports or communications have been received recently from it 

 by the National Committee. 



Oregon. — Legislation. — During the present year the A. O. U. 

 model law was adopted in this State. Fortunately for the pro- 

 tection Committee and the citizens of Oregon one of our members 

 is a resident. He took the legislative work in charge and without 

 any compensation except that which always is received by a per- 

 son who performs a civic duty, camped over four weeks at the 

 Capitol. His experiences, which are not strange to other mem- 

 bers of the Committee, are so instructive to the public, that they 

 are given in some detail : " The A. O. U. Bird bill passed the 

 lower house to-day (Feb. 4, 1903). This is my fourth week here 

 and I think the last, as the senate will not take so much time to 

 consider the bill. I had the bill all but passed but found that the 

 committee had cut it up so that its author would not know it. In 

 Section 7 they wished to include the crow among the prohibited 

 birds, to which I made no objection and told them to insert the 

 name after the English Sparrow but otherwise to let the section 

 remain unchanged ; a few moments before the bill was to come up 

 for final vote I learned the committee had also included "All kinds 

 of hawks, owls," and ending with the words " Passer domesticus " 

 as a kind of amen, to give an air of wisdom to the rest of the 



