1891.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 53 



hawks and owls which do not deserve the protection of the 

 farmer or the sportsman. But the great trouble is, if you 

 undertake to particularize certain hawks for the destruction 

 of which a bounty shall be paid, that people will continually 

 destroy hawks that are beneficial. Just hero I will say that 

 the insectivorous bird law of Massachusetts is a particularly 

 good one. You have a law that exempts the crow from 

 protection, also the jay, and all hawks and owls. Now, if 

 I were to suggest any change in that law, I would partic- 

 ularize certain hawks that should not be killed. The natu- 

 ralist will not defend the crow ; therefore the man who favors 

 a bounty on crows cannot have his statements successfully 

 refuted. The crow is a bird that is known to almost every- 

 one. No man is so dull that he need allow himself to be 

 imposed upon, if a bird is brought to him for identification 

 as a crow that is not a crow in fact. If your people favor 

 it, you can offer a bounty on the crow ; but I think you will 

 find that Massachusetts will get thousands and thousands of 

 crows from the States around her. 



Mr. Everett. That would be a blessing. Kill them all. 



Dr. Warren. Well, if Massachusetts is willing to pay 

 thousands of dollars for the crows within her own borders, 

 and thousands of dollars for crows from other places, she 

 can do so. If you could get national legislation, perhaps 

 that might be effective. I think there is one clause in your 

 law which is too stringent. I believe that clause is antag- 

 onistic to the interests of science. Only the Boston Natural 

 History Society, or perhaps the president of that society, 

 and the game commissioners, are authorized to give to in- 

 dividuals permission to collect birds. The naturalists with 

 whom I have conferred tell me that the Boston Natural His- 

 tory Society refuses point-blank to grant certificates, and 

 that the game commissioners are disposed to grant only a 

 very few, and they require from the person who applies to 

 them, a full list of all the specimens of birds and eggs that 

 he has taken. In other words, they require so much that 

 few men will apply to them ; and thousands of people, in- 

 stead of going and getting permits, just go out and shoot 

 birds at random and collect their eggs. It seems to me that 

 it would be well to allow permits to be granted by the 



