' '•',..", ^ x I Votes and v 32] 



Mi i: I M < lhapman and Loui h four a i 



1 ini ( lolombia on January 8, to continue their explorations of the avi- 

 fauna "i thai country in the intere I of the American Museum of Natural 

 History. They expecl to make collections in the vicinity of Bogota and 



then cros the mtains to the easi and descend into the headwaters 



nf the Orinoco, thus connecting their previous work in western Colombia 

 with thai now being prosecuted by another party in the Orinoco drainage, 

 and 1 1 1 .- 1 ! ing a il were an ornithological cross section of the country. 



i .i-uAi, activity in game legislation has been manifest this winter 

 and I >r. T. 8. Palmer oi I be U.S. Biological Survey bas sent us 'he follow- 

 ing summary of this work : Since the beginning of the 3 ear ( longri - and 

 the legislature of 11 States bave been in session, and the total number of 

 name bills under consideration is probably between 400 and 500. The 

 average of 10 such bills per State is reduced to one m some case .-11111 in 

 others as in Connecticut increased to nearly 60, and in California to 93. 

 The fate of many of these measures is si ill uncertain. Ai this date, .March 

 15, Congress and the legislatures of Indiana, Oregon, South Carolina, 

 South Dakota, Vermont, West, Virginia, and Wyoming bave adjourned 

 and t heir record is closed. 



The greal event of the year is the passage of the Federal migratory bird 

 lull as an amendment to the Agricultural Appropriation lull on the last 

 day of the e ion Thi measure has been before Congress for more than 

 eight, years, •■mil during the past, year a campaign for its enactment un- 

 equalled in the history of game legislation has Keen waged by the American 

 te Protective Association, the National Association of Audubon So- 

 cieties, and other friends of wild life conservation. As anally enacted it 

 differs bul slightly from the bill originally introduced by Son. George 

 Shiras, 3d, in December, 1004, and authorizes the Departmenl of Agri- 

 culture to fix seasons for migratory game and insectivorous birds, and 

 impo . a maximum penalty of $100 fine or 90 days imprisonment, for 

 killing such birds out of season. On March '.',, the day before his retirement, 

 I'm ident Tail signed an order making the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, a 



•.at ion in charge of the Departments of Agriculture and Commerce. 

 This reservation, the 61st in the list of National Bird Refugee and one 



of t be largest , includes all t he islands from IJnimak west, to All u. ( Congress 

 hi been preparing for new tariff legislation and during the hearings before 

 the Ways and Means Committee Of the House on January 30, l>r. W. T. 



Hornad.iy, representing the New York Zoological Society, Mr. T. Gilbert 

 Pearson, Secretary of the National Association of Audubon Societies, and 

 I )r. ( leorge \\ Field, Chairman of the Massachusetts Fish and Game Com- 

 mission, urged the amendment of Schedule N so as to prohibit the importa- 

 tion u to the United States of the plumage of wild birds. The result of 

 their efforts is still uncertain as the bill will not be reported until the special 

 1 in April. 

 In the State Legislatures plumage bills similar to the New York Shea 



