Forest and Stream. 
A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun. 
Copyright, 1904, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
Terms, f4 a Year. 10 Cts. a Copy. 
Six Months, $2. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JULY 15, 1906. 
( VOL. LXV.— No. 8. 
I No. 346 Broadway, New York, 
The object of this journal will be to studiously 
promote a healthful interest in outdoor recre= 
ation, and to cultivate a refined taste for natural 
objects. Announcement in first number of 
Forest and Stream, Aug. 14, 1873. 
“Atte the leest, he hath his holsom walk, and mery at ease, 
a swete ayre of the sweete savoure of the meede fiowres that 
makyth hym hongry; he hereth the melodyous armony of fowles; 
he seeth the yonge swannes, heerons, duckes, cotes, and many 
other fowles, wyth thyr, brodes; wyche me seemyth better than 
alle the noyse of houndys, the Wastes of hornys, and the scrye 
of foulis, that hunters and fawkeners and foulers make. And if 
the angler take fysshe, surely thenne is there noo man merrier 
than he is in his spyryte.”— Dame Juliana Berners, 1496. 
THE AUDUBON BIRD LAW. 
The Audubon Society has been working for a number 
of years to secure the adoption by the several States of a 
uniform law for the protection of birds other than game. 
To gain the end the Society began in a sensible way by 
classifying the birds into three divisions — the game, the 
song and insectivorous, and the species which because of 
their harmful character may be classed as vermin and are 
legitimate objects of destruction. The game birds, so 
designated, comprise the Anatidae, or swans, geese, brant 
and ducks'; the Rallidae, or rails, coots, mudhens and galli- 
nules; the Limicolae, or shore birds, plover, snipe, etc., 
and the Gallinae, or wild turkey, grouse, prairie chicken, 
pheasant, partridge and quail. The game birds thus de- 
fined, a simple form of law was drafted providing that 
no other birds than those classified as game, or those 
denominated vermin, might be killed. As to what 
species should come under the head of outlaws, there is 
wide difference of opinion. The English sparrow is uni- 
versally conceded to be undeserving of protection. As 
the laws read, every man’s hand may be against the spar- 
row, but it nevertheless thrives and multiplies and makes 
itself a nuisance and a destroyer of its betters. Crows, 
hawks and birds of prey are for the most part unpro- 
tected. Some birds which are carefully protected in the 
North are outlawed in the South; this is true of the 
bobolink, everywhere cherished in the Northern States 
for his attractive ways and musical song, but in the South, 
under the name of ricebird, detested and warred upon 
because of his destructiveness to the rice crop. As an inter- 
esting comparison we list the States which have adopted 
the Audubon law, either wholly or in part, and designate 
the several species which in each State are thought to be 
undeserving of protection. The list of thirty-four States 
is a tribute to the good work, wisely planned and persist- 
ently carried on by the Society, and in particular by its Sec- 
retary, William Dutcher, of this city. Indeed it is hardly 
too much to say that the results attained have been due 
to the personal activity of this one man, who has devoted 
himself to the cause with an enthusiasm and a persever- 
ance of which the whole country is reaping the benefits. 
Arkansas, 1897.— Excepted : Crows, blackbirds, hawks, 
owls, eagles and other birds of prey. 
California, 1905.— Excepted : Sharp-shinned hawk. Coop- 
er’s hawk, duck hawk, great-horned owl, blue] ay, 
house finch. 
Colorado, 1903.— Excepted : Sharp-shinned hawks. Coop- 
er’s hawk, goshawks, duck hawks, great-horned owls, 
pinon jays, magpies, bluejays, eagles. Doves are in- 
cluded in game birds. 
Connecticut, 1901. — Excepted: Crows, great-horned owls, 
and hawks other than the fishhawk. 
Delaware, 1901.— Excepted : Red-wing blackbird, purple 
grackle. In 1905 a law was enacted giving one-half 
of all fines to the Audubon Society. 
District of Columbia, 1901. — Excepted: Crows, Cooper’s 
hawk, sharp-shinned hawk, great-horned owl. 
Elorida, 190T. — Excepted: Sharp-shinned hawk. Cooper’s 
hawk, great-horned owl, crow, ricebird, meadowlark, 
jackdaw and butcherbird. Robins and doves classed 
as game. 
Georgia, 1903. — Excepted : Great-horned owl, sharp- 
shinned hawk, Cooper’s hawk, crow, lark, crow-black- 
bird, jackdaw, ricebird. Doves classed as game. 
Illinois, 1899. — Excepted: Crow, crow'-blackbird or 
chicken haw'k. Doves classed as game. 
Indiana, 1891. — Excepted : Crows, hawks and other birds 
of prey. 
Kentucky, 1902. — Excepted: Sharp-shinned hawk, Coop- 
er’g hawk, great-hornf4 pwl, crows and crow-blackbird. 
Louisiana, 1904.— Excepted : Cooper’s hawk, duck hawk, 
sharp-shinned hawk, great-horned owl. Crows and 
crow-blackbirds can be shot on own premises if de- 
stroying crops. Doves classed with game birds. 
Maine, 1902. — Excepted: Common crow and the hawks 
and owls. 
Massachusetts, 1901.— Excepted : Crow-blackbirds, crows, 
jays and birds of prey. 
Michigan, 1905. — Excepted: Blackbirds, crows. Cooper’s 
hawks, sharp-shinned hawks, great-horned owls. 
Minnesota, 1903. — Excepted: Blackbirds, crows, sharp- 
shinned hawks. Cooper’s hawks, great-horned owls. 
Mississippi, 1904. — Excepted : Cooper’s hawk, duck hawk, 
sharp-shinned hawk, owl, jaybird. Crows and crow- 
blackbirds may be killed by owner on his own prem- 
ises. Doves classed with game birds. 
Missouri, 1905.— -Excepted : Cooper’s hawk, chicken hawk, 
goshawk, sharp-shinned hawk, great-horned owl, 
crow. 
New Hampshire, 1901. — Excepted: Crows and hawks. 
Eagles are protected by special section. 
New Jersey, 1901. — Excepted; Reedbirds, blackbirds, 
crows, Cooper’s hawk, goshawk, sharp-shinned hawk, 
duck hawk, great-horned owl. 
New York, 1901.- — Excepted ; Crow, hawk, crow-black- 
bird, snow owl, great-horned owl. 
North Carolina. 1903. — Excepted: Owls, hawks, crows, 
blackbirds, jackdaws, ricebirds. Dove, robin, mea- 
dowlark and chewink are classed as game birds. 
Ohio, 1902. — Excepted: Chicken hawk. Cooper’s hawk, 
blue hawk, sharp-shinned hawk, crow, great-horned 
owl. Ownes can kill blackbirds any day except Sun- 
day. Doves classed as game birds. 
Oregon, 1903. — Excepted; Crows, bluejays, horned owl, 
butcherbirds, magpies. 
Pennsylvania, 1905.— Excepted : Bluejay, kingfisher. 
Cooper’s hawk, sharp-shinned hawk, goshawk, duck 
hawk, pigeon hawk, great-horned owl, crow. Doves, 
reedbirds and blackbirds are classed with game birds. 
Rhode Island, 1900. — Excepted: Hawks, owls, crows, 
crow-blackbirds, on own land. Eishhawks protected. 
South Carolina, 1905.— Excepted : Cooper’s hawk, duck 
hawk, sharp-shinned hawk, great-horned owl. Crows 
may be killed dn premises if destructive to crops. 
Ricebird, blackbird and dove classed with game birds. 
Tennessee, 1903.— Excepted : Great-horned owl, sharp- 
shinned hawk. Cooper’s hawk, crow, crow-blackbird 
and turkey buzzard. Doves, robins and meadowlarks 
classed with game birds. 
Texas, 1903. — Excepted : Hawks, crows, buzzards, black- 
birds, ricebirds, owls. 
Vermont, 1902. — Excepted : Blue heron, bittern, loon, 
crow-blackbird, jay and birds of prey. 
Virginia, 1903. — Excepted ; Owl, hawk, eagle, crow, 
crow-blackbird, ricebird. Robins classed with game 
birds. 
Washington, 1903. — Excepted ; Chicken hawks. 
Wisconsin, 1901. — Excepted; Crow, sharp-shinned hawk. 
Cooper’s hawk, owl {Ulula cinerea) , blackbirds. 
Wyoming, 1901. — Excepted: Magpies. 
THE CHESTNUTS CROWN. 
The rounded crowns of the giant chestnut trees are 
white now with a forest of blooms which a few months 
hence shall yield a rich brown fruitage, eagerly sought 
for by the ruffed grouse, the squirrel and the small boy. 
We are accustomed to talk of the change of the seasons, 
of Christmas and New Year’s, and of the days when the 
sun crosses the so called “line,” but is there, in all the 
year, an event which more clearly marks the culmination 
of things in nature than the coming of the chestnut 
blooms ? 
Long ago the vegetation started and grew and flour- 
ished and became rank, and when the chestnuts bloom 
it is at its greatest luxuriance. Spring wildflowers and 
June roses have blossomed and gone. The hay fields, 
which have billowed and bloomed all through the early 
summer, have now begun to fall before the mower, and 
half shorn, are dotted with rounded cocks of hay, souixes 
of mingled pleasure and anxiety to the farmer, and ob- 
jects for the artist to rave over. Wheat fields are yellow 
and ready for the binder, but the corn not yet half grown, 
waves its brilliant graceful leaves in the sun and seems 
to increase in height from day to day, 
The birds, returned from their migrations, built their 
nests, laid their eggs and reared their young, which now 
have left the parental home and started out in the world 
to fend for themselves. The robins with spotted breasts, 
the gray young cow buntings, the streaked chippies have 
been seen hopping over the lawn, at first insistently call- 
ing for food in the wake of their parents, but by this 
time quite independent of help. Birds are beginning to 
grow silent, for the moulting season is near. 
In the tall grass and the cattails of the marshes along 
the river the broods of blackbirds are beginning to come 
together in flocks, anticipating the ripening of the tall 
wild rice, which for a few weeks in August and Septem- 
ber shall furnish food to them and to the yellow reed- 
birds, and at low water over the fallen vegetation and the 
little patches of bare mud along the shore, the mother 
railbird may be seen leading her half-grown brood, soon 
to be able to use their wings and to flap away before the 
gunner, whose boat invades, their reedy solitudes. In 
many a marsh the young wild ducks are half-grown now, 
though still for the most part down-covered, and in the 
woods and swamps the chicken partridges, as big as quail, 
are able to make strong flights, while the old mother 
flutters along in front of the disturber with seemingly 
injured wings and failing strength. The broods of swal- 
lows have already begun to -resort to the telegraph wires, 
where for a month now they will be seen in constantly 
increasing numbers, until at last some morning we shall 
wake up and find that the last of the swallows has taken 
its southward flight. 
The blooming of the chestnut trees marks the end 
of the year’s growth. From this time on there 
will be months of ripening, of preparation for the 
harvest, but the season of increase has passed, and 
each year when the chestnuts bloom, we may say to our- 
selves that this is the beginning of the end. The season 
has reached its prime, its very highest point, and, like the 
man who during some year of his life is in his most per- 
fect physical condition, and then begins to run down hill, 
so, with the bloom of the chestnut trees begins the deca- 
dence of the vegetation of the year. 
/. G. MORRIS. 
Older readers of Forest and Stream, and especially 
those interested in yachting and duck shooting, will learn 
with sincere regret of the death on June 30 of Mr.* Jacob 
G. Morris, of Easton, Md. Mr. Morris was one of the 
old guard of the Forest and Stream contributors and 
had been a subscriber to the paper since its foundation. 
Lie was born at Fountain Green, near Philadelphia, 
Nov. S, 1835, but lived at his father’s home “Magnolia,” 
near Tacony, on the Delaware, until 1867, when he moved 
to Maryland, where he had since resided. He was de- 
voted to all field sports and was a remarkably successful 
all-around sportsman. He was a fine shot, both at upland 
game and wildfowl, and was exceedingly well informed 
as to the habits of the latter as they are found in Chesa- 
peake Bay, where he had shot them from boyhood. He 
was a thorough yachtsman and probably one of the best 
amateur racing sailors of small boats in the country. He 
was one of the charter members of the Riverton Yacht 
Club, of Riverton, N. J., and later was vice-commodore 
and secretary of the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Club, owning 
and sailing the yawl Cora. He was a member of the 
Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society, and of 
the Maryland Board of Agriculture, one of the oldest or- 
ganizations in the State. Mr. Morris had always lived 
the life of a country gentleman, having few interests out- 
side of his horses, dogs, boats and guns. Lie was especial- 
ly interested in the breeding of Chesapeake Bay dogs, 
and his strain of retrievers is known over much of the 
United States. 
Under the pen-name of “Sinkbox” Mr. Morris con- 
tributed occasional articles on yachting and duck shoot- 
ing to the columns of Forest and Stream, and when the 
volume “American Duck Shooting” was in course of 
preparation he lent its author most kindly aid, and his 
name is Lequently mentioned in its pages. His writings 
were always straightforward and to the point, and his 
wide experience gave a high value to -whatever he wrote, 
Mr. Morris was a kindly, simple country gentleman who 
had a very large circle of warm friends. His passing 
away is genuinely regretted, not merely by these, but by 
many another who knew him only froin hi§ writinp, 
