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of milliners’ hunters destroying birds seem to refer mainly 
to the past, as the demand for the plumage of native birds 
does not now warrant people in taking the risks incurred by 
breaking the laws to obtain them. This was once a very 
serious evil in the case of the gulls and terns, and from 1870 
to 1880 it was a menace to such birds as orioles, tanagers 
and bluebirds; but shooting of small birds for this purpose 
probably never became general enough in Massachusetts to 
do very serious harm. My correspondence on this subject 
indicates that very few men are now hunting in this State 
to supply milliners. 
Complaints are made that naturalists or taxidermists shoot 
the rarer birds. No doubt this is true, but it is usually ille- 
gal, as very few persons now have permits for scientific col- 
lecting. Whenever such conspicuous birds as the cardinal 
or mocking bird establish themselves so far outside their 
usual range as Massachusetts, enthusiastic young naturalists 
are very likely to secure them. 
The rage for collecting birds’ skins and eggs, which was 
so prevalent among school boys years ago, is believed to 
be largely a thing of the past. Taxidermists and dealers 
in birds’ eggs generally report a very small demand for 
birds’ eggs and skins. Many of the students are now study- 
ing the lives of the birds and following them with the opera 
glass, instead of the gun. Nevertheless, Mr. T. L. Burney 
of Lynn says that the kind of nature study taught in many 
schools results in a tendency to rob birds’ nests. He speaks 
of two boys who were arrested for robbing nests, who said 
that their companions were doing the same thing. He also 
said that he met in the woods many children who were inter- 
ested in birds, and who said that they hoped to get a collection 
of eggs. Such children usually do not know that this kind 
of nature study is an infraction of the laws of the Common- 
wealth, punishable by arrest and fine. 
Trolley Roads , Automobiles and Launches. — The cheap 
transportation from city to country offered by the trolley 
roads affords hunters, boys and foreigners an opportunity 
to reach distant fields and woods, and so spreads the baneful 
influences of the city over a much wider radius than ever 
