Editorial 



309 



^irtr=1Lore 



A Bi-Monthly Magazine 

 Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds 



OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETIES 



Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



Contributing Editor, MABELOSGOOD WRIGHT 



Published by D. APPLETON & CO. 



Vol. XX Published August 1, 1918 No. 4 



COPYRIGHTED. 1918, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



Bird-Lore's Motto: 

 A Bird in the Bush Is Worth Two in the Hand 



At last migratory birds have been 

 accorded full national citizenship. No 

 longer at the mercy of this state or of 

 that; no longer the victims of laws made 

 with a view to their destruction rather than 

 protection, they are now wards of the 

 Federal Government. And, within the 

 limits of the United States, have certain 

 clearly defined rights which are legally 

 as effective in Florida or Maine as they 

 are in California or Oregon. 



Furthermore, these rights will be main- 

 tained in the interest of the birds, not of 

 their enemies. The species classed as game- 

 birds will still have to contribute their 

 share to gratify the love of sport which for 

 many generations will doubtless continue 

 to be an inherent human attribvite. But 

 their contribution will be made with due 

 regard to maintaining the source of 

 supply and not to gratifj^ the selfish 

 thoughtlessness of the passing generation. 



When on July 3, 1918, President 

 Wilson signed the 'Enabling Act' making 

 effective our treaty with Canada for the 

 protection of migratory birds, he com- 

 pleted the structure which for the past 

 third of a century the friends of birds 

 have actively been endeavoring to build. 

 Only those familiar with the history of 

 bird legislation and who have been engaged 

 for a more or less prolonged period in the 

 fight to secure for our birds a satisfactory 

 legal status, can begin to realize the signifi- 

 cance of the victory which places their care 

 in the hands of the National Government. 



For years, it is true, certain of our 

 states, have recognized the claims of birds 

 to the protection of the law. But such 



protection e.xtended only to the limits of 

 the state that gave it while in the neighbor- 

 ing state the bird could, perhaps, not only 

 be legally killed, but a price might 

 actually be placed on its head! 



With every state making its own laws — 

 or failing to make any — uniformity of 

 treatment of the subject of bird conserva- 

 tion was out of the question. The first 

 man to give public expression to the 

 inadequacy of state game laws was 

 George Shiras III, who, on December 5, 

 1904, introduced the original 'Migratory 

 Bird Bill' into Congress. The ideas it 

 embodied were too novel to be immedi- 

 ately accepted, but, at least, they were 

 presented for the consideration of the 

 public, to live or die on their merits. 



Bird-protectors were quick to see the 

 far-reaching importance of Federal legis- 

 lation; while those sportsmen who think 

 only of the number of days of shooting 

 they can crowd into each year were equally 

 quick to realize how materially it would 

 restrict their activities. Federal bird legis- 

 lation, therefore, soon developed many 

 enemies as well as many friends. Each 

 side fully understood the nature of the 

 struggle and was determined to fight to a 

 finish. Fortunately the cause of the birds 

 has never lacked for earnest and effective 

 leaders. Shiras was succeeded by Weeks 

 and Lacey and McLean, and finally a 

 bill bearing the latter's name was passed on 

 January 22, 1913, and approved by the 

 President on March 4 following. 



Beaten in Congress, the enemies of the 

 birds soon attacked the constitutionality 

 of the law. This question was finally 

 brought before the Supreme Court which 

 gave no decision but called for a rehearing. 



Meanwhile in January, 1913, the allies 

 of the birds, represented by Senators 

 Root and McLean, had taken the initial 

 steps toward the passage of a migratory- 

 bird treaty which should embody the pro- 

 visions of the Shiras- Weeks-Lacey-McLean 

 law. It is the 'Enabling Act' making this 

 treaty effective which has become the law 

 of the Nation to be administered by the 

 Biological Survey of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture. 



