ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



511 



Discourage the indiscriminate carrying of fire- 

 arms. 



Prohibit in all states and territories the car- 

 rying of guns by unnaturalized aliens. 



Prohibit, in all states and territories, all 

 Spring shooting; and begin the campaign in 

 Iowa. 



Acquire Cat Island, Gulf of Mexico (near 

 Pass Christian, Miss.) as a bird preserve. 



Provide for every state and territory a gun 

 license law. 



THE RIGHTS OF OWNERS OF ANIMAL 

 PRESERVES. 



WE believe that every owner of a private 

 game preserve is entitled to the right to 

 kill the game that he owns and main- 

 tains, whenever he pleases, provided such kill- 

 ings do not interfere with the execution of laws 

 for the protection of game and other wild life 

 outside of private preserves. We believe that 

 this is not only good law, but also good com- 

 mon sense. 



If an owner of a private menagerie of show 

 animals has a right to kill a bad deer during the 

 close season, — which he undoubtedly has,- — it is 

 only logical to conclude that the owner of a deer 

 pasture should have the same right. The owner 

 of a game park may kill his dog — if that painful 

 duty seems imperative — but according to the 

 present laws of many states, he has no right to 

 kill one of his own deer, save in the open season 

 for deer. 



This situation is absurd, and therefore can 

 not long endure. The raising of deer or pheas- 

 ants or mallard ducks in fenced enclosures, for 

 the market, should now be placed on the basis 

 of a legitimate industry. There is no good 

 reason why an owner of a deer preserve should 

 not kill one of his deer whenever he chooses, pro- 

 vided he does not sell the carcass, or give it 

 away outside his preserve, during the close sea- 

 son ; but the sale of the flesh in the close season 

 is a different and far more serious matter. 



A sensible law covering this point would give 

 much encouragement to the breeding of deer and 

 game birds, and to the establishment of more 

 private game preserves. There are many good 

 reasons for the creation of a new basis for this 

 industry, provided it can be accomplished with- 

 out promoting the illegal killing of wild stock. 

 It is there that the shoe pinches hard. 



There is one grave difficulty that must be 

 overcome before it becomes possible to legalize 

 f ither the killing or the selling of home-grown 

 game during the close season. It is well known 



that every unscrupulous game dealer will be 

 quick to take advantage of any relaxation of 

 existing laws to traffic illegally in wild game 

 illegally killed. The only objection to the pas- 

 sage of laws that will be fair and liberal for 

 the preserve owners lies in the overshadowing 

 menace of the game-dealer and lawless con- 

 sumer. 



If any man can propose a system that will 

 permit the preserve owner to kill and market 

 surplus pheasants or deer during the close sea- 

 son, without having the privilege immediately 

 and successfully used as a cloak for the illegal 

 slaughter of wild game, let him bring it forth 

 in his state legislature. 



REFUGES FOR BIRDS. 



AROUND the coast of the United States, 

 there is gradually being extended a chain 

 of insular bird sanctuaries that means much 

 to the avifauna of North America. Prior to 

 January 1, 1909, twenty-five national bird 

 refuges had been created by executive order and 

 proclamation, chiefly along our sea-coasts. They 

 provide specially protected breeding-grounds 

 for the brown pelican, gulls, terns, skimmers, 

 shore-birds of various species, herons, egrets, 

 ducks and numerous other species. It is im- 

 possible to overestimate the zoological value of 

 these sanctuaries, or to praise too highly the 

 wisdom that brought them into existence. 



The accompanying map shows all the littoral 

 bird sanctuaries that were created prior to 1909; 

 but during the present year 26 more island pre- 

 serves have been proclaimed. The list of the 

 federal bird reservations established previous to 

 1909 is as follows: — 



LIST OF FEDERAL BIRD RESERVATIONS. 



Pelican Island, 



Florida, 



March 14, 1903. 



Breton Island, 



Louisiana, 



October 4, 1904. 



Stump Lake, 



North Dakota, 



March 9, 1905. 



Huron Island, 



Michigan, 



October 10, 1905. 



Siskiwit Island, 



Michigan, 



October 10, 1905. 



Passage Key, 



Florida, 



October 10, 1905. 



Indian Key, 



Florida, 



February 10, 1906. 



Tern Island, 



Louisiana, 



Augusts, 1907. 



Shell Key, 



Louisiana, 



August 17, 1907. 



Three-Arch Rocks, 



Oregon, 



October 14, 1907. 



Flattery Rocks, 



Washington, 



October 23, 1907. 



Quillayute Needles, 



Washington, 



October 23, 1907. 



East Timbalier Island, 



Loujsiana, 



December 7, 1907. 



Copalis Rock, 



Washington, 



October 23, 1907. 



Mosquito Inlet, 



Florida, 



February 24, 1908. 



Tortugas Keys, 



Florida, 



April 6, 1908. 



Klamath Lake, 



Ohio, 



Augusts, 190S. 



Key West, 



Florida, 



Augusts, 190S. 



Lake Malheur, 



Ohio, 



August IS, 190S. 



Chase Lake, 



North Dakota, 



August 2S, 190S. 



Pine Island, 



Florida, 



September 15, 190S. 



Matlacha Pass, 



Florida, 



September 26, 190S. 



Palma Sola, 



Florida, 



September 26, 1908 



Island Bay, 



Florida, 



October 23, 190S. 



Loch Katrine, 



Wyoming, 



October 26, 190S. 



