ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 11 



(Illinois game laws of 1915 prohibit shooting from power boats on 

 the Mississippi. The restrictions have been removed since Mr. Williams' 

 speech was made, the latest regulatory announcements of the Biological 

 Survey under date of Aug. 21, 1916, omitting any specific reference to 

 hunting on the Mississippi.) 



The Memorial of the Sportsmen's Protective Associations. 



Upon concluding his address, Mr. Williams had incorporated into 

 the Congressional Record (See pages 7993 and 7994) a memorial addressed 

 to the Senate and House of Representatives on the part of the Illinois 

 Sportsmen's Protective Association and the officers of the Interstate Sports- 

 men's Protective Association and others interested. 



Some of the important assertions in the memorial are as follows : 



1. The seasons for hunting migratory birds have been so arranged by 

 the Biological Survey officials that hunters residing in the middle western 

 states are authorized to hunt migrating game only during those seasons 

 of the year when the migrants are practically absent, and are forbidden 

 from hunting during seasons when the migrants are present. 



2. Positive physical evidence has been offered the Biological Survey 

 showing that the game birds are not even approximating the breeding or 

 nesting period in February and March, nor do they at any other season 

 breed in this section of the North. 



3. The ideal season for hunting waterfowl begins February first and 

 ends March thirty-first at which opportune time such hunting is legally 

 prohibited. 



4. In the dry fall season the large water courses afford the main resort 

 for the fowl, but the Biological Survey officials prohibit hunting wild fowl 

 on the upper Mississippi. They do not prohibit such hunting south of 

 Memphis. 



5. The officials of the Biological Survey have refused to prosecute 

 violators of the law, thus placing at a disadvantage the better element 

 who are conscientious about observance of law. 



6. The petitioners are deprived of their rights without any compensa- 

 tion on behalf of wild life conservation. 



The memorial closes with the statement that the game laws of the 

 states represented by the petitioners are the most perfect and restrictive 

 legislation of any of the states, and that the Federal regulations produce 

 such conditions in conflict with these laws as to sadly deplete the hunting- 

 license revenue necessary to protect not only the wild fowl game birds 

 but the non-game song and insectivorous birds, etc. (How restrictive the 

 legislation of Missouri, for example, is. appears in the law permitting duck 

 shooting until May 1. Compare Dr. Field's report on the nesting of ducks 

 in Missouri. See later paragraph). 



Our principal interest in the signatures to this memorial is in the list 

 of Illinois organizations and their officials there given. The list is as fol- 

 lows : 



H. C. Norcross, Carlyle, 111., president Illinois Sportsmen's League. 

 James H. Aldous, Alton, 111., president Madison County Sportsmen's 

 League. 



