200 ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY 



grossbeaks, humming birds, kinglets, martins, meadow larks, night 

 hawks or bull-bats, nuthatches, orioles, robins, shrikes, swallows, 

 swifts, tanagers, titmice, thrushes, vireos, warblers, waxwings, whip- 

 poor-wills, woodpeckers, wrens, all other perching birds which feed 

 entirely or chiefly on insects; also auks, auklets, bitterns, fulmars, 

 gannets, grebs, guillemots, gulls, herons, jaegers, loons, murres, pet- 

 rels, puffins, shearwaters and terns. 



The various states have game laws of various degrees of string- 

 ency for the protection of their local resident birds, that is, the birds 

 that do not migrate and hence do not receive protection under the Mc- 

 Lean law. For example there is generally a closed season during which 

 these birds cannot be killed; often a limit is set upon the number of 

 birds that may be killed in one day and in an entire season; a license, 

 either free or to be bought, is often required for each hunter; unnatural- 

 ized foreigners and minors under a certain age are sometimes for- 

 bidden to hunt; hunting on Sundays is sometimes forbidden; occasion- 

 ally an animal becomes so scarce that a closed season for a term of years 

 is declared, thus giving the species a chance to recuperate if, as may 

 happen, the closed season has not been too long delayed. There are 

 many birds that should be thus given a chance to recuperate by a long 

 if not perpetual closed season; for example, the quail one of our most 

 useful insect and weed destroyers, should, in many states, doubtless 

 be given a long if not a permanent protection against sportsmen. 



2. Destroy useless cats and dogs, especially in small towns and in 

 the country; the destructiveness of cats has already been noted, their 

 claims to usefulness will be discussed later. 



3. Discourage the use of bird ornaments; this is largely accom- 

 plished now by federal laws that absolutely protect certain birds by 

 making the possession of their plumes a felony. 



4. Organize Audubon and other societies to excite popular interest 

 in birds and to offer possible aid in securing suitable legislation. 



5. Stop the collection of bird eggs by youthful or even older col- 

 lectors, unless for some well-established scientific institution. 



6. Educate the public, especially the children who will be the 

 hunters of the future, by lectures, bird-days in schools, etc. It is here 

 that the teachers in secondary schools can and do accomplish a great 

 work, by bringing up the next generation to be lovers and students ; 

 rather than hunters of birds. 



