FEDERAL PROTECTION OF MIGRATORY BIRDS ' 



The question of protecting migratory birds by federal 

 statute is attracting considerable interest and the Weeks 

 bill, for that purpose, is now under discussion by Con- 

 gress. 



It is hard to define open and closed season properly, 

 where the area to be considered is as vast as the United 

 States. The scope and purpose of the Weeks bill is on 

 lines greatly to be desired : Congressman Weeks seeks in 

 his bill to avoid the difficulty arising out of the large area 

 of territory involved, and the difference in the seasons, 

 by leaving the matter as to dates and area of protection 

 wholly to departmental regulation. It is proposed that 

 the dates of closed seasons in different latitudes should 

 be scheduled, and that a violation of such regulations 

 should be criminally punished. This involves a difficult 

 question that has been often discussed in the courts, and 

 where some of the judges have held that the violation of 

 a departmental regulation cannot be made a crime. This 

 question, I believe, can be avoided in the preparation of 

 a national statute. 



Hon. George Shiras 3d, formerly in Congress, has 

 taken a profound interest in this subject, and has given it 

 much study. As the writer has had considerable experi- 

 ence in the preparation of legislation relating to federal 

 game protection, I was requested several years ago to 

 draft a bill on the subject that might obviate as far as 

 possible the legal difficulties involved. 



Assuming that under "general welfare clause" of the 

 Constitution of the United States, it is in the power of 



i By Hon. John F. Lacey in Field and Stream. 



