144 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Jan. 31, 1914. 
Published Weekly by the 
Forest and Stream Publishing Company 
Chas. A. Hazen, President 
\Y. g. Beeoroft, Secretary. Charles L. Wise, Treasurer. 
. 22 Thames Street, New York. 
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ter. 
THE TARIFF AND BIRD PROTECTION. 
The prohibition against the importation of the 
plumage of wild birds for millinery purposes 
seems effective. Object lessons are had now and 
then by women passengers from Europe who are 
obliged to give up the aigrettes and bird of para¬ 
dise plumes from their hats, and every few days 
the newspapers voice the plaint of someone who 
has tried to bring feathers into the port and 'has 
been stopped. 
In England, bird protectors have been advocat¬ 
ing a measure similar to this for some years, but 
as yet without success. At its annual meeting, 
held recently in New York, the New York Zoolog¬ 
ical Society unanimously voted to urge the Lon¬ 
don Zoological Society to continued efforts to se¬ 
cure the passage of this bill by Parliament. Every 
effort should be made to strengthen this British 
movement, since London is one of the great 
feather markets of the world, and the sales 
there furnish one of the strongest motives for 
bird destruction. The provision in the LTnited 
States tariff bill had such a depressing effect on 
Dondon prices that one-third of the offerings at 
•one of the October sales were withdrawn. 
So far as can be seen at present, this tariff 
measure is the most effective means of bird pro¬ 
tection yet devised. If enforced without fear or 
favor, as is now being done, it is an absolute bar 
to the commercial exploitation of bird plumage. 
It seems altogether probable too, that this method 
can be extended so as to protect other forms of 
life. Certain large mammals which still exist in 
regions yet remote are now threatened with ex¬ 
termination because of the commercial value of 
their hides, oil or ivory. It is said that they are 
even putting up the flesh of whales in cans, for 
us to eat. Whalers are pursuing the walrus 
farther and farther toward the pole. The musk¬ 
ox is being destroyed wherever found, but at 
present is protected by its situation. Yet a time 
is coming when new railroads and new steamship 
lines may bring the home of the musk-ox close 
to the rifle of civilized man. 
If the countries of the world will take effective 
measures to prevent the trade in products of ani¬ 
mals which are approaching extinction, these 
animals can be preserved for many generations. 
It may be hoped that this will be done. Never 
in the world’s history has there been a time when 
when so many people felt so strongly on this 
subject as to-day. 
It should never be forgotten that the origina¬ 
tor of the idea of protecting bird life by means 
of a tariff provision is Mr. Henry Oldys of 
Washington. After the project had been suggest¬ 
ed and explained by Mr. Oldys, many associations 
and individuals aided him in carrying through 
the idea, but to Mr. Oldys belongs the credit of 
suggesting it and bringing it to the attention of 
those who were eager to help him. 
THE GAME. 
A curious feature, of last autumn’s shooting was 
the almost entire lack of a fall flight of wood¬ 
cock. This was probably due to the fact that 
there was up to the close of the season no severe 
frost to drive the birds south, and it is likely 
that they lingered about their accustomed feeding 
grounds until after the season had closed. Their 
passage would then be unnoticed. As noted al¬ 
ready, the fowl shooting has been very unsatis¬ 
factory up to the present month, owing to the 
unusually mild weather. But little was done 
along the southern seaboard until the great freeze 
which took place about ten days ago. This 
closed the waters of the Chesapeake and its trib¬ 
utaries, but for a short time made splendid shoot¬ 
ing in Currituck Sound. 
The first part of the winter was so mild as 
to be very favorable for the quail supply. What 
the effect of the recent cold, snap was is not yet 
fully known, though there is every reason to sup¬ 
pose .that the game suffered severely. The ex¬ 
traordinary cold in the south must have been 
terribly destructive, for the quail of that latitude 
are not so hardy as the northern birds, and it is 
probable that great numbers must have perished. 
In the North the season has been a good one; 
there have been so far none of the severe storms 
nor crusting, which is so surely fatal to the birds. 
Reports which have come to us from a number 
of widely separated localities indicate that a fair 
supply of ruffed grouse were left at the end of 
the season for the next year’s supply. The indi¬ 
cations are that a number of sections from which 
of late this bird has been absent, are becoming- 
restocked, and good shooting is once more the 
rule. This is true of parts of New England, and 
it is true of the covers of the Western Reserve. 
The Game Season. The ruffed grouse shooters 
report from very many localities this year a good 
supply of their favorite game birds. We heard 
the other day of one sportsman in Springfield, 
Mass., who in an afternoon stroll with a spaniel 
and without a gun, put up forty grouse—and not 
so far from the center of the city either. From 
all sides come reports of many and full coveys. 
There are isolated localities where poor shooting 
is always the rule, for in these districts even in 
seasons which are exceptionally satisfactory 
elsewhere, the birds have no opportunity to hold 
their own. Woodcock shooting in the northern 
covers has not been much of a success, and this 
for reasons stated in these columns last spring 
when we foretold a poor season. The birds mi¬ 
grated late, nested further south than usual and 
did not reach the northern grounds in anything 
like the usual numbers. Moreover, the sports¬ 
men, in the regions where the birds tarried very 
injudiciously pursued them instead of recogniz¬ 
ing the unusual condition of affairs and making 
allowance for it. 
VIRGINIA GAME LAWS. 
Before a joint assembly of the house of dele¬ 
gates and the senate, in the chamber of the 
house, John H. Wallace, state game commission¬ 
er of Alabama, made an address in behalf of the 
conservation of game in Virginia. The general 
assembly suspended business for half an hour. 
Mr. Wallace spoke of the early settlers of the 
country and the tremendous amount of game and 
fish that was to be found, and declared that on 
account of its abundance, it was not thought 
necessary to conserve these tremendous resour¬ 
ces. The wholesale slaughter which has taken 
place for years, he stated, has all but wiped out 
many valuable species of game. 
“Deer, wild turkey, quail and other game are 
rapidly disappearing, by reason of the negligence 
of the different states to protect the wild 
things,” declared Mr. Wallace. He also showed 
that it is not a question so much of the bird it¬ 
self, but the aid the farmer derives from them. 
He estimated that a loss of over $100,000,000 was 
sustained by the farmers through this source 
each year. 
Mr. Wallace declared it was impossible to en¬ 
force the local laws and that to put them on the 
statute books was a failure unless the game de¬ 
partment was under one head, who was given 
the power to enforce the law. He told of his 
success in Alabama with the game laws and how 
his department had increased annually since the 
placing of a license on the huntsman, of how 
the revenues had increased, although the depart¬ 
ment had not derived a cent by appropriation. 
Mr. Wallace estimated that over 50,000 birds 
were shipped out of Virginia annually by pot¬ 
hunters and advocated the passage of laws pro¬ 
hibiting shipment of game. Commissioner 
Wallace’s opinions deserve more than passing at¬ 
tention, because of the wonders he has worked in 
Alabama game laws and conservation. 
ENDORSEMENT OF MIGRATORY BIRD 
LAW. 
Good works and good legislation, like good 
deeds, are known by their fruits, as witness the 
resolution passed at the meeting of the Canadian 
Commission of Conservation at Ottawa on Jan¬ 
uary 20. 
Whereas. The Commission of Conservation 
heartily approves the efforts now being made for 
the preservation of North American migrating 
birds, some of which are seriously threatened 
with extinction, now therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the Provincial Governments 
of Canada be urged to solicit the good offices of 
the Dominion Government in obtaining the nego¬ 
tiation of a convention for a treaty between 
Great Britain and the United States, for the pur¬ 
pose of securing more effective protection for 
the birds which pass from one country to 
another. 
A full report of the meeting of the commission 
will appear in the next issue of this paper. 
