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ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



Departments : 



Mammals Reptiles 



\V. T. Hornadav. Raymond L. Ditmars 



Birds Aquarium 



C. William Beebe. C. H. Townsend. 



Lee S. Crandai.l. Raymond C. Osbcjrn 



Published bi-monthly at the Office of the Society. 

 11 Wall Street. New York City. 



Yearly by Mail, Sl.oo. 



MAILED FREE TO MEMBERS. 



Copyright, 2913, !>[/ the New York Zoological Society. 



Each author is responsible for the scientific accuracy 



and the proofreading of his contribution. 



Elwin R. Sanborn, Editor. 



Vol. XVI. Xo. 



MAY, 1913 



SANDPIPER SPORTSMEN. 



There are thousands of grown men and big- 

 boys who shoot little sandpipers, swallows, mar- 

 tins, nighthawks, whipporwills, larks, black- 

 birds, woodpeckers and doves for "sport" and 

 for "food." These are the sandpiper sports- 

 men; and unless all signs fail, their activities 

 soon will come to an end. The public is 

 at last thoroughly aroused against these slaugh- 

 terers of small things, and also against other 

 gunners of many other kinds. 



The McLean Federal law to protect 610 spe- 

 cies of migratory birds was driven through Con- 

 gress by the force of outraged public senti- 

 ment. "Unconstitutionality" and "state-rights" 

 doubts were swept aside with almost savage 

 impatience. It was plain that the hour for a 

 general reform had arrived. Now that that 

 measure is the law of the land, people far and 

 near are beginning to write letters asking for 

 its immediate enforcement, "before the next 

 hunting season comes on" ! 



At a conference recently held in New York 

 with Dr. T. S. Palmer, of the Department <>f 

 Agriculture, the sportsmen present announced 

 their readiness to take their medicine, for the 

 greatest good of the greatest number, provided 

 the medicine is generally distributed, and prop- 

 erly shared by their neighbors. The indications 

 an- that the United States will be divided into 

 three zones, and in each of those zones uniform 

 regulations will apply. We may presently ex- 

 pect to see the seasons for wild-fowl shooting 

 all over the United States settled on a basis 

 satisfactory to all. except market-shooters and 

 the most reckless gunners. 



At the New York conference, the friends of 

 the crop-protecting birds asked for the imme- 

 diate suppression of the sandpiper sportsmen. 



and the inauguration of a universal five-year 

 close season on all shore birds. By shore birds 

 are meant all members of the Order Limicola?, 

 as zoologically constituted. 



While there may be a few differences of 

 opinion regarding close seasons for game birds, 

 the people of the United States are practically 

 of one mind regarding the insectivorous birds. 

 These birds must and shall be preserved. On 

 March 4. 1913. the period of slaughter of useful 

 birds expired. Henceforth, the men and boys 

 who kill the birds that protect our crops and 

 trees will have to reckon with the Federal Gov- 

 ernment. The day of neighborly tolerance for 

 law-breaking bird-killers, and sympathetic ju- 

 ries and judges, has gone by. The people at 

 large are now in dead earnest about bird-pro- 

 tection, and the sandpiper sportsmen will do 

 well to put away their guns. W. T. H. 



THE DISTRIBUTION OF OUR 

 CAMPAIGN BOOK. 



The Zoological Society is now rounding out 

 a publicity campaign which, so far as we are 

 aware, is quite without a parallel. The Execu- 

 tive Committee considered Dr. Hornaday's new 

 book, "Our Vanishing Wild Life." a publica- 

 tion of so much importance to the practical con- 

 servation of wild life that it decided to send 

 a copy to every law-maker in the country, and 

 also to many other persons who are in a posi- 

 tion to influence legislation in that cause. Ac- 

 cordingly, the Board of Managers of the So- 

 ciety was invited to provide a fund to meet the 

 expenses of a very large and costly distribu- 

 tion, which involves an expenditure of nearly 

 •f 11.000. The following members of the Board 

 responded promptly to the appeal: 



Mr. Andrew Carnegie $1,000 



Mr. Percy R. Pyne 500 



Mr. C. Ledyard Blair 500 



Mr. Watson B. Dickerman 500 



Mr. Cleveland H. Dodge .. 500 



Mr. George F. Baker 500 



Mr. Samuel Thorne 500 



Mr. Ogden Mills 500 



Mr. Emerson McMillin 500 



Mr. James J. Hill 500 



Mr. Mortimer L. Schiff 500 



Mr. Grant B. Schley 500 



Mr. Frederick G. Bourne 500 



Mr. Lewis R. Morris 300 



Mr. Edward S. Harkness ... 250 



Mr. George C. Clark 250 



Mr. Robert S. Brewster 250 



Mr. C. F. Dieterich 250 



