BIRD-PROTECTION BY GOVERNMENTS 195 



finally successful and the bill was passed without one 

 dissenting vote in the Senate, and with only fifteen 

 votes cast against it in the House. One of the last of- 

 ficial acts of President Taft was the signing of this 

 bill on March 4, 1913. 



This was the most important step ever taken by 

 any country in the interest of bird-protection. Fol- 

 lowing is the text of the law : — 



Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of 

 Representatives of the United States of America in Congress 

 assembled, That all wild geese, wild swan, brant, wild 

 ducks, snipe, plover, woodcocks, rail, wild pigeons, and 

 all other migratory game and insectivorous birds, which 

 in their northern and southern migrations pass through, 

 or do not remain permanently the entire year within the 

 borders of any State or Territory, shall hereafter be 

 deemed to be within the custody and protection of the 

 Government of the United States, and shall not be de- 

 stroyed or taken contrary to regulations hereinafter pro- 

 vided therefor. 



Section 2. That the Department of Agriculture is 

 hereby authorized to adopt suitable regulations to give 

 effect to the previous section by prescribing and fixing 

 closed seasons, having due regard to the zones of tempera- 

 ture, breeding habits, and times and lines of migratory 

 flight, thereby enabling the department to select and des- 

 ignate suitable districts for different portions of the coun- 

 try within which said closed seasons it shall not be lawful 

 to shoot, or by any device kill or seize and capture migra- 

 tory birds within the protection of this law, and by de- 

 claring penalties by fine of not more than one hundred 

 dollars or imprisonment for ninety days, or both, for viola- 

 tion of such regulations. 



Section 3. That the Department of Agriculture, after 



