BOA Gs RECREATION. 
kinds of game on a given day and close 
on all kinds 30 days later, and if a man 
be found in the woods, in the fields, or on 
the waters with a gun, at any other time 
of year, that fact should be considered as 
prima facie evidence that he has violated 
a game law or is trying to do so, and he 
should be hable to a _e of not less than 
$25 on conviction. 
The following species of birds, while 
habitually pursued by many sportsmen, 
are not game birds, and (with the excep- 
tion of 2 species of hawks) should never 
be killed: 
Hawks, 
Owls, 
Blackbirds, 
Gulls, 
Pelicans, 
Cranes, 
Loons, 
[bises, 
Egrets, 
Cormorants, 
Bitterns, 
Herons, 
Doves, 
Eagles, 
Woodpeckers, 
Robins, 
Meadow larks. 
Much that has been said as to the pro- 
tection of game birds applies with equal 
force to song and insectivorous birds. 
Many of these are killed and eaten—not, 
I am glad to say, by real sportsmen; but 
in many cases by men who pose as such. 
The greatest enemies of song, insectivor- 
ous and plumage birds are the Italians and 
other foreigners who live in the great 
wiues. An army of these men go out of 
every great city every Sunday morning 
during the last 8 months of the year, with 
cheap shotguns, and kill every bird they 
can find, no matter of what kind. Robins, 
thrushes, orioles, tanagers, bluejays, pe- 
wees, song sparrows, bluebirds—all go 
into the Dago’s bag; then into the pot, 
and from there to his rapacious maw. 
Many states have enacted laws prohib- 
iting the killing of song birds at any time 
of year; but unfortunately such laws are 
not enforced as they should be. The rem- 
edy for this lies in a greater number of 
~zme wardens, and of more vigorous ac- 
tion on the part of all bird lovers. There 
should be at least one warden in each 
cuvunty of each state, and if one could be 
provided to each township, so much the 
better. The minimum fine for killing a 
song bird or an insectivorous bird should 
be $25. Half of this should go to the game 
warden, and in addition he should be paid 
a salary which would warrant him a com- 
fortable living. 
Another great enemy of song _ birds, 
and especially of those classed as plumage 
birds, is the market hunter. This man 
kills and skins the small birds for milli- 
nery purposes. He also kills thousands of 
plumage birds, such as egrets, and ibises, 
plucks a few plumes from each and leaves 
the bird to rot. In many cases he kills the 
mother bird and a brood of young are left 
on the nest to starve to death. All this in- 
famous traffic should be suppressed at 
once. 
All states should prohibit the wearing 
of the skins or plumage of birds on hats. 
A few of the states have already passed 
laws to prohibit the killing and selling or 
wearing of such birds, but this does not 
cover the case. ‘The way to remedy an 
evil is to strike at the root of it. Let us 
destroy the market for bird skins, and 
bird feathers. Then the vandals who are 
slaughtering these birds, finding their oc- 
cupation gone will have to go at some- 
thing else. If they are too lazy to work, 
let them go to stealing horses and they 
will soon land in the penitentiary, where 
they should have been long ago. 
The signs of the times point in the 
right direction. Senator Hoar, of Massa- 
chusetts, recently introduceda bill in Con- 
gress to prohibit the importation and sale 
of the plumage or skins of birds for milli- 
nery purposes and, to the honor of the 
United States Senate be it said, his bill 
passed that honorable body, under a sus- 
pension of the rules, without a dissent- 
ing voice. It went to the house where it 
was amended and passed with only one 
negative vote. Then it went before a con- 
ference committee of the 2 houses and 
was buried there in the accumulation of 
urgent bills. Let us hope this or some 
similar measure may be passed by the 
next Congress. 
Let every friend of bird protection 
make it his or her special duty to write 
to at least one member of Congress, or of 
the United States Senate, imploring him 
to do everything possible to secure the 
enactment of a law prohibiting this in- 
famous traffic. 
Let it be considered the duty and priv- 
ilege of every friend of bird protection to 
condemn and decry, at every opportunity, 
the habit of certain women of wearing 
bird skins or plumage on their hats. The © 
only hope of saving from total extinction 
the many species of birds in this country 
lies in the rapid creation of a strong pub- 
lic sentiment against millinery traffic in 
bird skins. | 
This warning is not the result of im- 
agination or of speculation. It is the re- 
sult of a careful and thorough study of 
the subject extending over a period of 30 
years. 
I have travelled over nearly every state 
and territory in the Union, and have per- 
sonally seen the prairie chicken and the 

