46 LAWS EEGULATING TEANSPORTATION AND SALE OF GAME. 



export laws now in force in 40 States; the Massachusetts statute,^ which 

 prohibits sale during close seasons of game artificially propagated 

 upon private lands, in spite of the fact that such game is declared by 

 the law to be the exclusive property of the person propagating it, and 

 also the statutes of Illinois,^ Minnesota,^ and \Yisconsin,^ which 

 declare that possession of fish or game by au}^ person at any time, 

 Avhether taken within or without the State, shall be deemed a consent 

 of such person that the title shall remain in the State for the purpose 

 of regulating the use and disposition of such fish or game. The quali- 

 fied character of private ownership of game is thus asserted by the 

 Supreme Court of the United States : 



The power of a State to protect by adequate police regulation its people against 

 tlieadulterationof articles of food, ^ ■• "•■ although in doing so commerce might 

 be remotely affected, necessarily carries with it the existence of a like power to 



' ' . preserve a food supply which belongs in common to all the people of the State, 



which ccDi only become the subject of ownership in a qualified icay, and which can 



■ li; 1 1 never be the object of commerce except with the consent of the State and subject to 



the conditions which it may deem best to impose for the public good.^ 



iliijj I Matters connected with the killing of game, as regulated by game 



llljl I laws, may be grouiDed under three heads: (1) Manner of capture, (2) 



!j|||| I time of capture, and (3) object of capture.^ Under the first head 



lilt 1 1 may be included prohibitions against pursuing deer with hounds, 



„ i ^ netting quail, killing birds before sunrise or after sunset, killing wild 



i; 1 i fowl with swivel guns or pursuing them with steam or naphtha launches, 



• i and like regulations which are so common and so similar in their 



!!| ! I restrictions that a detailed statement b}' States is unnecessar}^ Under 



■■: the second head come close seasons, absolute protection (as in the 



:,|;|| case of insectivorous birds), protection for terms of years, and regu- 



Mi. 1 1 lations against killing birds on certain daj's of the week. The statutes 



. : covering these points are so varied and are subject to such frequent 



' iJ : j change that no attempt has been made to compile them, but the regu- 



\\j . ' lations now in force are summarized and tabulated on pp. 18-29. The 



; ; 1 1 most important provisions under the third head are those which make 



•I ' ! it unlawful to kill big game for hides, or to capture or kill any game 



.|llij for sale, or for shipping beyond the limits of the county or State. 



"1,1 These are the topics which properh^ come within the scope of this 



' 1 bulletin, and the sections which relate to them are quoted in full. For 



Ijjiii laws protecting birds other than game birds, see Bulletin No, 12 of 



"'i!| the Biological Survey, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



tiiiiiii . - 



I ^Acts of 1884, chap, 308. ^Laws of 1899, chap. 312. sec. 26. 



,1;;! I 2 Laws of 1899, p. 227, sec. 11. ^-Qeer v. Conn., 161 U. S., 535. 



:! j:! j ^Gen. Laws of 1897, chap. 221, sec. 9. 



11 || *^In some of the States certain facts are declared to constitute p?^?'?)i a /ac?'e evi- 



J|j • I dence of violation of law. Among these may be mentioned possession of game 



' I without license in Colorado, or out of season in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas. Maryland 



j (most counties), Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, 



' • ; New York. Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington; and receipt of game 



for shipment in Connecticut. Maine (unless properly tagged) , Ohio, South Dakota, 



; ; ! Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. 



