GAME-LAWS 265 



laws in the same manner and to the same extent as birds 

 produced in that State. 



11. Packages of birds shipped from one State to an- 

 other must be marked so as to show the name of the 

 shipper and the nature of the contents. 



12. Foreign birds can be imported into the United 

 States only under permits from the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture, and birds declared injurious by 

 the Secretary of Agriculture cannot be imported into 

 the United States or shipped from one State to another. 



These, then, are the principles upon which our 

 present game-laws work; but first, before enter- 

 ing into a discussion of their merits, let us see 

 how they were evolved. 



Evolution of Game-Laws in America 



It is not quite certain when the first game-law 

 was established and enforced in the American 

 colonies. Sunday shooting, because of religious 

 scruples, was early prohibited in several colonies. 

 While the eighteenth century was still young, a 

 short closed season for turkeys, heath hens, 

 ruffed grouse, and quail had been enacted in 

 New York. Massachusetts in 1710 prohibited 

 the use of boats or canoes with sails, or boats 

 dressed in grass, for the hunting of water-fowl. 

 Gradually all the colonies developed some sort 

 of code, so that by the close of the colonial period 



