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Bird - Lore 



last fall in Florida, which he reported, and 

 we now have the pleasure of announcing 

 that by Executive order the tract was set 

 aside, and is now known as "Mosquito 

 Inlet Reservation." — W. D. 



Executive Order 



It is hereby ordered that all small 

 mangrove and salt grass islets, shoals, 

 sand bars and sand spits, situated in 

 Mosquito Inlet, and in and near the 

 mouths of the Halifax and Hillsboro 

 rivers, in townships sixteen and seventeen 

 south, range thirty-four east of the Talla- 

 hassee meridian, Florida, and located 

 within the area segregated by a broken 

 line, and shown upon the diagram hereto 

 attached and made a part of this order, 

 are hereby reserved and set aside for the 

 use of the Department of Agriculture as 

 a preserve and breeding ground for native 

 birds. This reservation to be known as 

 the Mosquito Inlet Reservation. 



Theodore Roosevelt. 

 The White House, 



February 24, 1908. 



An Ideal Game Commission 



A state may have excellent game laws, 

 but they are never self-enforcing. Ala- 

 bama, however, is fortunate in having a 

 commissioner who is especially active, 

 and the result is that the deputy wardens 

 have a like activity. It could not be other- 

 wise when they periodically receive letters 

 like the following: 



"Your attention is directed to the fact 

 that many will attempt to hunt this month 

 who have not secured a license for the 

 year 1908. This violation of the license 

 law, or any other, will not be tolerated by 

 this department. The true sportsmen of 

 the state have gladly bought hunter's 

 licenses, and all others who hunt must do 

 likewise. 



"It will be well to inform the people 

 of your county that this requirement will 

 be rigidly enforced. You can best give 

 publicity to this fact through the medium 

 of the press, and it will be largely in the 



interest of game preservation for you to 

 converse freely with the editors of the 

 papers in your county, that they may 

 publish all the news relating to convictions 

 and the enforcement of the law. Examine, 

 and have your deputy ask to see the license 

 of every one going hunting, found hunting, 

 or. coming from hunting. If a hunter is 

 required by law to have a license and has 

 not procured the same, arrest should be 

 made on the spot and prosecution insti- 

 gated. It is unlawful for any person to 

 carry game on a train without a hunter's 

 license (see Section 42). Remember that 

 all non-game birds are protected except 

 those especially exempted in Section 5 of 

 the game law. The time is at hand when 

 Robins will be passing through Alabama, 

 and those who kill these harmless songs- 

 ters should be prosecuted. Enforce the 

 law to the very letter, for only by this 

 course can the conduct of a public officer 

 be endorsed and upheld by the people 

 he serves. Have your next grand jury in- 

 vestigate fully all infractions of the game 

 and fish laws." 



The instructions to the wardens to 

 give particular attention to the protection 

 of the Robin is especially pleasing to this 

 Association, in view of the fact that ir 

 many other parts of the South it is re- 

 ported that Robins are being killed by 

 the thousands. 



Stories of this character are not always 

 absolutely reliable, but so much infor- 

 mation has lately been received on this 

 subject that it is undoubtedly true that 

 Robins are being slaughtered in large 

 numbers. A valued correspondent in 

 Florida writes: Robin-shooting is mostly 

 done by negroes, boys and uneducated 

 persons, but also by those who should be 

 on a higher plane. One woman saved 

 a barrel of Robins' feathers last winter." 

 Education is needed in that section, but 

 the finances of this Association will not 

 at the present time permit of any special 

 work along this line. Is there not some 

 person in the North, where the Robin is 

 one of the most cherished of the familiar 

 birds, who will establish a special fund to 

 be used in a campaign of education in 



