AMERICAN GAME BIRDS 
accomplished in recent years are inclined 
to despair. 
Meantime, after a century of experi- 
ment by the States, the depletion of our 
game birds continhes, and the end of sev- 
eral species is in plain view. It must be 
evident to all that, so far as the conser- 
vation of wild life is concerned, State 
control has proved a failure. Not a 
single State has succeeded in adequately 
protecting its own resident game, to say 
nothing of the game that migrates 
through it. 
FEDERAL MIGRATORY BIRD LAW 
It is the belief of many that what the 
States have failed to do for the conser- 
vation of our bird life can be accom- 
plished by the Federal government, and 
they further believe that the act approved 
March 4, 1913, commonly known as the 
Federal Migratory Bird Law, marks a 
long step in advance in game protection. 
By this act the migratory game and in- 
sectivorous birds which do not remain 
permanently within the borders of any 
one State or Territory are declared to be 
within the custody and under the protec- 
tion of the Government of the United 
States. 
This act, be it noted, provides protec- 
tion only for game and insectivorous 
birds that migrate; hence many of our 
finest game birds, like the bob-white, val- 
ley quail, mountain quail, ruffed grouse, 
prairie hen, sage hen, blue grouse, wild 
turkey, and others, being non-migratory, 
have been left in charge of the several 
States in which they reside. Here we 
may leave them, trusting that, notwith- 
standing past failures, the measures 
enacted for their benefit will stay the fate 
with which most of them are threatened. 
Migratory birds are on a very differ- 
ent basis from others. Such of the 
ducks, geese, and shorebirds as still breed 
within our limits, including Alaska, mi- 
grate early to more southerly localities, 
where they winter. Some of them, in 
fact, especially the shorebirds, pass be- 
yond our borders and winter south of 
the tropics. But by far the great ma- 
jority breed in foreign territory far to 
the northward of our possessions, and 
we have no claim on them save as they 
tarry on their journey for a time along 
our coasts or on our lakes and rivers or 
winter in the Southern States. 
It seems eminently fitting that these 
migrants, as they traverse our territory, 
feeding in one State today, in another 
State tomorrow, should be under Fed- 
eral control, subject to such regulations 
as seem likely to preserve the species. 
The law giving Federal protection has, 
after a year’s trial, met with general ap- 
proval. Moreover, although its constitu- 
tionality has been questioned, its main 
purposes have been indorsed by the great 
majority of sportsmen, though among 
them are many who dissent from certain 
regulations because they abridge the 
privileges enjoyed under State law. 
In this connection it may not be out of 
place to direct the attention of sportsmen, 
many of whom seem to have somewhat 
misconstrued the purpose of the Federal 
law, to the fact that the intent of the law 
was not primarily to increase shooters’ 
privileges by lengthening the open season 
and enabling them to kill larger bags of 
game, but to preserve game birds in gen- 
eral, more particularly the ones threat- 
ened with extinction. 
If the accomplishment of this laudable 
end curtails to some extent the present 
privileges of sportsmen, they should not 
complain, since the ultimate result of the 
law, if it be enforced, will be largely to 
increase the number of our game birds. 
Should it then somewhat curtail the privi- 
leges of the present generation of sports- 
men, it will at least insure to future gen- 
erations the perpetuity of our game birds. 
Here it may be pointed out that if the 
present Migratory Bird Law, now before 
the United States Supreme Court, should 
fail to meet the test of legal requirements 
and be pronounced invalid, bird conser- 
vationists need not be discouraged, since 
two courses are open: first, so to amend 
the law that it will stand every legal test; 
second, to obtain a constitutional amend- 
ment which will effect the desired end. 
Amendments to our Constitution are 
proverbially difficult to secure, but who 
can doubt that with the widespread in- 
terest in bird life of the present genera- 
tion of Americans such an amendment 
can be obtained in due time. 
