GAME-LAWS 279 



known as the McLean Bill, including all migratory 

 birds, had been introduced by the senator of that 

 name. 



The New York Zoological Society, in the autumn 

 of 1912, opened an educational campaign for teach- 

 ing the public the economic value of birds. Work- 

 ing with the Audubon Societies, together with a 

 number of game protective associations, state 

 game commissions, and newspapers and maga- 

 zines, an appeal was made to the people for the 

 passage of the McLean Bill. Articles and pamph- 

 lets by the score were published; the newspapers 

 threw themselves heart and soul into the cause; 

 and agricultural colleges took up the question. 

 By the spring of 1913 the McLean Bill had become 

 a law. 



The McLean- Weeks Bill declared that all mi- 

 gratory birds belonged to the Federal Government 

 and that individual States no longer held direct 

 jurisdiction over them. The Department of Ag- 

 riculture was authorized to fix closed seasons, 

 having "due regard to the zones of temperature, 

 breeding habits, and time and line of migratory 

 flight . . . ," and was required to enforce the 

 new provisions concerning the killing and cap- 

 ture of the birds. The inadequate sum of fifty 

 thousand dollars was set aside for this purpose. 



While the new law was a great stride in the 

 advancement of protection, it could never prove 

 efficient until the breeding-grounds of the birds 



