INTRODUCTION. 
XLV 
BIRD LEGISLATION. 
“The Committee of the American Ornithologists’ Union on Bird Protection” has 
drawn a law, which should be passed in the legislature of every State of the Union and 
Canada. The proposed Act reads as follows: 
AN ACT 
For THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS AND THEIR 
NESTS AND EGGs. 
Section 1. Any person who shall, within the 
State of —, kill any wild bird other than a game 
bird, or purchase, offer or expose for sale any such 
wild bird, after it has been killed, shall for each 
offense be subject to a fine of not less than ten nor 
more than fifty dollars, or imprisonment for not less 
than five nor more than thirty days, or both, at the 
discretion of the court. For the purpose of this act 
the following only shall be considered game birds: 
The Anatidez, commonly known as Swans, Geese, 
Brant, and River and Sea Ducks; the Rallide, com- 
monly known as Rails, Coots, Mud-hens, and Galli- 
nules; the Limicolea, commonly known as_ shore 
birds, Plovers, Surf-birds, Snipe, Woodcock, Sand- 
pipers, Tatlers, and Curlews; the Galline, commonly 
known as Wild Turkeys, Grouse, Prairie Chickens, 
Pheasants, Partridges, and Quails, all of which are 
overned hy specific laws affecting each, and are not 
intended to be affected by this act. 
Sec. 2. Any person*who shall, within the State 
of ——, take or destroy the nest or the eggs of any 
wild bird, shall be subject for each offense to a fine 
of not less than ten nor more than fifty dollars, or 
imprisonment for not less than five nor more than 
thirty days, or both, at the discretion of the court. 
Sec. 8. Sections 1 and 2 of this act shall not 
apply to any person holding a permit giving the 
right to take birds, or their nests and eggs, for 
scientific purposes, as provided for in Section 4 of 
this act. 
Sec. 4. Permits may be granted by [here follow 
the names of the persons, if any, duly authorized by 
this act to grant such permits], or by any incorpor- 
ated society of natural history in the State, through 
such persons or officers as said society may design- 
ate, to any properly accredited person, permitting 
the holder thereof to collect birds, their nests or 
eggs, for strictly scientific purposes. In order to ob- 
tain such permit, the applicant for the same must 
present to the person or persons having the power 
to grant said permit, written testimonials from two 
well-known scientific men, certifying to the good 
character and fitness of said applicant to be intrusted 
with such privilege; must pay to said persons or 
officers one dollar to defray the necessary expenses 
attending the granting of such permits; and must 
file with said persons or officers a properly executed 
bond, in the sum of two hundred dollars, signed by 
two responsible citizens of the State as sureties. This 
bond shall be forfeited to the State, and the permit 
become void, upon proof that the holder of such per- 
mit has killed any bird, or taken the nest or eggs of 
any bird, for other than the purposes named in Sec- 
tions 3 and 4 of this act, and shall be further sub- 
ject for each such offense to the penalties provided 
therefor in Sections 1 and 2 of this act. 
Sec. 5. The permits authorized by this act shall 
be in force for one year only from the date of their 
issue, and shall not be transferable. 
Sec. 6. The English or European House Sparrow 
(Passer domesticus) is not included among the birds 
protected by this act. 
Sec. 7. In all actions for the recovery of penal- 
ties under this act, one-half of the recovery shall 
belong to the plaintiff, and the remainder shall be 
paid to the county treasurer of the county where the 
offense is committed. 
Sec. 8. All acts, or parts of acts, heretofore 
passed, inconsistent with or contrary to the pro- 
visions of this act, are hereby repealed. 
Sec. 9. This act shall take effect upon its pass- 
age. 
COMMENT. 
It will be noticed that in Sec. 1 the different 
species of birds intended to be protected are not 
separately enumerated. Some attempt at such an 
enumeration is made in the New York law, as, 
indeed, is the case in most similar acts passed by the 
various States. As the birds intended to be protected 
by this and similar acts include about two-thirds to 
three-fourths of the birds of any area affected by 
such an act, or over two hundred species, it is im- 
practicable to enumerate them; the brief enumera- 
tions usually attempted are so imperfect and are 
couched in such vague terms that in many cases 
conviction could be evaded on technicalities, owing 
to the looseness of the language usually employed in 
such acts. In the present draft the few groups of 
birds not covered by the proposed act are alone 
specified, and explicitly so through the use of the 
technical names commonly employed in ornithology 
for the designation of these groups. This leaves the 
application of the act unequivocal and exact—a most 
desirable point to secure. 
Sec. 2 of the act requires no comment. 
Sec. 3 is intended to legalize the taking of birds, 
their nests and eggs for strictly scientific purposes 
only, as for scientific museums and by persons 
seriously engaged in the scientific study of birds. 
Sec. 4. This provision is intended to be so strict 
in its requirements that only a person who is prop- 
erly entitled to a permit will be able to secure one. 
Such persons will cheerfully submit to the trouble 
necessary to obtain a permit, in behalf of the proper 
protection of our birds. 
The act contemplates vesting with authority to 
issue permits only such persons or agents as will be 
most likely to exercise due care in regard to the fit- 
ness of applicants to receive them. It is accordingly 
placed in the hands of incorporated societies of na- 
tural history, but authorizes its delegation to such 
State officers as may be especially designated for that 
purpose, as game commissioners or game wardens. 
But preferably, for obvious reasons, such authority 
should be delegated only to incorporated scientific 
societies, who, through their executive officers, or 
through committees specially appointed for the pur- 
