November, 1920 
FOREST AND STREAM 
595 
In the United States the number of people each year 
shot in mistake for game probably exceeds all the 
whites killed by dangerous game in Africa. The 
warnings that he has read and the lessons taught by 
the experience of others seem all to be forgotten by 
the inexperienced hunter in the excitement caused 
by the sight of some moving object which he sup- 
poses to be the hoped-for game. 
In the woods there is only one safe rule — never 
to fire at anything unless the hunter sees distinctly 
and certainly what it is that he aims at. The man 
who through his own carelessness and impetuosity 
kills or wounds a fellow-man must carry around 
with him for his whole life a burden of shame and 
regret that he has assumed solely through his own 
heedlessness. 
Let the young hunter remember that the best 
hunters are the most patient ones, and that there 
is usually plenty of time to learn just what it is that 
is moving in the distance. Let him remember, too, 
that the rifles of today carry a long distance, and 
that in the older States the woods are likely to con- 
tain many hunters. This advice should be heeded 
in all the States east and north where the woods 
are full of deer hunters. 
CONCERNING BIRD PERIODICALS 
r 1 ORE ST AND STREAM is taking a keen interest 
F in the present situation as regards bird maga- 
zines — periodicals devoted to the study of birds 
and responding to the many-sided, wide-spread 
popular interest in one of Nature’s most pleasing 
phenomena. We have two leading magazines which 
are covering this field, The Auk, the more technical, 
and Bird-Lore, the more popular. Ornithology in 
America has broadened so rapidly, however, that 
the sea of interest is breaking on a middle-ground 
between the two. Will a third magazine eventually 
rise into being there? 
Its literature, wherein science and art are blended, 
and of which periodicals form a not inconsiderable 
part, is the voice of a nation. The voice of America 
must ring loud and true, and in response to this 
need a great amount and variety of material is being 
published at the present day. It is unfortunate, 
therefore, that in these days the mechanics of pub- 
lication is particularly hampered. Of course here 
as elsewhere quality outweighs quantity. There is 
still room for the best, and the best should not be 
crowded by doubtful material of any sort. Dupli- 
cate ~, also, wastes precious space. There are as 
many points of view as there are magazine covers, 
and the successful claim of each for support may 
well depend on developing those fields which do not 
jostle its neighbors. No easier method of meeting 
competition has been devised than to avoid it. 
We recommend to the pilots of our two old friends, 
Bird-Lore and The Auk, that they make haste to 
divide and work the new opportunities, lest each find 
itself confronted by a less agreeable neighbor. To 
those desirous of voyaging the seas of ornithology 
we recommend that they book passage with them, 
rather than with some less-tried and perhaps less- 
sea-worthy craft. 
GAME LAWS FOR 1920 
’"THE total number of game laws enacted in 1920 
* probably will not exceed 60. which is about nor- 
mal for “even” years, when only a few States hold 
legislative sessions. In the laws enacted further 
progress was made along the line of harmonizing 
State legislation with the migratory bird treaty act. 
The most important changes affecting big game 
were in New York and Quebec. New York re- 
enacted the buck law and limited the hunter to one 
buck a season. The deer season was also modified 
in several localities. In Quebec the season was 
shortened 19 days on deer and bull moose, except in 
four counties, and 50 days on caribou. 
Legislation of far-reaching importance looking to 
the preservation of quail and other upland game 
birds included an act of Congress, approved Decem- 
ber 18, 1919, prohibiting the sale of upland game 
birds in the District of Columbia and an act in 
Maryland prohibiting the sale of quail, ruffed grouse, 
introduced pheasant and wild turkey in that State. 
For the convenient use of sportsmen and others 
the Biological Survey of the United States Depart- 
ment of Agriculture has compiled information re- 
sulting from game legislation, and this has been 
published as Farmers’ Bulletin 1138. This contains 
a summary of Federal, State and Provincial game 
laws for 1920; a summary of laws relating to sea- 
sons, licenses, limits, sale and export; disposition of 
game raised in captivity; the text of the Lacey Act 
regulating interstate commerce in game, and of the 
tariff act prohibiting importation of plumage; the 
law protecting birds and their eggs on Federal bird 
reservations; the regulation regarding hunting on 
national forests; the treaty for the protection of 
migratory birds; the migratory bird treaty act and 
the Federal and Canadian regulations. 
BIG GAME OF THE NORTHWEST 
N ORTHWESTERN Canada and portions of Alaska 
still contain great numbers of large game, but 
in some localities this has already become very 
scarce. This is almost the last spot in America 
where big game is abundant ; there remain only the 
arctic regions. 
It is evident that in a new country lacking trans- 
portation facilities and invaded by great numbers 
of civilized men, who must depend in large measure 
on the country for subsistence, the larger native 
fauna will soon disappear. In this northern region, 
travelers, trappers and prospectors subsist very 
largely on the game and fish that they take. 
There has been enormous waste by the white game 
killers, and if the waste by the Indians has been less, 
it is only because the Indians are fewer in number. 
In some localities the continued and reckless killing 
of game for the mining camps has resulted in the 
almost complete disappearance of such game. Be- 
sides this there are not a few people who go into 
the country in search of fine game heads, and who 
kill with the usual selfish recklessness. They have 
been known after a day’s hunting to leave to spoil 
on a hillside enough meat to supply a prospector 
with provisions for a whole winter. 
The chief game animal in much of that country 
is the moose, which is so abundant that from a good 
lookout high up on the mountains, moose can be 
seen almost any fine day by the aid of field glasses. 
In certain portions of the country west of the Mack- 
enzie River, caribou are still seen in great herds 
at the proper season of the year, but these herds 
appear to be growing constantly smaller. 
Mountain sheep are yet abundant in many places, 
and owing to their habits of life are perhaps in less 
immediate danger of extermination than the moose 
or caribou. 
It is obvious that as the settlement of this northern 
country proceeds, the game must disappear. It is 
only by the establishment of game refuges in these 
regions that it can be saved from extermination. 
