368 
FOREST AND STREAM 
March 22, 1913 
the fur seal law, were carried in the agricultural 
appropriation acts of Aug. 10, 1912, and March 
4 . 1913- 
During the past two years ten important 
additions have been made to the list of national 
reservations by executive order on the fpllowing 
dates: 
April II, 1911. Clear Lake, California. 
Jan. II, 1912. Forrester Island and Hazy 
Islands, Alaska. 
Jan. II, 1912. Niobrara, Nebraska. 
Feb. I, 1912. Green Bay, Wisconsin. 
Dec. 7, 1912. Chamisso Island, Alaska. 
Dec. 17, 1912. Pishkun, Montana. 
Dec. 19, 1912. Desecheo Island, Porto Rico. 
Jan. 9, 1913. Gravel Island, Wisconsin. 
March 3, 1913. Aleutian Islands, Alaska. 
Two of these reservations, the Niobrara and 
the Aleutian Islands, are of considerable extent, 
and through the co-operation of the National 
.\ssociation of Audubon Societies and the citi¬ 
zens of Nebraska, the former has already been 
stocked with a herd of twenty-five bufifalo, elk 
and deer. The Aleutian Islands refuge, set aside 
just before the close of the administration, places 
under the joint jurisdiction of the Department 
of Agriculture and the Department of Commerce 
all of the islands in the Aleutian chain as a 
reservation for the protection of birds, foxes, 
reindeer and fisheries. 
Against this record of positive accomplish¬ 
ment should be set the long list of bills which 
failed. More game protective measures were in¬ 
troduced than in any previous Congress, and 
many of them were of exceptional merit. The 
measures which failed included (i) National 
Park bills; (2) game refuges; (3) migratory 
bird protection in its broader aspects; (4) game 
protection in the District of Columbia; and (5) 
a measure for the importation of foreign game 
animals. The National Park legislation included 
several bills authorizing the establishment of a 
Bureau of National Parks, three important meas¬ 
ures accepting jurisdiction from the States of 
Montana, Oregon, and Washington over the 
lands in the Glacier, Crater Lake and Mt. Rainier 
National Parks, and providing for the establish¬ 
ment of at least ten national parks. Three of 
these were in California, and one each in seven 
other States, as follows: The Grand Canon 
National Park in Arizona; the Lake Tahoe, Mt. 
Shasta and Peter Lassen National Parks in 
California; the Rocky Mountain National Park 
in Colorado; the Kilauea National Park in 
Hawaii; the Mt. Katahdin National Park in 
Maine; the Rio Grande National Park in New 
Mexico; the Saddle Mountain National Park in 
Oregon; and the Mt. Olympus National Park in 
Washington. 
The game refuge bills included four general 
(S. 6109, S. 8169, H. R. 23839 and H. R. 28142), 
and eight special measures providing for reserves 
in six of the Western States, namely: A refuge 
on the Coronado National Forest (H. R. 8393), 
one on the Fort Grant Military Reservation (S. 
6799), and an enlargement of the Grand Canon 
Game Preserve (S. 417), all in Arizona; the 
Jefferson National Game Preserve on the na¬ 
tional forest of the same name, and the Snow 
Creek Antelope Range in Dawson county, Mon¬ 
tana (S. 5286) ; the Pecos National Game Refuge 
in New Mexico (S. 6942); a preserve on the 
Sully’s Hill National Park in North Dakota 
(amendment to the agricultural bill) ; a refuge 
or park in Oregon (H. R. 1705) ; and a refuge 
in Fremont county, Wyoming (S. 3948). The 
Pecos bill passed the Senate, and one of the 
Senate general refuge bills was reported by the 
Senate Committee. 
The migratory bird legislation included a 
proposed amendment to the Constitution giving 
Congress authority over migratory birds (S. J. 
Res. 39), and a resolution (S. Res. 428) author¬ 
izing a call for an international convention, two 
propositions which may receive more attention 
in the near future. The district game legisla¬ 
tion included two bills providing for a general 
revision of the local game laws (H. R. 8634 
and H. R. 8771), and the importation bills (H. R. 
1303 and 24324) authorized the importation of 
certain large game animals from Africa. 
Notwithstanding this list of failures the 
record as a whole shows important progress and 
a distinct gain in the movement for the conser¬ 
vation of wild life. 
New Laws to Protect California Game. 
BY GOLDEN GATE. 
That the present game laws of California 
are not sufficiently stringent or restrictive to 
preserve the game of the State from destruc¬ 
tion is becoming more and more evident at 
the close of each shooting season and the ex¬ 
tinction of some species of wild life seems cer¬ 
tain unless adequate legislation is secured in 
ihe near future. Men who have made a study 
of the subject, and wdio are in a positioh to 
know, declare that in the Sacramento and San 
Joaquin Valleys there has been a decrease of 
at least 50 per cent, in the number of ducks and 
geese to be found there, as compared with ten 
years ago. Other game has decreased as 
rapidly. 
The bag limit on different species of game 
has been gradually lessened during this time, 
the open seasons have been made shorter, the 
law has been more strictly enforced, but in 
spite of these precautions the game has been 
gradually slipping away. A great deal has been 
accomplished by prohibiting the sale of veni¬ 
son, quail and doves, but now there is an agita¬ 
tion, and a well defined one, to place these on 
the list of game that may be sold in the open 
market. This agitation is being fostered by 
hotel keepers principally, the argument being 
used that the poor man should be given the op¬ 
portunity to purchase game. Ducks and geese 
are sold now, but it is to be noted that the 
co^t of these is such that the poor man never 
buys them. 
The monetary value placed upon ducks has 
made market hunting an established industry, 
and it is figured that fully one-third of the 
million ducks killed annually are sold. It is 
perfectly right that the game of the State should 
be considered as an asset and have a monetary 
value, for such is certainly the case, but it is 
manifestly unfair that the dead game should 
have a commercial value for the benefit of the 
few market hunters and hotel keepers. Con¬ 
serve the game and make the pursuit of it the 
source of income. California fishing is known 
all over the world. People come from distant 
points for no other purpose than to enjoy this 
sport. The popularity of the Catalina Islands is 
an evidence of what our game fishes are worth. 
Sportsmen come to hunt our quail, our deer 
and bear. They spend millions of dollars an¬ 
nually in the pursuit of game, probably as much 
as $15,000,000. The hotel man, transportation 
companies, merchants, farmers and members 
of all trades are benefitted either directly or in¬ 
directly. 
The open sale of game will result in an in¬ 
come for a few years to a limited few. After 
that there will be no income for anyone. The 
legislators of California now have this matter 
in their hands and it rests with them whether or 
not the sale of game shall be abolished. The 
California Associated Societies for the Con¬ 
servation of Wild Life, with which thousands of 
thoughtful sportsmen are associated, is working 
to arouse a sentiment against the sale of game. 
The California Game and Fish Protective As¬ 
sociation is working along the same lines, as 
is the association formed under the auspices of 
the Fish and Game Commission. 
To adequately protect the game of Cali¬ 
fornia it is imperative that the sale of game be 
stopped, that the bag limits of several varieties 
be made smaller, that the present scientific work 
being carried on so successfully be continued, 
and that the game be recognized as a valuable 
asset and given consideration according to its 
value. 
Partridge and Hawk. 
Fitzwilliam, N. H., Feb. 21. —Editor Forest 
and Stream: One afternoon in January, about 
4 o’clock, I noticed suddenly a sound like the 
fluttering of wings against the side of my house, 
followed almost immediately by the crash of 
breaking glass in the pantry leading off the 
kitchen. Opening the pantry door, I saw lying 
at my feet the bleeding body of a large par¬ 
tridge in a dying condition. It had forced its 
way through a window pane, also tearing a zig¬ 
zag hole a foot and a half long in a Holland 
window shade. Some boys out of doors had 
seen the partridge, chased and followed by a 
hungry hawk, fly out of the adjoining woods to 
escape its pursuer, and dash into the closed 
window. 
I showed the bird to some of my neigh¬ 
bors who, on examining it, declared that its back 
was broken in the struggle. 
J. SiMONDS. 
Connecticut Nature Notes. 
Packer, Conn.—Following items appeared 
in one of our dailies of recent date: 
Caught Big Bass.— A record catch was 
made by Richard Hiscox, Harry Blackburn and 
John Haseldon, who were on a fishing excur¬ 
sion Saturday at Lantern Hill. A large black 
bass weighing pounds was landed besides 
seventeen nice pickerel. Though the bass was 
an unusually large one, the extraordinary part 
of the catch is that it was caught in widwinter. 
Blackbirds in Coit Elms.-^A flock of 
blackbirds was seen and heard Mondaj' morn¬ 
ing in the Coit Elms on Washington street, a 
sign of an early spring. 
Forest and Stream aims to keep always be¬ 
fore its readers a high, sane and cheerful ideal 
of American sportsmanship. 
