The Audubon Societies 49 
H. R. 10276 was introduced in the House 
of Representatives on May 28, 1909, by 
Hon. John W. Weeks, of the Twelfth 
Congressional District, Massachusetts. It 
is a bill to protect migratory birds in the 
United States, and reads as follows: 
“Be it enacted by the Senate and House 
-of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, that all 
Geese, Swans, Brant, Ducks, Snipe, Plover, 
Woodcock, Rail, Pigeons and all other 
migratory birds which, in their northern 
and southern migrations, pass through or 
do not remain permanently the entire year 
within the borders of any state or territory, 
Shall hereafter be deemed to be within the 
custody and protection of the Govyern- 
ment of the United States, and shall not 
be destroyed or taken contrary to regu- 
lations hereinafter provided for. 
“Sec. 2. That the Department of Agri- 
culture is hereby authorized to adopt suit- 
able regulations to give effect to the pre- 
vious section by prescribing and fixing 
closed seasons, having due regard to the 
zones of temperature, breeding habits, 
and times and line of migratory flight, 
thereby enabling the department to select 
and designate suitable districts for differ- 
ent portions of the country within which 
said closed seasons it shall not be lawful 
to shoot or by any device kill or seize and 
capture migratory birds within the pro- 
tection of this law, and by declaring penal- 
ties by fine or imprisonment, or both, for 
violations of such regulations. 
“Sec. 3. That the Department of Agri- 
culture, after the preparation of said 
regulations, shall cause the same to be 
made public, and shall allow a period of 
three months in which said regulations may 
be examined and considered before final 
adopting, permitting, when deemed proper, 
public hearings thereon, and, after final 
adoption, to cause same to be engrossed 
and submitted to the President of the 
United States for approval: Provided, 
however, That nothing herein contained 
shall be deemed to affect or interfere with 
the local laws of the States and Territories 
for the protection of game localized within 
their borders, nor to prevent the States and 
Territories from enacting laws and regu- 
lations to promote and render efficient 
the regulations of the Department of 
Agriculture provided under this statute.” 
Audubon work has been carried on for 
twenty-five years, and a material part of 
the efforts made by it have been for the pur- 
pose of securing uniform laws for the pro- 
tection of wild birds in the United States. 
While considerable progress has been 
made, yet there is practically no uniformity 
of protective laws. The passage of the 
present bill will do more good than a cen- 
tury of effort with state legislatures. . 
This bill has received the endorsement 
of the American Ornithologists’ Union, 
which passed the following resolution at 
its Twenty-seventh Congress, giving, in a 
clear and comprehensive manner, the 
reasons why it advocates the bill. 
Resolved: That the American Orni- 
thologists’ Union heartily approves of 
H. R. 10276, introduced May 28, 1909 by 
the Hon. Mr. Weeks, of Massachusetts, 
entitled “A bill to Protect Migratory 
Birds of the United States,’’ for the reason 
that the Union recognizes the difficulty of 
obtaining uniform and satisfactory legis- 
lation for migratory birds from State 
Legislatures, and it further believes that 
all birds which do not remain permanently 
during the entire year within the borders 
of any State or Territory, are logically 
the wards of the Nation, and should be 
placed in the care of the United States 
Department of Agriculture. 
Attest: Jno. H. Sacer, Secretary. 
STATE.—The readers of BIRD-LORE are 
well acquainted with the effort made 
last year by the Audubon Society of the 
state of New York to secure an amend- 
ment to the plumage law of the state, and 
how the matter ended. That society 
does not propose to abandon its efforts 
until it has secured what it considers a 
necessary amendment to the wild bird 
law in the state. It has introduced an 
amendment to Sections 98 and 240 of the 
state law as follows: 
Sec. r. Section ninety-eight of chapter 
twenty-four of the laws of nineteen hun- 
