12 



IOWA ORNITHOLOGIST. 



been my experience that it is not 

 hard to obtain permission to 

 shoot, from most farmers, where 

 they can see that one is careful 

 in regard to shooting in the 

 direction of stock. 



In conclusion I must say that 

 great blame for the non-enforce- 

 ment of our game laws lie with 

 the sportsmen and ornithologists 

 of the state. 



They see the laws broken time 

 and again and do not attempt to 

 have the guilty parties punished. 

 The part of informer does not set 

 well on the average person, yet if 

 we are true sportsmen and orni- 

 thologists we ought to see our 

 duty and do it, but a game war- 

 den would do more of this kind of 

 work in a month than all Iowa 

 will do in a year. Then, too, 

 the laws of the states in regard to 

 our avi-fauna will never be what 

 they should be until the ornithol- 

 ogists interest themselves in the 

 matter. 



Let us take up more earnestly 

 the study of economics. It is 

 far more fascinating than the 

 average collector can guess and 

 more of life histories of our birds 

 can be learned in this way than 

 any other. Our association is in 

 a position, better fitted to 

 thoroughly undertake the study 

 of the economical importance of 



the birds of our state than any 

 other institution of the state, and 

 in this way we can advance the 

 interests of this, the first of all 

 states in agriculture. Our state 

 too, must follow the example of 

 some of the newer states and of 

 the older European countries and 

 pass and enforce forestry laws. 

 Every county in the state should 

 have a certain acreage of timber, 

 and if a law of this kind was en- 

 forced by the states in general, 

 we would not have a drouth for 

 three months and then a rainfall 

 of five to ten inches in twenty- 

 four hours and then drought 

 again. Our rivers would more 

 nearly approach what they were 

 forty or fifty years ago and the 

 birds once plentiful svould grad- 

 ually increase and we would 

 again be in tune with nature. 

 Then there is much room for ed- 

 ucational work in our branch. 

 The ignorance of our legistators 

 on subjects of this kind is pro- 

 verbial. The following extract 

 from the laws of one of our far 

 western states will tend to show 

 how deep-seated this ignorance 

 is among our legislative bodies. 

 Section 25: "Every person who 

 shall kill, or destroy, or have in 

 his possession, except for breed- 

 ing purposes, any nightingale, 

 skylark, black thrush, gray sing- 



