The Audubon Societies 



99 



to be given to the non-game birds of the 

 state. 



In view of this fact, the readers of Bird- 

 Lore who are resident in the state of New 

 York are very earnestly requested to take 

 every proper means in their power to in- 

 fluence their Senators and Assemblymen 

 to favorably consider Assembly Bill No. 

 65. This can be done by letters, but it is 

 far better to do it by personal interviews 

 with their representatives. — -W. D. 



South Dakota. — At our recent session 

 of the Legislature, we secured the enact- 

 ment of a general game law, providing for 

 a salaried state warden at $1,500 a year, 

 and a warden for every county at $50 a 

 month. We put a tax of $1 on every gun, 

 and declared all dogs, guns, boats, and 

 equipment illegally used to be contra- 

 band. We made a closed season for Prairie 

 Chicken, Grouse and Woodcock for two 

 years, and decreased the size of the bag 

 when shooting is again permitted. 



The open season, two years hence, will 

 be ten days later than heretofore, and 

 spring shooting of aquatic fowl is practi- 

 cally prohibited. We have even compelled 

 owners of hunting dogs to keep them in 

 during the spring time. 



Altogether, we are pleased with the 

 measure, as we now have the means for 

 the enforcement of a very satisfactory 

 law. — -Charles E. Holmes, President 

 State Audubon Society. 



Mexico. — -I went to Little Rock, Ark., 

 ■where I drafted a bill for the establish- 

 ment of a State Game Commission, had 

 conferences with members of the State 

 Game Protective Association, addressed 

 a joint session of the Legislature, and 

 gathered much information regarding 

 game conditions in the state. I then went 

 to Austin, Texas, and was associated there 

 two days with Captain Davis, Secretary 

 of the Texas Audubon Society, meeting 

 the officers of the State Fish and Game 

 Commission, as well as many other per- 

 sons, and I gave a stereoptican lecture in 

 the chapel of the State University. At 

 San Antonio, I attended a dinner given 



by the Scientific Society of that city, and 

 also gave a night lecture. Through friends 

 of Captain Davis, I got letters of intro- 

 duction to people in Mexico City, and, 

 learning something of the terrific slaughter 

 of game in that republic, and becoming 

 acquainted with the fact that there were 

 no restrictive measures whatever on the 

 killing of wild birds and animals, I felt 

 that it was not wise to miss the opportunity 

 of seeing if something could be done for 

 game protection there. 



I visited Monterey and Mexico City. 

 In the latter place, after some days delay, 

 I secured an interview with President 

 Diaz, and laid before him a plan for organ- 

 izing a national movement for game pro- 

 tection in Mexico, this to be followed up 

 with restrictive measures on the killing 

 of birds and game, the work to be sup- 

 ported by a hunters' license. President 

 Diaz expressed himself as much interested 

 in the project, and named his own son, 

 Porfirio Diaz, Ejo. (Jr.), to organize the 

 work in Mexico. Porfirio Diaz is about 

 thirty-six years old, and a man of wide 

 political, financial and personal influence 

 in the Republic. He is also a sportsman 

 on an elaborate scale, and all the people 

 with whom I talked said he was the best 

 possible man in the Republic to take up 

 this work. The American tourists and 

 American residents of Mexico whom I 

 met all congratulated me heartily on the 

 encouragement which I received from the 

 President and his son. 



I was the recipient of a number of 

 courtesies from Porfirio Diaz, Ejo. (Jr). 

 The President asked me to at once pre- 

 pare a suggested outline for work in 

 Mexico, to send copies of by-laws for 

 National Bird and Game Protective 

 Societies, all the available literature on 

 the importance of birds to agriculture, and 

 such other information as would be of 

 value to him in the movement. This I 

 am now preparing. — T. G. P. 



The Cat Question 



Editors of Bird-Lore: — -In Bird- 

 Lore for January-February, 1909, I have 



