The Bird Department 



By A. A. Allen, Ph.D. 

 Assistant Professor of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 



FEDERAL PROTECTION OF BIRDS 



A GREAT many years have now passed since the 

 people of the United States first came to the real- 

 ization that birds and game cannot stand un- 

 limited slaughter and that they are worthy of protection 

 by law. It was as early as 1791 that an act was passed 

 in the New York Legislature giving some protection to 

 the heath hen, the partridge, the quail and the wood- 

 cock. This was a step in the right direction, but it did 

 not come soon enough to save the heath hen, for to-day 

 this splendid bird is extinct except for a small colony 

 carefully guarded on the island of Martha's Vineyard. 

 The partridge, quail and woodcock have survived, but in 

 greatly reduced numbers. 



Nearly thirty years elapsed after the passage of this 



WATERFOWL RESPOND VERY QUICKLY TO PROTECTION 

 Some wild bluebills that have been tamed by feeding at Ithaca, New York. 



initial statute before anything further was done for bird 

 or game conservation. Massachusetts next, in 1818, 

 passed a law giving protection during the breeding sea- 

 son to certain game and insectivorous birds. This was 

 the first time that such birds as the lark and the robin 

 were recognized as having any economic value, but it 

 was not until after the middle of the century that the 

 cause was espoused by many states. Between 1850 and 

 1864 laws were passed in twelve states giving more or 

 less protection to insectivorous birds as well as to game. 

 It will be of interest to quote the first of these, enacted 

 by the State of Xew Jersey in 1850, because it is indica- 



tive of the inaccuracies and incompleteness retained in so 

 many state laws even to-day. It was entitled, " An act to 

 Prevent the Destruction of Small and Harmless Birds." 

 "1. Be it enacted by the Senate and General Assembly 

 of the State of New Jersey, That it shall not be lawful 

 in this State for any person to shoot, or in any other 



Photograph by Francis Harper. 



THE RESULT OF STOPPING SPRING SHOOTING 



A small part of a flock of black ducks flying over Long Island. Since they 

 are not shot at, many stop to nest instead of going further north, and as a 

 result their numbers increase rapidly. 



manner to kill or destroy, except upon his own premises, 

 any of the following description of birds: The night or 

 mosquito hawk, chimney swallow, barn swallow, martin 

 or swift, whippowil, cuckoo, kingbird or bee martin, 

 woodpecker, claip or high hole, catbird, wren, blue- 

 bird, meadow lark, brown thrusher, dove, firebird or 

 summer redbird, hanging bird, ground robin or chewink, 

 bobolink or ricebird, robin, snow or chipping bird, spar- 

 row, Carolina lit, warbler, bat, blackbird, blue jay, and 

 the small owl." 



Since this period, when the Nation was first awaken- 

 ing to the need of legislation in behalf of game, great 

 progress has been made, so that to-day every state has 

 its code of game laws, although in some, where there 

 is no warden system, they are but slightly respected 

 and might almost as well be void. Many states, how- 

 ever, have model laws, uniform with those of adjacent 

 states, leaving little to be desired from the standpoint of 

 conservation. These laws define what shall be known as 

 game birds and limit the season during which they may 

 be killed, and all other birds, except a few that are known 



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