The Audubon Societies 



273 



these, and also several other species, are 

 "commonly recognized as edible," so 

 their feathers may be imported. In Italy 

 there is hardly a bird that flies, walks or 

 swims but what is "commonly recognized 

 as edible," which would mean that the 

 feathers of European song birds could be 

 imported with impunity. Where is the 

 thing to end, and who is the official who 

 will dare to say that any feathers what- 

 ever shall be debarred from importation? 



Then, too, pestiferous birds are placed 

 on the unprotected list; but no authority 

 is given for determining just what birds 

 are pests. The city dweller says the Eng- 

 lish Sparrow is a pest, the suburban gar- 

 dener declares the Starling is a pest, the 

 rice planter says Bobolinks and Black- 

 birds are pests, the corn-grower declares 

 the Lark and Quail to be pests, the 

 chicken-raiser votes that Hawks are pests, 

 the propagator of fish says Herons and 

 Kingfishers are pests, sailors vow Petrels 

 that warn them of coming storms are 

 pests, the man with a chimney says the 

 Swift is a pest, the Southern grape-grower 

 swears the Mockingbird is a pest, and, 

 under the proposed law, whosoever will 

 may call any bird in the world a pest, and 

 ship its feathers to this country to enrich 

 the pockets of the selfish, greedy traf- 

 fickers in the plumage torn from the 

 bodies of slaughtered mother birds. 



To speak mildly, it looks as though 

 Messrs. Johnson, Smith and Hughes have 

 been imposed upon by the shrewd argu- 

 ments of the clever attorneys hired by the 

 Millinery Trade. What this Association, 

 the New York Zoological Society, and 

 other organizations are now attempting 

 to do is to acquaint the public with just 

 what is going on at Washington, and 

 urge everybody to write the senators from 

 his or her state, and urge the adoption of 

 the feather proviso in Schedule "N" just 

 as it passed the House of Representatives. 

 United States Senators will soon be 

 elected by a direct vote of the people, and 

 they will listen right now to what their 

 constitutents have to say on important 

 public issues, if the constituents will only 

 speak freely and insist on being heard. 



Just before going to press, word was 

 received to the effect that the Senate 

 Finance Committee has decided to strike 

 out the entire feather proviso except the 

 clause which prohibits the importation 

 of Heron "aigrettes"! 



Regulations Under Weeks-McLean Law 



The United States Department of Agri- 

 culture has issued a circular under date of 

 June 23, 1913, giving "Proposed Regula- 

 tions for the Protection of Migratory 

 Birds." This was done under authority 

 granted the Department by the Federal 

 statute commonly known as the "Weeks- 

 McLean Law," which became effective on 

 March 4, 1913. Accompanying this cir- 

 cular there is also one entitled "Explana- 

 tion of the Proposed Regulations for the 

 Propagation of Migratory Birds." Any- 

 one desiring copies of these for examina- 

 tion may doubtless secure them by 

 addressing the "Secretary of Agriculture, 

 Washington, D. C." 



Under the provisions of the law, these 

 rules do not become operative until 

 receiving the signature of the President of 

 the United States three months after their 

 promulgation. This is to give an oppor- 

 tunity for all parties to be heard who may 

 wish to address any complaints or sug- 

 gested changes to the authorities having 

 the matter in charge. 



The entire proposition is set forth under 

 ten headings or "regulations." Briefly, 

 these are as follow: 



Regulation 1 defines migratory game 

 birds as Anatidce, including Brant, Wild 

 Ducks, Geese and Swans; Gruidm, Cranes; 

 Rallidce, Rails, Coots and Gallinules; 

 Limicolce, shore birds, including Snipe, 

 Plover, Curlew, Sandpipers, etc.; and 

 Columbidce, being Doves and Wild Pigeons. 

 For the purposes of the regulations, 

 "perching birds which feed entirely or 

 chiefly on insects" are considered as 

 "migratory insectivorous birds." 



Regulation 2 declares a daily closed sea- 

 son from sunset to sunrise on all birds 

 enumerated in Regulation Xo. 1. That 

 is, all night shooting is to be stopped. 



