I o8 DuTCHER, Report of Committee on Bird Protection. f ^"'' 



^ ■ LJan. 



made up for millinery ornaments. The millinery advertisements 

 in the papers openly offer birds' plumage, seemingly without fear 

 of the laws. The following taken from a New York paper, of 

 Oct. 2 1, 1902, shows that the work of the Audubon Societies is 

 not yet finished. "At $20.00 Hat of tan felt, shepherdess shape; 

 bound with tan velvet, trimmed only with a beautiful bird, the 

 colors of whose plumage — white, rich red brown, gray and black, 

 blend artistically with the hat." 



Letters have been brought to the attention of your Committee 

 that have been sent out by feather dealers offering to buy in large 

 quantities such birds as herons, terns, gulls, etc. Further, the 

 Committee has on file a strictly reliable account of the killing of 

 40,000 game birds, mostly sandpipers, on the North Carolina 

 coast, for millinery purposes, the bodies of the birds having been 

 thrown away after the plumage was secured. In this connection 

 it may be well to suggest to sportsmen that if they wish the game 

 birds of the country preserved they must insist that all game laws 

 should contain a section as follows: "It shall be unlawful for any 

 person to catch or kill, buy or sell, have in possession or ship, at 

 any time, any wild bird known as a game bird, to be used as an 

 article of dress or for millinery purposes." 



Fifth. — The Audubon Societies should get in touch with the 

 farmers' clubs, the granger, agricultural and horticultural societies 

 of their own States in order that their members may be taught 

 how much good the birds do the agricultural and forestry in- 

 dustries. The agricultural interest of the country is by far the 

 largest and most important one, and those directly interested in it 

 far outnumber those interested in other industries. The farmers 

 should be taught to feel regarding the much misunderstood and 

 persecuted owl family as the late Lord Kimberley did, who once 

 said, "Almost the greatest crime which any one can commit on 

 my estate is to kill an owl." 



During the past year legislative work has progressed satisfacto- 

 rily, two States having adopted the model law, viz., Kentucky and 

 Ohio ; Congress adopted it for the Territory of Alaska, and it was 

 adopted in the Northwest Territories, under the title of the ' Useful 

 Bird Ordinance,' approved April 19, 1902. This ordinance applies 

 to a larger extent of country than is covered by any law in the 



