State Reports 341 



from this point winter before last (1903.) The hunters receive the follow- 

 ing prices per dozen: Teal, from $2.50 to $3; Mallards, $3 to $5; Sprigs, 

 $5 to $7; Canvasbacks, $8 to $9.50. One of the hunters said he shipped 

 thirty-nine dozen Ducks at one time. 



"The difficulties in securing protection from the market hunters are these : 

 All this hunting ground is very near the Oregon and California boundary 

 line, yet most all the Ducks are killed in Oregon. The Oregon game law 

 allows a hunter fifty birds a week. The California law allows a hunter fifty 

 a day. Oregon provides so little for the game warden in this section of the 

 country that he is unable to cope with the situation. The hunters keep 

 watch of his movements and send out couriers whenever he visits that local- 

 ity. The hunters work secretly and ship at night, or, when an Oregon war- 

 den appears, all they have to do is sail their scows across the border into 

 California. Both states have made some attempts to stop this traffic, but 

 they have always left loop-holes. It seems California made a law that pre- 

 vented hunters shipping to commission men in San Francisco, whereupon 

 the hunters shipped to themselves in care of the Game Transfer Company, 

 an organization of commission men. Each hunter shipped under half a 

 dozen different names, recognized as one individual by the commission 

 people; thus the hunters evaded the bag limit. Oregon has just passed a 

 law providing that each hunter must take out a hunter's license. The pro- 

 fessional hunters are now taking out a number of licenses under assumed 

 names, we were told. These conditions cannot be effectually met until laws 

 are made to control the market. A hundred laws might have been made 

 preventing the shooting of Grebes, but so long as they were there in thou- 

 sands and each skin was worth fifty cents the hunters shot them, and it 

 would have taken a large number of game wardens to stop them. A little 

 work at the right end put an entire stop to the slaughter. It is largely the 

 same with Duck hunting in this locality. 



"In addition to the above, it may be said that among other birds that 

 were shot for plumage, Forster's Tern was diminished in numbers till few 

 were left. The wings and tail of this bird sold for twenty cents, and great 

 numbers were killed and shipped out with the Grebe skins. The following 

 well-known habit would soon have led to the extinction of the species in 

 this region. As soon as one bird was shot and fell to the water, the other 

 Terns, through curiosity or for some other reason, crowded about from all 

 directions, and all the hunter had to do was sit and shoot his birds right and 

 left. This beautiful Tern was formerly very common about these lakes, but 

 we were able to find only two small colonies. So far as we could discover, 

 this species is now left undisturbed and will undoubtedly soon increase in 

 numbers. 



"For a while the White Pelicans were also shot for their plumage. In 

 1901 fifty skins were shipped to New York, and brought one dollar each. A 



