992 
FOREST AND S T R E A M 
CHANGES IN NEW YORK GAME LAWS. 
Albany, May 6.—Game law changes, as all 
amendments to the conservation law are popu¬ 
larly known, will not be many, judging by pres¬ 
ent indications. Legislative intent was, however, 
as good as usual and sixty-two bills actually were 
introduced. Of these twenty-three were passed. 
Of these, Governor Whitman, with the ap¬ 
proval of Conservation Commissioner George D. 
Pratt, signed five during the session, and of the 
18 which became “thirty-day bills” he has since 
signed eight. The fate of the remaining ten will 
speedily develop. 
Of the sixty-two measures which were intro¬ 
duced, five related to hunting, ten to the deer 
and one to the elk, ten to birds, twenty to inland 
fishing and five to salt-water fishing, four to 
the forests, one to game refuges, two to penal¬ 
ties, two to dams and docks in inland waters, and 
two to the Saratoga reservation. 
The five new laws signed during the session 
were as follows: 
Chap. 45, Laws 1916. Appropriating $10,000 
for general expenses of the forestry bureau. 
Chap. 77. Adding to Sec. 219 of the law the 
words “Birds or parts thereof collected or pos¬ 
sessed in accordance with the provisions of sec¬ 
tion 159,” the object being to permit museums 
and collectors to legally possess the plumage, 
skin or bodies of protected wild birds. 
Chap. 155. Inserting in Sec. 153 of the law 
words giving a majority of a common council 
of any city the authority now possessed by town 
boards to request the conservation commission 
to make desired changes in the clo^e season for 
fish or game. 
Chap. 170. Changing Sec. 323 so that lobsters 
may hereafter be taken in public waters of the 
state “west of a line drawn from Rocky Point 
to Race Rock,” instead of “north and east of a 
line drawn from Gardner’s Point to Orient 
Point.” 
Chap. 257. Transferring to the conservation 
commission the control and management of the 
Saratoga Springs reservation. 
Of the eight bills signed since adjournment, 
the chapter numbers and objects are as follows: 
Chap. 295. Companion bill to that enacted as 
Chap. 257. It deals with acquiring land, pur¬ 
poses of the reservation and powers and duties 
of the commission in charge. 
Chap. 297. Authorizes county clerks to retain 
their fee for issuing licenses when making re¬ 
turns to the commission. 
Chap. 298. Gives the commission complete con¬ 
trol over the building of docks and dams in in¬ 
land waters. It can hereafter compel the sub¬ 
mission of plans. This will guarantee construc¬ 
tion of fish-ways. 
Chap. 402. Adds the “European gray-legged 
partridge” to the list of game birds that may 
be imported for sale under license of the com¬ 
mission . 
Chap. 403. Authorizes buying and selling of 
pike perch from May 30 (instead of May 1) to 
March 1 ; also, legalizes taking, buying and sell¬ 
ing blue pike perch and saugers to any extent 
in Lakes Erie and Ontario and the lower Niag¬ 
ara river at any time. 
Chap. 404. Prohibits taking game from an 
automobile or with the aid of automobile head¬ 
lights. 
Chap. 405. Prohibits taking game on roads on 
private preserves in the forest preserve counties. 
Sec. 222 of the law now reads: “Game shall not 
be taken * * * on any public highway other 
than state or county highways, within the forest 
preserve counties. 
Chap. 406. Authorizes breeders of domesti¬ 
cated American elk, white-tail deer, European 
red deer, fallow deer, roebuck, pheasants, mal¬ 
lard ducks and black ducks for sale to be licensed 
to import them for market purposes into New 
York state on paying a fee of $5 and co t of in¬ 
spection, subject to Secs. 572, 373. 374 of the law. 
J. D. W. 
Button Law for Hunters in New York State. 
The Governor has also, since the above was 
written, signed the bill, providing among other 
regulations that all licensed hunters must wear, 
conspicuously displayed, a button, at least two 
inches in diameter, to be furnished by the state. 
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NOTES. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Owing to the heat and dryness of the south¬ 
west it is by no means an ideal country for hunt¬ 
ing and fishing. Compared with the section east 
of the Rockies this country looks like another 
world. Outside the cities and cultivated districts 
it is one endless stretch of waste-land composed 
of rocky cliffs, canyons and mesas overgrown 
with cactus, grease-hrush and alkali weeds. There 
are no woods except in the mountains. There 
we have the different varieties of pine as well as 
spruce, fir and hemlock. A few oaks, of a kind 
not seen in the East, are also found. There are 
no white oaks, red oaks, hickory, sweetgum, 
maple or other trees in the Pacific west save 
those of a balsamic nature and the cottonwood, 
willow and alder that grow along the streams. 
The streams are all shallow and full of riffles 
and boulders. The water is, normally, as clear 
as crystal and sweet and pure. Of course, this 
does not apply to the San Joaquin (San Wau- 
keen) which is deep and sluggish and is filled 
with catfish. There are no fish in the mountain 
streams but trout. The only good duck ponds 
that we have are those that have been built by 
man and a few alkali sloughs in the very low 
places in the desert. Along the coast there are 
numerous ponds and marshes that furnish good 
duck and shore bird shooting for those who are 
lucky enough to belong to some good gun club. 
Even here there is no timber. There are no wild 
turkeys, woodcocks, bob white quails or dusky 
mallards here. Turkeys, Hungarian grouse and 
China pheasants have been planted here but to no 
purpose. They all died or fell victims to the 
many foxes and owls that infest the hills and 
plains. Cottontail deer are unknown here, the 
only varieties that we have being the mule and 
blacktail. The bluejays here are of an entirely 
different variety from those found in the South 
and East. They are of a solid blue color and 
have a different note from the Eastern bird. The 
mountain streams have no turtles or terrapins 
and but few water snakes. The snakes that we 
do have are the various kinds of rattlers, gopher 
snakes and red racer's. Rattlers abound. One 
of the worst drawbacks to hunting here is the 
abundance of rattlesnakes. The others are the 
heat and thirst and the cactus. A bird dog or 
hound can never hunt here; it is too dry and 
dusty. We have the valley quail, Gambel’s quail 
and the mountain quail. The first two are fast 
flyers and game from the word “go,” only they 
refuse to lie to a dog. There are lots of mal¬ 
lards, spoonbills, teal, wigeon, butterballs, red¬ 
head, canvasback and sprigs. A few jacksnipes 
are killed and the shores are lined with willets, 
godwits, curlews, sandpipers and plovers in sea¬ 
son. Doves are abundant and farther north the 
blue and Sabine’s grouse are found in the moun¬ 
tains. Down in Arizona they have wild pigeons 
and white fronted doves and a few harlequin 
quails and the masked bob white. The Salton 
Sea is a good game resort for lovers of the 
choke bore. It is a large lake—nearly 60 miles 
long—in the Colorado desert, formed by the 
overflow of the Colorado and Gila (Heela) 
rivers. I have hunted there a good deal and 
shall be pleased to write the place up for Forest 
and Stream upon request. “Reelfoot.” 
GAME CONDITIONS IN NORTH DAKOTA. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
We have experienced a very cold and back¬ 
ward spring. Three inches of snow fell night 
before last, and last night the ground froze hard 
enough to stop field work. Prairie chickens win¬ 
tered very well, but the season thus far has been 
too cold for favorable hatching conditions. Crows 
get a good many prairie chicken eggs, and then 
also many nests are broken up when the farmers 
plow stubble in the spring. It seems to me it 
would be easy to domesticate prairie chickens. 
Where they are not molested they get quite tame; 
in some barn yards in this township one can see 
large numbers of them mingling with the cattle 
and tame fowl all through the winter season. 
Wild geese showed up numerously this spring. 
Saw one flock that must have numbered over 
two thousand; they have mostly gone further 
north now. A flock of about fifty swan passed 
over lately, far the most seen in many years. 
Jos. P. Whittemore. 
AN APPRECIATION OF “WOODCRAFT.” 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Enclosed find check for settlement of your bill 
for subscription. I am glad to see the Nessmuk 
Corner added to your paper. No doubt he was 
the wisest old guide of all, and there is much 
very valuable information in his book “Wood¬ 
craft.” 
I am starting soon for a year’s fishing and 
hunting trip and, as always, the very first thing 
that goes into the duffle bag will be “Wood¬ 
craft.” Without it my trip would be incomplete. 
If I could not take it along, well, I guess I would 
throw up the trip. At present I am reading it 
to my six year old son for bed-time stories, 
greatly to his delight, it being in his line, as he 
calls himself a tough old camper, hunter and 
trapper and is looking forward to our trip in 
the West. P. Vosburgh. 
(Continued on page 1012.) 
