Cl)e ^utiubon Societies 



" Vou cannot with a scalpel Jind the poet's soul. 

 Nor yet the ■wild bird's song." 



Edited by MRS. MABEL OSGOOD VNTRIGHT and WILLIAM DUTCHER 



Communications relating to the work of the Audubon and other Bird Protective Societies should 

 be addressed to Mrs. Wright, at Fairfield, Conn. Reports, etc., designed for this department, should be 

 sent at least one month prior to the date of publication. 



Notes and News 



The officers of the National Association 

 alwaj's feel a sense of relief when the legis- 

 lative season is finished ; this year the relief 

 was greater from the fact that some vicious 

 attempts to repeal excellent bird laws had to 

 be combated. In order to give the members 

 of the National Association, and also the 

 other readers of Bird-Lore, some idea of 

 the legislative work of the past season, the 

 following resume is presented : 



Maine. — A distinct advance was made in 

 the protection of Ducks ; for most of the 

 species the close season now commences on 

 the first day of December ; this does away 

 with that worst of all practices, spring 

 shooting. On the other hand, a retrograde 

 step was taken by adding Mud-hens and 

 Blue Herons to the wild birds that may be 

 killed at any time. This amendment was 

 instigated by and secured through the 

 influence of a game commissioner who evi- 

 dently was more interested in fish than in 

 birds and was not willing to permit nature 

 to preserve its own balance. It should be 

 possible to protect local fish hatcheries with- 

 out sacrificing these two species of birds in 

 all parts of the state; furthermore, it is a 

 question whether the Blue Heron is not a 

 beneficial bird, inasmuch as it is known to 

 eat many suckers, a fish that destroys the 

 spawn and fry of game fish. 



It is also hard to understand why a bird 

 like the Bittern — Mud-hen — should not be 

 protected. 



New York.— The fight to preserve the 

 integrity of the anti-spring-shooting duck 

 law in this state was carried on till the very 

 last day of the legislative session. As 

 reported in the last number of Bird-Lore, 

 the opponents of the law early in the session 

 introduced a repeal bill. After a very ex- 



haustive hearing before the Fish and Game 

 Committees of both houses, the bill came 

 up in the Assembly and was defeated by a 

 narrow margin of twelve votes. 



Almost immediately after the defeat of 

 the original bill, new bills were introduced 

 in both houses ; in the lower House by 

 Assemblyman Hubbs and in the Senate by 

 Senator Burr. The later bills were more 

 insidious and vicious than the first ope, 

 inasmuch as they seemingly asked for a 

 small concession; the bills proposed to 

 make an open season of three days in the 

 week from March i to April 15. The days 

 selected were Thursday, Friday and Satur- 

 day, at the very height of the migration 

 period when the greatest number of Ducks 

 would be in the Long Island waters. The 

 plea made by the Duck shooters was, "Give 

 us our spring shooting in this modified form ; 

 we are not asking a great deal." By great 

 activity and other methods of a questionable 

 character this bill was passed in the As- 

 sembly. Fortunately for the good name of 

 the state and also for its game interests, the 

 Senate Committee would not and did not 

 approve of the bill, and it consequently 

 failed of passage. The pressure brought to 

 bear upon the Senate Committee was un- 

 doubtedly very great, and they deserve the 

 highest credit for the stand they took to 

 maintain New York's present high standard 

 of game laws. The National Association 

 is especially indebted to Senators Arm- 

 strong and White, who are bird protection- 

 ists of the most advanced type and are 

 earnest friends of the Audubon movement. 



The Audubon aigrette bill failed of pas- 

 sage. It passed the Senate quite late in the 

 session and was finall\' lost in the Committee 

 on Rules, which has charge of all Assembly 

 bills during the last ten days of the session. 

 Had it become a law, its constitutionality 



(x82) 



