BIRD-PROTECTION BY GOVERNMENTS 199 



Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, shall com- 

 mence November 1 and end August 31, next following, 

 both dates inclusive : Provided, That nothing in this or 

 any other of these regulations shall be construed to pre- 

 vent the issue of permits for collecting birds for scientific 

 purposes in accordance with the laws and regulations in 

 force in the respective States and Territories and the Dis- 

 strict of Columbia. 



Regulation 4: Closed seasons on certain game birds 



A closed season shall continue until September 1, 1918, 

 on the following migratory game birds: Band-tailed 

 pigeons, little brown, sandhill, and whooping cranes, 

 wood ducks, swans, curlew, willet, and all shore birds ex- 

 cept the black-breasted and golden plover, Wilson snipe 

 or jacksnipe, woodcock, and the greater and lesser yel- 

 low-legs. 



A closed season shall also continue until September 1. 

 1918, on rails in California and Vermont; and on wood- 

 cock in Illinois and Missouri. 



At the same time with the original regulations 

 there was issued Circular No. 93, giving explana- 

 tions of these regulations, from which the following 

 is quoted : 



Laws for the protection of migratory birds hitherto 

 enacted have usually provided long open seasons and 

 have been framed mainly in the interests of the hunter 

 rather than of the game. In preparing the regulations under 

 the Federal law for the protection of migratory birds an 

 effort has been made to reduce the open seasons to rea- 

 sonable limits, to provide hunting at the time of the year 

 when game birds are most abundant and in the best condi- 

 tion, and in all cases to give the benefit of the doubt to 



