So 



Bird- Lore 



1900, deals merely with the shipment of 

 birds from one State to another and the 

 importation of birds from foreign countries. 

 It is general in its provisions and does not 

 mention special birds, but nevertheless 

 supplements the State laws very effectually. 

 Thus if a State prohibits the killing of any 

 particular bird, the shipment of the bird 

 out of that State is an offense under the 

 Federal law and the shipper, carrier, and 

 consignee, each or all, may be prosecuted 

 in the United States courts. 



Some of the principles on which these 

 laws are based may be stated very simply 

 as follows: 



( a ) STATE LAWS 



1. All wild birds are the property of 

 the State, hence: 



2. Killing birds is a privilege, not a 

 right.* 



3. State ownership of birds carries with 

 it the right to impose restrictions, hence: 



4. Birds may be captured, possessed, 

 transported, bought or sold only under such 

 conditions as the State prescribes. 



5. Land-owners have no more right to 

 kill birds out of season than other persons, 

 unless the law specifically grants this 

 privilege. 



{b) FEDERAL LAW 



6. Birds are protected by the Federal 

 law only when shipped from or into a State 

 which protects them by a local law. 



7. Birds killed or shipped contrary to 

 law in any State cannot lawfully be trans- 

 ported to other States. 



8. Birds brought into a State become 

 subject to its laws in the same manner and 

 to the same extent as birds produced in 

 that State. 



9. Packages of birds shipped from one 

 State to another must be marked so as to 

 show the name of the shipper and the na- 

 ture of the contents. 



10. Foreign birds can be imported into 



* Michigan (Acts of 1893, P- Jiz) and Minnesota 

 (Laws of 1897, p. 413) declare tiiat birds protected by 

 law shall always remain the property of the State. 

 When their killing is not prohibited, they may be used 

 in the manner and for the purposes authorized, but 

 not otherwise. 



the United States only under permit from 

 the U. S. Department of Agriculture, and 

 birds declared injurious by the Secretary of 

 Agriculture cannot be imported into the 

 United States or shipped from one State to 

 another. 



Simple as these propositions may seem, 

 they have been the cause of much discus- 

 sion. Most of them, however, have been 

 passed upon by the higher courts and are 

 no longer open to question. The right of 

 the crown to all wild game was established 

 in England years ago and the State owner- 

 ship of game now clearly stated in the 

 laws of Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, 

 Minnesota, Texas and Wisconsin is an in- 

 heritance from the English common law. 

 The Supreme Court of the United States 

 has upheld this claim as well as the right 

 of a State to prohibit killing game for sale 

 (125 U. S. 465), or export (Geer v. Con- 

 necticut, 161 U. S. 519)*. 



Possession of birds out of season was 

 long regarded merely as evidence of illegal 

 killing, but is now made an offense pun- 

 ishable by fine in several States. The 

 right of a State to make laws regarding 

 birds imported from other States has been ' 

 vigorously contested and has been va- 

 riously decided bv the courts, but the 

 question has now been practically set at 

 rest by the passage of the Lacey Act. 

 Some States have hesitated to encroach 

 upon the rights of the individual, as shown 

 by the exception in favor of land -owners 

 in the section of the Delaware law relating 

 to insectivorous birds, and also by the 

 provisions in the laws of Illinois, Kansas, 

 Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, and South 

 Carolina, which permit a person to kill 

 birds found destroying fruit on his own 

 premises. On the other hand, Massachu- 



* Those who are interested in practical bird protec- 

 tion should read the decision of the Supreme Court in 

 Geer v. Connecticut, which is one of the most com- 

 prehensive decisions on game law ever written. It has 

 been reprinted in full in ' Forest and Stream,' XLVI, pp. 

 Z09-ZII, March 14, i8g6, and also in 'Game Laws in 

 Brief,' I, pp. 114-130, April, 1899. A brief but excel- 

 lent popular review of Game Laws' by Chas. E. 

 Whitehead maybe found in 'Hunting in Many Lands' 

 (Boone and Crockett Club series) New York, 1895. 



