Federal Protection of Migratory Birds. 13 



SALE OF MIGRATORY BIRDS PROHIBITED. 



The hunting of migratory game birds for the market has 

 contributed perhaps more than any other cause to the de- 

 pletion of the supply, and has created an almost universal 

 demand for laws prohibiting their sale. As a necessary 

 measure to conserve the supply and increase the breeding 

 stock, the regulations do not provide for the sale of any 

 migratory birds, except for scientific or propagating pur- 

 poses under permit, and as a consequence it is unlawful to 

 sell wild ducks or other migratory birds for commercial 

 purposes anywhere in the United States. For many years 

 most States have had laws prohibiting the sale of game dur- 

 ing part or all of the year, but the open markets in near-by 

 States made it profitable for the market hunter to continue 

 in his destructive vocation, as it was always possible for him 

 surreptitiously to ship the birds to the markets where they 

 could be sold lawfully. The closing of the markets will 

 make it more difficult to dispose of the birds and will remove 

 the incentive to slaughter them in such large numbers. This 

 prohibition against the sale of migratory birds has been very 

 generally approved by sportsmen and conservationists and 

 by the United States Food Administration. 



GAME FARMING. 



'The general prohibition against the sale of migratory 

 birds has created a great demand for domesticated birds to 

 supply the market. To meet these demands, the regulations 

 under the treaty act make suitable and liberal provisions for 

 the propagation of migratory waterfowl. These provisions 

 apply to all persons who possess migratory waterfowl for 

 any purpose. 



Permits are issued free of charge by the Secretary of Ag- 

 riculture, through the Bureau of Biological Survey, author- 

 izing persons to acquire a limited number of wild water- 

 fowl, to be used as the nucleus of a breeding stock or to 

 strengthen the strain of birds already possessed, and to pos- 

 sess and traffic in domesticated migratory waterfowl for food 

 purposes. 



Aside from the necessity of obtaining Federal permits, 

 marking packages in which the birds or eggs are shipped, 

 and reporting to the Secretary of Agriculture on operations 



