204 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VII., No.. 160 



such a license, who uses it as a shield against pros- 

 ecution for illegal or indiscriminate slaughter of 

 birds for any and all purposes, is successful only 

 to such extent as the ignorance or apathy of the 

 community among which his misdeeds are com- 

 mitted happen to give him immunity. The fault 

 is not in reality chargeable to the law, or the sys- 

 tem permitting the granting of certificates for 

 scientific collecting. In this matter, as in all else 

 relating to bird-destruction, all that is necessary 

 to prevent abuses is a proper comprehension of the 

 laws relating to the subject, and a public senti- 

 ment not only favorable to their enforcement, but 

 watchful against any infringement of their pro- 

 visions. 



With a desire to bring about more intelligent, 

 uniform, and desirable legislation for the protec- 

 tion everywhere, and at all times, of all birds not 

 properly to be regarded as game-birds, the Ameri- 

 can ornithologists' union committee on bird- 

 protection have had under careful consideration a 

 draught of a bird-law drawn with special reference 

 to its fitness for general adoption throughout the 

 United States and the British Provinces, and with 

 regard to just what birds should be so protected. 

 It is intended as a guide or model, which may 

 serve as a basis for legislation. From its perti- 

 nence in the present connection, it is given below 

 in full. Possibly some additional provisions may 

 still be desirable, relating especially to the desig- 

 nation of certain officers to secure its strict observ- 

 ance, the amount of the fine, and whether or not 

 a part of the fine should go to the complainant, — 

 features, however, that doubtless may be safely 

 left to legislative discretion. 



[An act for the protection of birds and their nests 



AND EGGS.] 



Section 1. — Any person who shall, within the state of 

 , kill any wild bird other than a game-bird, or pur- 

 chase, offer, or expose for sale any such wild bird, after it 

 has been killed, shall for each offence be subject to a fine of 

 five dollars, or imprisonment for ten days, or both, at the 

 discretion of the court. For the purposes of this act the 

 following only shall be considered game birds. The Ana- 

 tidae, c >mmonly known as swans, geese, brant, and river 

 and Ma ducks ; the liallidae, commonly known as rails, 

 coots, in hens, and gallinules ; the Limicolae, commonly 

 known a^ <r«-birds, plovers, surf-birds, snipe, woodcock, 

 sandpipers, tatlers. and curlews : the Gallinae, commonly 

 known as wild turkeys, grouse, prairie-chickens, pheasants, 

 partridges, and quails. 



Sect. 2. — Any pers >u who shall, within the state of ^ 



take or needlessly destroy th-i nest or the eggs of any wild 

 bird, shall be subject for each offence to a fine of five dollars, 

 or imprisonment for ten days, or both, at the discretion of 

 the court. 



Sect. 3. — Sections 1 and 2 of this Ml "hall not apply to 

 any person holding a certificate giving th« right to take 

 birds, and their nests and eggs, for scientifl a purposes, as 

 provided for in section 4 of this act. 



Sect. 4. — Certificates may be granted by [here follow the 

 names of the persons, if any, duly authorized by thi. ict to 

 grant such certificates"], or by any incorporated lOOfl 'y of 

 natural history in the state, through such persons or 



officers as said society may designate, to any properly 

 accredited person of the age of eighteen years or upward, 

 permitting the holder thereof to collect birds, their nests 

 or eggs, for strictly scientific purposes only. In order to 

 obtain such certificate, the applicant for the same must 

 present to the person or persons having the power to grant 

 said certificate, written testimonials from two well-known 

 scientific men, certifying to the good character and fitness 

 of said applicant to be intrusted with such privilege ; must 

 pay to said persons or officers one dollar to defray the 

 necessary expenses attending the granting of such certifi- 

 cates ; and must file with said persons or officers a properly 

 executed bond, in the sum of two hundred dollars, signed 

 by two responsible citizens of the state as sureties. This 

 bond shall be forfeited to the state, and the certificate 

 become void, upon proof that the holder of such a certifi- 

 cate has killed any bird, or taken the nest or eggs of any 

 bird, for other than the purposes named in sections 3 

 and 4 of this act, and shall be further subject for each 

 such offence to the penalties provided therefor in sections 

 1 and 2 of this act. 



Sect. 5. — The certificates authorized by this act shall be 

 in force for one year only from the date of their issue, and 

 shall not be transferable. 



Sect. 6. — The English or European house-sparrow 

 (Passer domesticus) is not included among the birds pro- 

 tected by this act. 



Sect. 7. — All acts, or parts of acts, heretofore passed, 

 inconsistent with or contrary to the provisions of this act, 

 are hereby repealed. 



Sect. 8. — This act shall take effect upon its passage. 



AN APPEAL TO THE WOMEN OF THE 

 COUNTRY IN BEHALF OF THE BIRDS. 



The relation of the women of the country to 

 the present lamentable destruction of bird-life has 

 been several times alluded to in the foregoing 

 pages ; but the matter is so important, it demands 

 more formal notice in the present connection. 

 The destruction of millions of birds annually 

 results from the present fashion of wearing birds 

 on hats and bonnets. The women who wear them, 

 and give countenance to the fashion, have doubt- 

 less done so thoughtlessly, as regards the serious 

 destruction of bird-life thereby entailed, and 

 without any appreciation of its extent or its 

 results, considered from a practical stand-point. 

 Until recently, very rarely has attention been 

 called to the matter, or the facts in the case been 

 adequately set forth. They have therefore sinned, 

 for the most part, unwittingly, and are thus not 

 seriously chargeable with blame. But the case 

 is now different, and ignorance can no longer 

 be urged in palliation of a barbarous fashion. Ob- 

 viously it is onl} r necessary to call the attention of 

 intelligent women to the subject, as now pre- 

 sented, to enlist their sympathies and their efforts 

 in suppression of the milliner's traffic in bird- 

 skins. As a recent writer (Mr. E. P. Bicknell, 

 secretary of the A. O. U. committee on bird- 

 protection) in the Evening post of. this city has not 

 only forcibly appealed to the women in behalf of 

 the birds, but suggested to them certain desirable 

 lines of action, this brief reference to the subject 



