The Audubon Societies 



227 



tigated during the year 19 19 complains of 

 serious depredations by Robins to small fruit 

 in New York found that these birds had 

 practically destroyed the cherries in many 

 orchards in the state. The Bureau communi- 

 cated on the subject with the Conservation 

 Commission of New York, which agreed to 

 the issuance of a Federal permit, good only 

 when countersigned by the State Commis- 

 sioner or one of his duly authorized repre- 

 sentatives after an investigation in each in- 

 stance. 



"During that and subsequent years many 

 complaints of serious depredations by Robins 

 also were received from other states, in- 

 cluding Maine, New Hampshire, Massachu- 

 setts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New 

 Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, In- 

 diana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 

 Washington and Oregon. In 1920 a repre- 

 sentative of the Bureau investigated condi- 

 tions in Michigan and Indiana, and in 1921 

 in Oregon, and found that the complaints 

 were well founded. It was apparent to the 

 Bureau that the greatly increased number of 

 Robins and their propensity to eat small 

 fruit would result in damage to a greater or 

 lesser extent, in any of the northern states 

 where small fruit is grown and Robins occur 

 in any great numbers. 



"The Bureau, therefore, communicated 

 with the chief game officials of the states 

 named in the preceding paragraph, asking to 

 be advised concerning the extent of depreda- 

 tions, if any, being committed by Robins, and 

 whether it was the desire of the representa- 

 tive state game officials to have a permit 

 issued similar to the one issued in New York 

 State. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act, as 

 you know, confers on the several states the 

 right to enact and enforce legislation giving 

 to migratory birds additional protection to 

 that afforded by the Federal law; and there- 

 fore it be(?omes necessary for the P'ederal 



Government and the respective states to co- 

 operate in matters of this kind. Several of 

 the states have no laws authorizing the com- 

 missions to issue permits to kill birds seri- 

 ously injurious to agricultural or other 

 interests, and the commissioners of some of 

 the states did not deem the conditions to be 

 so serious as to warrant the issuance of these 

 permits. 



"State authorities in New Hampshire, 

 New York, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 

 and Oregon, where serious depredations were 

 occurring, deemed it necessary and wise to 

 have the permits issued. We, therefore, this 

 year, issued the permit, copy of which is in- 

 closed, effective in those states. We have an 

 understanding with the game authorities in 

 those states that due caution will be exer- 

 cised and that no permits will be issued ex- 

 cept after careful investigation and deter- 

 mination that a permit must be issued allow- 

 ing the birds to be killed in order to prevent 

 serious depredations to small fruit. 



"State authorities of Maine, Massachu- 

 setts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New 

 Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illi- 

 nois, Iowa, and Washington deemed it unwise 

 to issue the permits in those states at the time 

 and accordingly such states were not included 

 in the order of the Secretary providing for the 

 issuance of permits to kill Robins. 

 ► "Sufficient time has not elapsed to permit 

 the receipt of information concerning opera- 

 tions under these permits this year, but no 

 complaints of any kind have been received 

 from New York in regard to the abuse of any 

 permits issued in that state, and we believe 

 that the number of birds actually killed under 

 the permits will be very small, while at the 

 same time the permits authorize orchardists 

 to protect their crops without violating the 

 law. Very truly yours, 



(Signed) W. C. Henderson, 



Acting Chief of Bureau." 



ABBOTT H. THAYER'S CONTRIBUTION TO 

 BIRD PROTECTION 



By T. S. PALMER 



To Abbott H. Thayer, artist, idealist, and 

 man of broad vision, bird-lovers of America 

 owe a debt of gratitude for a practical demon- 

 stration in conservation that has had far- 

 reaching results. What Alfred Newton did 

 for sea-bird protection in England half a 

 century ago, Thayer later accomplished on a 

 larger scale for the birds of our Atlantic coast. 



Early in 1900, shortly after the appearance 

 of a notice calling for sea-birds for millinery 



purposes, Mr. Thayer wrote to Dr. Witmer 

 Stone, then chairman of the Committee on 

 Bird Protection of the American Ornitholo- 

 gists' Union, suggesting that something be 

 done to protect the Gulls and Terns of our 

 eastern coast. On learning that the principal 

 obstacle to the carrying out of the project 

 was a lack of funds, he generously undertook 

 to raise a special fund for the purpose and in 

 a short time placed a substantial sum at the 



