﻿Legislation 235 



further provision of this proposed law should be that all fines, and the 

 money derived from the sale of confiscated guns, should be paid to the 

 Game Commission, one-half of the sum received being used in preparing 

 and distributing warning notices printed in foreign languages and the balance 

 being added to the fund used for the protection and propagation of game 

 and birds. If such a law can be passed in the portions of the country that 

 are overrun by the alien hunter, this menace to our small birds and game 

 will be removed. 



Small Shore Birds, Known as " Peeps.'' — In one of the sections of the 

 Model Law, birds are divided into two classes, known as game-birds and 

 non-game birds, and among the former are the " Limicolae, commonly 

 known as Shore Birds, Plovers, Surf Birds, Snipe, Woodcock, Sandpipers, 

 Tatlers and Curlews." Most of these are true game-birds, desirable for food 

 if shot legitimately during a short open season after the breeding period is 

 past. All of these birds are rapidly disappearing, and some of them are get- 

 ting dangerously near the line that demands special legislation to prevent 

 their extinction. There are included in the Limicolae several species that are 

 game-birds in name only, their bodies being so small that they possess no 

 value whatever for food purposes. These are the three species of Phalarope, 

 the Least, Semi-palmated, Western and Spotted Sandpipers, the Killdeer, Pip- 

 ing, Snowy, and Mountain Plovers. All of these birds are long-winged and 

 thus look, especially when flying, much larger than they really are. Their 

 bodies without feathers are very small indeed, the largest of them weighing 

 only a few ounces. 



As food they are valueless, but as added attractions on the beaches, 

 marshes and prairies they possess a gr.eat esthetic value ; moreover, they are 

 largely insect-feeders and thus have a distinctly economic value. There is 

 absolutely no reason why they should not be removed from the game-bird 

 class and be included among the birds for which there is no open season. 

 Thousands and thousands of these beautiful and graceful creatures have 

 been slaughtered solely for their plumage, their diminutive bodies not being 

 considered of enough value to send to market. It is the duty of this Associ- 

 ation to secure, as rapidly as possible, laws that will protect these minute 

 specimens of bird life from the raids of plume-hunters and others who do 

 not recognize esthetic or economic values, but only those values that 

 will bring them a few cents or dollars. 



The Bartramian Sandpiper. — This bird, which is more commonly known 

 as the "Grass Plover" or "Upland Plover," formerly was found in great 

 numbers in the dry upland grass fields over a large part of the country, but 

 its numbers have been so greatly depleted that now it is comparatively rare 

 and its exquisitely melodious whistle is not often heard. Its disappearance is 

 a distinct loss to the agricultural interests of the country, as it consumed 

 great numbers of grasshoppers and other insects. In order that the Bartra- 



