FEDERAL LAW FOR THE PROTECTION OF MIGRATORY 



BIRDS. 



Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 

 United States of America in Congress assembled, all wild geese, wild swans, 

 brant, wild ducks, snipe, plover, woodcock, rail, wild pigeons, and all other 

 migratory game and insectivorous birds which in their northern and south- 

 ern migrations pass through or do not remain permanently the entire year 

 within the borders of any State or Territory, shall hereafter be deemed to 

 be within the custody and protection of the Government of the United 

 States, and shall not be destroyed or taken contrary to regulations herein- 

 after provided therefor. 



The Department of Agriculture is hereby authorized and directed to 

 adopt suitable regulations to give effect to the previous paragraph by 

 prescribing and fixing closed seasons, having due regard to the zones of 

 temperature, breeding habits, and times and line of migratory flight, 

 thereby enabling the department to select and designate suitable districts 

 for different portions of the country, and it shall be unlawful to shoot or 

 by any device kill or seize and capture migratory birds within the pro- 

 tection of this law during said closed seasons, and any person who shall 

 violate any of the provisions or regulations of this law for the protection 

 of migratory birds shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not 

 more than $100 or imprisoned not more than ninety days, or both, in the 

 discretion of the court. 



The Department of Agriculture, after the preparation of said regula- 

 tions, shall cause the same to be made public, and shall allow a period of 

 three months in which said regulations may be examined and considered 

 before final adoption, permitting, when deemed proper, public hearings 

 thereon, and after final adoption shall cause the same to be engrossed and 

 (submitted to the President of the United States for approval. Provided, 

 however, That nothing herein contained shall be deemed to affect or in- 

 terfere with the local laws of the States and Territories for the protection 

 of non-migratory game or other birds resident and breeding within their 

 borders, nor to prevent the States and Territories from enacting laws and 

 regulations to promote and render efficient the regulations of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture provided under this statute. 



Approved, March 4, 1913. 



