ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



Birds ReptilfS 



William Beebe. Raymond L. Ditmars. 



LeeS. Crandall. 



Published bi-monthly at the Office of the Society. 

 Ill Broadway. New York City. 



Yearly by Mail, $1.00. 



MAILED FREE TO MEMBERS. 



Copyright, 191*. by the New York Zoological Society. 



Each author is responsible for the scientific accuracy 



and the proof reading of his contribution. 



Elwin R. Sanborn, 



Editor and Official Photographer 



Vol. XXI No. 1 



JANUARY. 1918 



RESOLUTION REGARDING MIGRATORY 

 BIRD TREATY 



At the Annual Meeting of the Zoological So- 

 ciety, held on January 8. 1918. the following 



resolution was adopted: 



Whereas, the Congress of the United States in- 

 vited the Government of the Dominion of Canada 

 to enter into an international treaty for the protec- 

 tion of North American migratory birds from the 

 destruction which rapidly has been exterminating 

 many valuable species, and 



Whereas, the Government of Canada, despite the 

 distractions of her participation in a great war. 

 promptly accepted the proposal of our Congress and 

 diligently and forcefully carried it into complete 

 effect; now therefore be it 



Resolved, that the New York Zoological Society 

 hereby respectfully directs the attention of the Presi- 

 dent of the United States and the House of Repre- 

 sentatives to the disquieting fact that the American 

 enabling act to provide regulations for the enforce- 

 ment by the United States of the aforesaid treaty 

 has not yet passed the lower house of Congress, and 

 that immediate action is necessary in order to keep 

 faith with Canada, to avoid affronting a friendly 

 nation, and at the same time to place our migratory 

 birds on the basis of protection that long has been 

 desired for them by the people of the United States. 



WHAT ABOUT THE AMERICAN- 

 CANADIAN BIRD TREATY? 



Our enabling act for the international treaty 

 for the protection of all migratory birds, fully 

 negotiated in 1916 between the United States 

 and Canada, is at last making- progress in the 

 lower house of Congress. On January 15 the 

 House Committee on Foreign Relations formal- 

 ly reported the enabling-act bill to the House. 



We proposed that treaty to Canada. Unhin- 

 dered by her heroic part in the war. Canada 

 promptly accepted our overture, gave the mat- 



ter diligent attention, and finally ratified the 

 treaty, down to the last detail. Canada already 

 lias passed her enabling act into statute law. 



Our Senate has passed our enabling act. but 

 the House of Representatives has not acted. 



Of two things, however, we all may be abso- 

 lutely sure. Canada is watching to see what we 

 are going to do with our end of the treaty that 

 we invited her to negotiate ; and if for any rea- 

 son our House of Representatives fails to pass 

 that enabling act. it will be to Canada a slap 

 in the face and a first-class affront ! Let us 

 make no mistake about that. Great nations are 

 not supposed to trifle with international treaties. 



Unquestionably the situation depends on the 

 lower House of Congress. Will that body de- 

 feat our own treaty, or not? "War measures" 

 will not be accepted by anybody as an excuse 

 for neglect or failure on our part. Canada lias 

 shown us that even in the midst of a terribly 

 exacting and exhausting war she was able to 

 pass a bird-treaty bill, and secure for it the nec- 

 essary concurrence of a large group of provin- 

 cial governments, all of whom were busy with 

 war troubles of their own. 



Again it seems to be a case of the spring 

 shooters of Missouri against the American na- 

 tion. And what will the House of Representa- 

 tives do about it? W. T. H. 



WILD LIFE LOSES A CHAMPION 



The passing of an ideal champion of wild life 

 is a loss to the country at large. Three years 

 ago the game situation in New Mexico was in a 

 well-nigh hopeless condition. At that time there 

 stepped into the arena, as the champion of the 

 remaining game, Milks W. Burford. and a few 

 other men like him. They resolved that the situ- 

 ation should lie saved, partly for the benefit of 

 the present, and partly for the benefit of pos- 

 terity. 



The result of their work has proven to be an 

 object lesson of such illuminating' power that it 

 shines afar; and what has been done in New 

 Mexico has been a great source of encourage- 

 ment to the wild life defenders of other western 

 and southwestern states. 



Miles W. Burford, first president of the New 

 Mexico Game Protective Association, died at his 

 home near Silver City on November 8; but lie 

 has helped to make history. 



In March. 191(5. there was organized the New 

 Mexico State Game Protective Association, with 

 Mr. Burford as its president. In quick succes- 

 sion eight local organizations, with an aggregate 

 membership of over 1.000, and each member sol- 



