10 AgR [CULTURE OF PENNSYLVANIA. [No. 2, 
era as it wishes to protect and wisely adds, “or any other insectivor- 
ous bird” in order to cover any bird that ought to be protected, but 
was not included in the list of names. We now know many birds 
that are not classed as insectivorous, which yet do eat some insects, 
together with obnoxious mammals and obnoxious birds, hence deserv- 
ing well of the farmer. The shrike or butcher bird, the screech 
owl and the sparrow hawk all feed largely on the English sparrow 
and should therefore be protected. Many hawks and owls feed 
largely on mice, moles, rodents and beetles, thereby being infinitely 
more beneficial than harmful. Then section twenty-nine reads : “It 
shall be lawful at any season of the year to kill or in any way destroy 
the small bird commonly known as the English sparrow;” why not 
add a misdemeanor clause against feeding, harboring or protecting 
the bird ? so that even if one does not want to prosecute some Iriend 
of the bird, at least the officer of the law can enter and destroy the 
nests, eggs and young, and thus help to protect the neighborhood 
against the outlaw. Then too, your present law offers no encourage- 
ment toward its own enforcement, by recognizing the service of offi 
cer or complainant as it might do in rewarding this friend of the pub- 
lic with at least half the fine. 
It only remains for me to present for your consideration certain 
ideas and recommendations in regard to bird legislation, and these I 
sincerely hope may meet with your approval. 
I submit the following act as embodying what I think to be the best 
ideas of our committee on the protection of birds, as to what is the 
most desirable bird law for our States, and being I know, fully in ac- 
cord with the ideas of the Department of Economic Ornithology of 
the United States Department of Agriculture. 
An Act for the Protection of Birds their Ne^sts and Eggs. 
Section 1. No person shall at any time, within the State, trap or 
expose for sale, or have in his or her possession after the same has 
been killed, any wild bird other than a game bird, under a penalty of 
not less than ten nor more than fifty dollars, or imprisonment for not 
less than five nor more than thirty days, or both, at the discretion of 
the court. For the purposes of this act the following only shall be 
considered game birds : The anatidae, commonly known as swans, 
geese, brant, and river and sea ducks; the rallidae, commonly known 
as rails, coots, mudhens and gallinules ; the limicolae, commonly 
known as shore birds, plover, surf-birds, snipe, woodcock, sandpipers, 
tatlers and curlews; the gallinae, commonly known as wild turkeys, 
grouse, prairie chickens, pheasants, partridges and quails, all of which 
are governed by specific laws applying to each, and are not intended 
to be afiected by this act. 
Section 2. No person shall at any time, within this State, take or 
destroy the nest or the eggs of any wild bird, under a penalty of not 
less than ten nor more than fifty dollars, or imprisonment for not less 
than five nor more than thirty days, or both, at the discretion of the 
court. 
Section 3. Sections one and tw^o of this act shall not apply to any 
person holding a permit giving the right to take birds, or their nests 
and eggs, for scientifiic purposes, as provided for in section four of 
this act. 
Section 4. Permits may be granted by the State Ornithologist or 
