476 Recent Literature. \_o£i 



passed efficient game and bird protection laws, and through cases arising 

 under them the United States Supreme Court had decided important 

 points affecting the rights of States in the protection of game. Among 

 them is the case of Geer vs. Connecticut, in 18S6, in which the Supreme 

 Court rendered a decision that maintained that game was the property 

 of the State and not of the individual citizens on whose land it might be 

 found, and that the State could protect its game by legislation in any 

 manner it might see fit, even to the prohibition of its export to other States. 

 "This decision," says Dr. Palmer, "gave a new impetus to game legislation 

 throughout the country and encouraged the States to incorporate non- 

 export provisions in their laws." 



The first important Federal law for the protection of game, well-known 

 as the Lacey Act, went into effect May 25, 1900, and was the beginning 

 of a new era in Federal game protection. Its origin and history, and the 

 provisions of its five sections, are here briefly stated. Since 1900 four 

 acts relating to game protection have been passed by Congress, each having 

 reference to special features of game protection or to special areas, as the 

 District of Columbia, Alaska, and the establishment of a game refuge in 

 Oklahoma. 



The topics especially treated in the present paper, besides the Lacey Act, 

 are the importation of foreign birds and mammals; interstate commerce 

 in game; the dissemination by the Biological Survey of information con- 

 cerning game protection, and "the propagation, uses, and preservation 

 of birds"; recent Federal legislation; Federal cooperation with State 

 officials in the enforcement of game-protective laws, and with Audubon 

 Societies in the protection of nongame birds; and an account of the various 

 Federal game preserves, eleven in number, of which eight have been 

 established since 1900. Thirteen text-illustrations, in the form of small 

 maps, show diagrammatically the progress of various important features 

 of game protection during the last five years. 



The great importance of the Lacey Act, or the Federal law of 1900, as 

 an agency in game protection cannot well be over estimated. Its enact- 

 ment "infused new life into State laws and made possible the enforcement 

 of provisions which previously had been of little effect. When its operation 

 began to be felt the changed conditions caused shippers to seek means by 

 which they could continue their trade undisturbed. Every advantage 

 was taken of defects in State laws, and various devices, technical or other- 

 wise, were adopted to evade the provisions of the Federal law requiiing 

 the marking of packages. Quail and other game birds were concealed 

 in trunks, barrels, egg-cases, and similar misleading packages, and were 

 marked ' butter,' ' dressed poultry,' or ' household goods. ' Special shipping 

 tags were devised for the purpose of concealing the identity of the shipper 

 and minimizing the risk which he assumed in forwarding the shipments 

 to market, but these devices have been rendered more and more futile. 

 All the States in the Union except Mississippi now prohibit export, and 

 several of them have stopped the sale of all or certain kinds of game. 



