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protected by man from their own enemies. We have pro- 
tected crows and foxes in some measure by destroying the 
larger birds and mammals which fed on them, and they have 
become numerous enough in some localities to be injurious 
to the already reduced game birds and the song birds. 
Suggestions for the Better Protection of Birds. 
First and most important, we should teach the people the 
economic value of birds, and show the consequences that are 
likely to follow their extirpation. This should begin in the 
schools, by interesting the children in the lives of birds, 
teaching their usefulness, and how to feed, shelter and pro- 
tect them. The children should be instructed also in regard 
to the laws protecting birds, and be taught to respect them. 
The bird and game laws must be enforced, even if it requires 
larger appropriations for the Fish and Game Commission, 
with the appointment of more paid deputies. In this connec- 
tion a law licensing shooters, the license fees to be applied to 
the enforcement of the game laws, may be worth considering. 
The officers of the Fish and Game Commission should be 
given the right to search, without a warrant, suspected per- 
sons. Until such a measure is enacted, the game laws can 
never be enforced as they should be. 
Those birds which, like the wood duck, are disappearing, 
should be protected at all times by law. All spring and 
summer shooting of wild fowl and shore birds should be 
prohibited by law. 
If it shall be found that these measures do not give suf- 
ficient protection, then the sale of all birds from Massachu- 
setts sources must be prohibited. All persons and all 
associations interested in bird protection should unite to 
hold up the hands of those who are now working to secure 
the protection of birds in the south during the winter and 
spring. 
The extirpation of a species usually takes a long time, 
and only those species which are the objects of special and 
unremitting persecution throughout their range are likely 
ever to be eradicated from the country. For this reason, 
