101 
years their number has increased rapidly. They are now 
(1904) in force in thirty-five States and Territories in this 
country, and also in the seven provinces of Canada. 1 Many 
foreign countries have long had hunting licenses. In England 
a man must have a gun license, a hunting license, a license to 
use a hunting dog, and even, in some cases, a game keeper’s 
license also. In America a resident is usually taxed one 
dollar, while a non-resident is required to contribute from 
ten to one hundred dollars. 
The main objects of hunting licenses are two: (1) to 
limit shooting, especially on the part of aliens and other non- 
residents; (2) to raise money for game or bird protection. 
The license tends to preserve the game of the State for the 
benefit of its own people, to whom it is held to belong. The 
amount of revenue from such a license may be gathered from 
the fact that ten States licensed more than a quarter of a 
million hunters in 1903. The license has the advantage that 
by it the owner may be positively identified. It may contain 
his description and photograph, and he may be obliged to pro- 
duce it at the request of any citizen. While I would not 
be understood as advocating any particular license law, it 
seems to me that the subject is worthy of careful considera- 
tion. 
The following extract from a letter from Dr. T. S. Palmer 
of the Biological Survey of the United States Department 
of Agriculture, who has charge of the matter of game pres- 
ervation, shows clearly the measures that he advocates to 
protect the birds : “ The decrease in certain species of birds 
is not difficult to explain, and it is attributable largely to 
long open seasons and open markets. Comparatively few 
States afford shore birds any real protection, the seasons 
often being open during the height of the migration season, 
and closed when the birds are absent from the State. The 
exemptions in some of the laws, allowing practically unre- 
stricted sale of birds taken outside the State, place a pre- 
mium on the destruction of birds in States where the laws 
are lax. Fortunately, since the passage of the new law last 
spring, sale in Massachusetts is now prohibited during the 
1 This increase still continues. (See pages 116-118.) 
