Nov., 1914 
EDITORIAL NOTES AND NEWS 
263 
Life Calls, containing full information on 
the non-sale of game; 95,000 cards, urging a 
vote “yes” and containing skeleton argu- 
ment; 49,000 circular “letters to voters”; 
8,200 multigraphed, personally signed let- 
ters. In addition hundreds of letters were 
mailed as a part of regular correspondence. 
Three separate batches of pertinent para- 
graphs were sent to the 825 newspapers of 
the state. Many special articles were pre- 
pared, and published by various magazines 
and newspapers in the state. Street car ad- 
vertising was resorted to in several of the 
large cities. More than one hundred lec- 
tures were given under the auspices of the 
campaign, latterly accompanied by moving 
pictures. All in all, it is believed that fully 
one million of the citizens of California 
were acquainted with the reasons for the 
no-sale law and urged to vote favorably 
upon it. 
PUBLICATIONS REVIEWED 
Game Pkotection and Propagation in 
America. A Handbook of Practical Infor- 
mation FOR Officials and Others Inter- 
ested IN THE Cause of Conservation of 
Wild-Life. By Henry Chase (J. B. Lippin- 
cott Company, Philadelphia and London, 
September, 1913, v, pp. 1-238). 
If courses in game protection and conser- 
vation should be given in our universities 
and colleges, and there is no question but 
that they should be a part of the curriculum, 
it would be difficult to find a suitable text- 
book. The best thing we have yet seen 
which would be available for such use is a 
recent book by Henry Chase entitled: 
“Game Protection and Propagation in Amer- 
ica.” Mr. Chase, with his long experience 
as a game warden, is well qualified to write 
“a handbook of practical information for 
officials and others interested in the cause 
of conservation of wild-life.” 
One of the strongest chapters in the book 
is the first one, entitled “Educating the 
Public — A foreword.” In this chapter Mr. 
Chase points out that the most pressing 
need of the hour to forward the great move- 
ment of conservation of wild-life is educa- 
tion. He states further: “The Federal au- 
thorities are always happy, and it is their 
duty, to co-operate with those of the states 
in their work for better game protection. So 
it is manifest what should be done. Con- 
nected with the game department in each 
State there should be a bureau of education 
and publicity, presided over by an expert. 
With these bureaus co-operating with each 
other and with the national one, a campaign 
of education along correct lines can be con- 
ducted which will accomplish more and bet- 
ter results in a few years than has been 
done altogether in the past. This plan 
would be no experiment with which to 
waste state funds either. It has now had 
the benefit of years of trial; it has been 
systematized; it has a well-defined and 
definite course to pursue, and has not been 
found wanting in efficacy. Unquestionably, 
nothing can be of more value to the cause 
of game protection at this time than a sys- 
tematic campaign of education conducted 
officially by the game department in every 
state in the Union, and an extension in the 
work on that line now being performed by 
the federal bureau. It is earnestly to be 
hoped that such a campaign may be started 
forward.” 
Certainly Mr. Chase has gotten at the 
root of the matter, for when the value of 
birds and the need of their protection and 
preservation is really appreciated, protect- 
ive laws will be comparatively unimportant. 
The following chapter headings give a 
good idea of the scope of the book: Why 
Protect the Game?; Relations of Birds and 
Mammals to the Natural Resources; Pres- 
ent Meaning of the Term “Game Protec- 
tion”; Brief Survey of Game Legislation in 
America; “Sane, Simple and Scientific 
Game Laws”; Federal Protection of Migra- 
tory Birds; Protection of Birds by Interna- 
tional Treaties; State Laws and Their En- 
forcement; Field Work of Game Officers; 
The Right of Private Property in Game; 
Re-stocking Game Covers; Propagation of 
Game Pish; Feeding Game During Severe 
Winters; and, Hunting Accidents. An ap- 
pendix furnishes a typical constitution and 
by-laws for game clubs. 
To anyone seeking knowledge of game 
protection and propagation in America no 
better source can be found than this ex- 
cellent treatise by the well known author 
of “Powers, Duties and Work of Game War- 
dens,” “Modern Doctrine of Game Protec- 
tion,” and “Private Preserves in America.” 
— H. C. Bryant. 
The Red-winged Bl.ackbird: A Study in 
the Ecology of a Cat-tail Marsh. By 
Arthur A. Allen. Zoological Laboratory, 
Cornell University. Reprinted from the Ab- 
stract of the Proceedings of the Linnaean 
Society of New York. Nos. 24-25, 1911-1913, 
pp. 43-128, pis. 1-22. Issued April 15, 1914. 
The paper here reviewed is one of that 
very desirable but as yet relatively rare 
type of contribution setting forth the biolo- 
gy of a single species. It is also a very good 
example of that type and introduces several 
novel features which students working 
along similar lines might adopt to advant- 
age. 
The observations upon which the present 
paper are based were made at Renwick 
