The Audubon Societies 



141 



United States; for the bill subinitteil liy tiie 

 Audubon Society was the result of all of the 

 legislative experience since Audubon work 

 began. How was this result obtaineil ? 

 Simply by the strenuous efforts of good men 

 and women throughout the state who im- 

 mediately, after the defeat of 1902, started a 

 campaign of education. When tlu- citizens 

 of a commonwealth learn the value of bird 

 life, the demand for its protection is a natural 

 sequence. How powerful this force can be 

 is illustrated by the following bit of what is 

 now history. House Bill No. 103 was a 

 " Proposed Lauj for the Protection oj Non- 

 Game Birds. An Act for the Protection oj 

 Birds other than Game Birds and their 

 Nests, and '0 Provide for the Punishment 

 of Violations Thereof. Drafted and pub- 

 lished by the Audubon Society of Lou- 

 isiana." The bill was sent to a Committee 

 and it was by them reported back to the 

 House, amended in Section 7, relating to 

 the traffic in live birds. It was the last de- 

 spairing effort of the cage-bird dealers to 

 perpetuate their cruel and wasteful trade. 

 The House did not approve of this amend- 

 ment, signifying its disapproval by a vote of 

 82 to 2. It immediately passed the bill as 

 originally offered, by the same vote. June 

 24 the Senate passed the bill without a dis- 

 senting vote, and on June 29 the Governor 

 officially notified the General Assembly that 

 he had signed House Bill No. 103. it takes 

 but a few words to tell this story to the bird- 

 loving public, but it took months of time 

 an i much hard labor on the part of the 

 President of the Audubon Society and his 

 co-workers to accomplish the result, which 

 could not have been secured without the great 

 aid given by Mr. Page Baker, managing 

 editor of the 'Times-Democrat,' who 

 gave the most efficient help through the edi- 

 torial and news columns of his paper. The 

 thanks of all bird-loving people are due for 

 such a high standard of civics. The pas- 

 sage of the model law in Louisiana is the cap- 

 stone in the arch of legal protection in the 

 United States, as it enables the Committee 

 to prevent the sale and traffic in all parts of 

 the country of such species as Mockingbirds, 

 Cardinals, Nonpareils and Indigo-Buntings, 

 through the enforcement of ' The Lacey 



Act.' A few weeks since the Chairman 

 visited the store of a bird dealer in New 

 York, and in one large cage saw not less than 

 sixty Mockingbirds, some of them so young 

 that when the cage was approached the poor 

 biriis hopped to the wire netting fluttering 

 their wings and opening their mouths to be 

 fed. As nine-tenths of all the native cage- 

 birds offered for sale in the United States were 

 trapped or stolen from nests in Louisiana, 

 the officers and memliers of the several State 

 Audubon Societies need have no hesitancy 

 in bringing action against cage-l)ird dealers 

 who persist in the trade; however, it will be 

 prudent in all cases to submit the facts to the 

 Chairman for advice as to how to proceed 

 legally in the matter. 



In Massachusetts the effort to obtain pro- 

 tection for the beneficial Hawks and Owls 

 was unsuccessful. The chairman of the Fish 

 and Game Committee advised the introducer 

 of the bill "that the Committee favored it, 

 but thought it had no chance with the 

 House." He suggested, therefore, that it 

 be laid aside for consideration at the next 

 session, and in the meantime an educational 

 campaign be conducted with the members 

 and the rural districts. The sessions of 

 the Legislature in Massachusetts being an- 

 nual, another effort for this very desirable 

 legislation can be made early in 1905, and 

 in the interim the advice of the Fish and 

 Game Committee can be followed by the 

 Audubon Society. The large number of 

 local secretaries representing the Society 

 should render this special educational work 

 very easy of accomplishment. Notwithstand- 

 ing all efforts to protect the Least Terns 

 breeding on Martha's Vineyard, the colony 

 seems destined to be gradually exterminated 

 by egging. A visit to Katama Beach by a 

 resident of the Island, who is a warm friend 

 of bird protection and who freely gives his 

 services, revealed the fact that some vandals 

 had visited the breeding-ground and, as far 

 as could be judged by the empty nests, had 

 illegally taken not less than 300 eggs. The 

 Committee at once published in the ' V'ine- 

 yard CJazette' an offer of a reward of #25 

 for evidence that would convict the egg 

 thieves. 



The splendid legislative work of Mr. 



