14 
HISTORY AND WORK OF THE 
who (lid the killing. The officer undoubtedly exceeded his 
authority ; however, we cannot pass in the matter without 
commending the people of Ohio for being alive to the ques- 
tion. 
The killing of Humming birds went on in the Saginaw 
and Bay City district for some time. Our society threatened 
prosecution and informed the perpetrators of the prosecution 
in Ohio and the vigilance of the Xew York officials 
for the plunder was sold in that state. In time 
we were able to drive these members out of business, though 
there may be others carrying on the same work of collecting 
birds and their eggs. One man carried an advertisement in 
the Oologist offering to sell or trade bird skins and eggs 
and to supply dealers in any part of the country. He gave 
his address as Mt. Pleasant, ]\Iich. There is good reason to 
believe that there is considerable traffic in birds and their 
eggs going on in various parts of the State. It is customary 
for offenders to deny any interest in such a business or to 
claim they have given up the traffic when they have merely 
changed location. 
For years the egg hunters went to the St. Clair Flats 
and supplied egg faddists in all sections of the country. Old 
residenters at the Flats say that it was the custom for years 
for egg hunters to start home on Sundays with several 
baskets of the eggs of game birds, so that in time the game 
birds were driven out and are not now common except 
during the spring and fall migrations. Other hunters are 
going to other localities, especially in Lake ^Michigan, Lake 
Superior and at points along Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay. 
However, in these localities the gulls and terns are the ones 
to suffer most. Our officers may hear of these complaints 
but can do little unless there is a fearless co-worker in the 
district where the offender resides or carries on his work. 
Complaint was made that a man residing at Rochester, 
iMich.. was in the habit of killing song birds daily for the 
purpose of feeding his ferrets. The secretary wrote him as 
well as Frank L. Covert, prosecuting attorney of Oakland 
County. Covert was the first prosecuting attorney to 
notice a letter from this society, and not only offered his co- 
operation in prosecuting the offender, but also wrote the 
