48 



THE GAME BREEDER 



a permit, but no specimens shall be taken with- 

 out a permit. The plumage and skins of 

 migratory game birds legally taken may be 

 possessed and transported by a person without 

 a permit. 



A taxidermist when authorized by a permit 

 issued by the Secretary may possess, buy, sell, 

 and transport in any manner and at any time 

 migratory Ibirds and parts thereof legally 

 taken. 



Readers will observe that the permits 

 are fairly liberal in their terms and that 

 they are intended to promote game 

 breeding, "in order to increase our food 

 supply," as Section 12 of the statute 

 reads. 



In order to properly fill out the appli- 

 cation for the permits to propagate and 

 sell it is necessary to have two witnesses 

 to the signature of the applicant, one of 

 whom must be a public officer. The 

 easiest public officer to secure, in most 

 neighborhoods, is a Notary or Justice 

 of the Peace, Town Clerk, Alderman or 

 any person holding any public office. 

 Politicians now are so numerous that 

 it should be an easy matter to find one 

 holding some public office. 



The second regulation, it will be ob- 

 served, requires the applicant to secure 

 certificates from two well known orni- 

 thologists. The application blank con- 

 tains a form which seems to require the 

 ornithologists to state that they have 

 known the applicant for .... years. 

 The number of years to be filled in by 

 the ornithologists. 



Since a great majority of game breed- 

 ers live in the country, often on a rural 

 delivery route, as their address on the 

 index cards of The Game Breeder shows, 

 it must be evident that in most cases 

 there are not two (or even one) well 

 known ornithologists within several hun- 

 dred miles of their residences ; and we 

 venture to say that not one game breeder 

 in a thousand knows a well known or- 

 nithologist or would know one if he saw 

 him. The well known ornithologists are 

 comparatively rare ; they are by no 

 means as common as politicians, holding 

 a public office, in any neighborhood. It 

 would seem, therefore, that the appli- 

 cant in most cases is required to perform 

 an impossibility, and we doubt if the 

 Congress had such performance in mind 



when it said that nothing in the act 

 should prevent the breeding of game on 

 game farms and preserves. It is quite 

 important for breeders to have biras to- 

 lay the eggs. We suggest that the regu- 

 lations be amended. 



The regulations made by The Survey 

 do not require a shooter to secure two- 

 well known ornithologists to certify 

 that they have known him for years be- 

 fore ' he can destroy twenty-five wild 

 ducks in a day. We hope the regula- 

 tion can be amended so that those who 

 wish to take twenty-five ducks or other 

 wild fowl in a day can do so with as 

 much freedom as is awarded to the de- 

 stroyers. The game breeder who takes 

 live ducks for breeding purposes should 

 certainly have as much freedom as The 

 Survey grants to destroyers. We suggest 

 respectfully to The Survey that it read 

 Section 12 of the law and consider if 

 the regulation is a substantial compli- 

 ance with its terms, which are expressed 

 in no uncertain language. The regula- 

 tions provide that state laws must be 

 observed, and it is quite true that some 

 states, many, in fact, are so far behind 

 the times as to only permit the taking of 

 wild fowl with shot-guns, and most of 

 the birds so taken are not suitable for 

 breeding purposes when Remington 

 cartridges are used, as they are very 

 largely. 



In New York it is now legal to trap 

 birds for breeding purposes and, of 

 course, since The Survey holds that 

 state laws govern this subject no na- 

 tional permits are necessary. Mr. Hen- 

 derson, of The Survey, called our atten- 

 tion, in sending a permit, to the fact that 

 it did not permit the taking of wild fowl, 

 and he evidently had the New York 

 law in mind. We have no doubt that 

 in states which properly permit the trap- 

 ping of birds for breeding purposes The 

 Survey is powerless to prevent the trap- 

 ping for such purpose, since Section 12" 

 of the law was made to cover such ac- 

 tions. Any attempt to do so would be a 

 flagrant violation of the law which says 

 nothing in it shall be construed to pre- 

 vent the breeding of game. When New 

 York breeders are engaged in taking 

 birds for breeding purposes they would" 



