206 BOARD OF AGRICI'LTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Five dollars reward will be imid for information to the chief warden 

 of tiie Forest and Field Club of Belaiont, which will lead to the arrest 

 of any person violating these orders." In addition to these cloth 

 signs, 2,000 paper signs containing the words "No shooting" in 

 bold type were printed, and about 250 wooden signs reading, "No 

 shooting," and bearing the name of the owner of the land, were 

 painted. More than half of these signs have been posted in eon- 

 S])ieuous ])laces. 



Thirteen public-spirited citizens volunteered to sene as game war- 

 dens without pa.y, and most of these were appointed special police 

 oflicers of Belmont without pay by the selectmen. These wardens 

 have held up more than 100 different gunners, and convicted 7 of 

 these at court, 2 for trespass, 2 for hunting without a license, and 3 

 for hunting on Sunday. The wardens have seized a number of traps 

 and exposed two wholesale snaring devices, securing the conviction 

 of the man who was responsible for one of these. 



As many gunners returned after being ordered off by the war- 

 dens, a card catalogue was started to keep track of such trespassers. 

 Every wai'den was given a number of printed slips and instructed 

 to fill one out in the presence of every gunner he met on the posted 

 land or the public streets crossing it. On these slips the warden 

 writes the trespasser's name, address, age, the number of the license 

 if he carries one, the date, time and place of meeting, and any com- 

 plaints he has to make, and warns the giinner he will take the card 

 he has filled out to the office, where it will be filed in a card cata- 

 logue, and tells him he will be summoned to court if a second card 

 with his name on it enters this file, whether it is dated five minutes 

 later or five years later. Few gunners have returned since these 

 cards were issued. The wardens are also supplied with whistles and 

 a signal code by which they can help one another round up a gun- 

 ner who is trying to make his escape. If a warden is assaulted, a 

 short signal brings every warden on the force to his assistance imme- 

 diately. 



Realizing that prevention is often better than cure, the committee 

 have tried, through the schools and i)ublic library, to educate the 

 children to love the birds. The committee have had free lectures and 

 bird talks for the school children in addition to those given by the 

 club itself. They secured four cases of stuffed birds, containing 82 

 species, and i)urchased colored pictures of 167 species of the birds 

 which are to be found in this vicinity for the children's room of the 

 Belmont Public Libraiy. On each of these pictures is written the 

 dates the bird arrives in and leaves Belmont, whether it is a per- 

 manent resident, winter resident, winter visitant, or summer visit- 

 ant; whether it is common or uncommon, or rare in this vicinity, 

 and where it may be seen. 



