TvmTtanuclius ounldo . 
1897. the people of Martha's Vineyard, who while ever ready to en- 
Dec.SO. force the law against non-resident sportsnen have allowed, 
(No. 3). if not actxially encouraged, their friends and neighbors to 
break it at every opportunity, and partly to the apathy of the 
Fish and Game Commissioners who, although repeatedly warned 
of the seriousness of the situation, have done simply nothing 
to avert the calamity which has now come to pass. 
It is true that in IS a - -hal f ho ar t r d _^^ a 1 1 emp t was made 
to trap some of the Heath Kens with a view to breeding them 
in confinement and afterwards distributing them in suitable 
places throi:^hout the State. agent selected for this pur- 
pose,Aaving been duly armed with auth ority from the Coimiiis- 
sioners , , went to the island and succeeded in baiting a 40 gem 
f-A>— 
dv m a ge birds in a place favorable for the use of -his nets; 
but before could usi r- them - Iw ^^was awakened early one morning 
by a fusilade of gim shots and hastening forth beheld a party 
of native giinners retreating in the distance leaving the 
ground where the bait had been scattered covered with the 
feathers of the birds which they had slain. It seems incred- 
ible that this outrage should have gone unpunished but cer- 
tain it is that none of those who perpetrated it were brought 
to justice while they and their fellow sportsmen on the Vine- 
yard have since shot the Heath Hens v/henever and wherever they 
have had the opportunity regardless alike of the law and their 
