38 



THE GAME BREEDER 



cording to another writer. Decoys are 

 placed in open fields close to the edge 

 of woods or a ditch and the crow call 

 used. After one or two crows have been 

 brought down, they are set up in the 

 field on a couple of pointed sticks, and 

 as they soon freeze, they make excellent 

 decoys. 



Cats and Cat Laws. 



The game protective societies are 

 busy securing cat laws and the game 

 breeders are busy killing cats. As 

 usual both groups get what they go after ; 

 the first named get their laws and the 

 last named get the cats. 



There is room enough in America for 

 both industries. No cat laws are needed 

 on the game farm and preserve where 

 steel traps and shotguns are in constant 

 use. We are quite sure the cats do less 

 harm on game preserves than they do 

 on the vast areas where they are sup- 

 posed to be controlled by laws only. 



Cats on a Game Breeding Ground. 



A good big cat was instantly killed, 

 at forty yards, by a shot from a Parker 

 twenty gauge gun on the preserve of 

 The Long Island Game Breeders' Asso- 

 ciation a few days ago. If the cat had 

 nine lives he surrendered them all at 

 once when the gun cracked. 



Another big yellow cat which took a. 

 look at the quail lost a good tuft of hair 

 from the top of its head when a load of 

 shot struck it, and it left as if it had no 

 intention of returning. 



Another big cat remained when he 

 stepped on a steel trap and the same 

 trap baited with fish took a skunk the 

 following evening. 



Promising Subject for a Test Case. 



R. P. _ Holland, U. S. Game Warden 

 of Atchison, Kansas, arrested the dis- 

 trict attorney of the state of Missouri 

 on March 6th, along with some other 

 prominent men who were shooting ducks 

 in violation of the migratorv bird treaty 

 act, on Stultz Lake, near Clinton, Mis- 

 souri. 



There is nothing to show, as far as 

 our information goes, that Attorney- 



General Frank McAllister, of Jefferson 

 City, was looking for trouble. In fact, he 

 is quoted by a local paper as intimating 

 that the arrest was unexpected' and this 

 despite the fact that in February a con- 

 current resolution was put through the 

 Missouri legislature "suggesting to the 

 attorney-general that he investigate the 

 matter of enjoining the federal game in- 

 spectors from interference with the game 

 laws of the state. Mr. McAllister, how- 

 ever, is apparently in something of a 

 hole. He is quoted as saying: "Better 

 that I be used as an instrument to test 

 the validity of the law than some poor 

 fellows who are unable to bear the ex- 

 pense of fighting such a case." 



Apparently the Missouri legislature 

 was induced to pass the joint resolution 

 under the erroneous impression that the 

 principle of state ownership of migra- 

 tory birds was sustained by the United 

 States Supreme Court in the appeal un- 

 der the first migratory bird law. This, 

 of course, is an error, as the United 

 States Supreme Court gave no opinion 

 on the original migratory bird law. 



The friends of the federal law will 

 welcome a test case, now or at any other 

 time. It is proper that the constitution- 

 ality of the law should be determined. 

 They agree with the attorney-general in 

 Missouri that he will be an admirable in- 

 strument to try out the validity of the 

 law. Let us by all means have the case 

 pushed through as rapidly as possible, 

 so that when the matter is settled there 

 will be no further excuse for any one 

 shooting at a time when the federal reg- 

 ulations do not permit it. 



—Game Protective Association Bulletin. 



Although we have doubted if the 

 constitution of the United States can be 

 amended simply by securing a treaty 

 with another country, the migratory bird 

 law with its Section 12 giving full pro- 

 tection to game breeders is so eminently 

 satisfactory that we have no objection 

 to the law. The Supreme Court undoubt- 

 edly has held that the state owns the 

 game and that the regulation of the tak- 

 ing of it is within the police powers of 

 the state. Possibly the court may now 



