32 THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 



Where and When not to Hunt 



Not along the roadsides in Illinois. House bill 312, approved by 

 Governor Lowden June 25, 1917, forbids the discharge of firearms upon 

 any public highway by anyone other than an officer of the law and provides 

 a penalty of from five to twenty-five dollars for each and every violation of 

 the law. This useful law should not be difficult to enforce. It is unlawful 

 to hunt "within or along the premises of another, or upon the waters 

 flowing over or standing on said lands or premises, without first 

 obtaining from the owner, agent, or occupant of said lands or 

 premises, his, her or their permission so to do." Violation of this 

 provision involves the forfeiture of the hunter's license and a fine of from 

 five to fifteen dollars. There is nothing to hunt after February 1 anyway. 

 There is no Spring shooting, unless outlawed birds are a target. There is 

 no real hunting until September 1 when the open season for certain game 

 birds begins. There is really no legitimate excuse for anyone roaming the 

 countryside, Spring or Summer, with a weapon in hand. Anyone doing 

 that may well be suspected of indulging in surreptitious shooting at for- 

 bidden targets. 



A Constructive Program 



Let us work for the amendment of our present law, (a) to strengthen 

 its phraseology, (b) to give policemen the same powers and privileges as 

 constables, (c) to reward those who file complaints from which convictions 

 follow, (d) to revise and restrict the list of outlawed birds, (e) to fix a 

 minimum age limit for the holders of hunting licenses. The legislative 

 committee of the Illinois Audubon Society has the matter of amendments in 

 hand and at the proper time will inform our membership of the com- 

 pleted program and advise as to lending our combined support in the most 

 effective way. The prospect of accomplishing much of its program seems 

 good. Organizations such as the Illinois Sportsmen's League favor the 

 strict protection of non-game and insectivorous birds and can even be 

 counted upon to push through laws making it easier to afford such protec- 

 tion. Audubonites are bound to stand for the amendment of the state law 

 to make it conform to the national regulations forbidding Spring shooting 

 and here they are obliged to part company with some of the sportsmen's 

 organizations. While they do this, it seems proper to express the hope that 

 with the ultimate victory of the national government's contentions as to 

 closed seasons there may be found some way to mitigate the conditions 

 which seem to constitute a real grievance in some parts of the middle West. 



A Drive 



After all is said and done, is not the big thing the arousing of wide- 

 spread interest in bird life, its charm, its human appeal, its economic 

 significance ? This is what bird clubs and Audubon Societies are doing with 

 signal success. Are they not directly or indirectly behind much of the 

 publicity given to bird protection in our widely circulated magazines and 

 papers and farm journals? Their efforts appear in programs of farmers' 

 institutes, in class rooms in the schools and in books which children read. 



