56 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Jan. 9, 1909. 
Mr. Dutcher on Game Laws. 
In his address before the convention of the 
Fish, Game and Forest League, at Syracuse, 
N. Y., recently, William Dutcher, president of 
the National Association of Audubon Societies, 
said: 
I assume that the purpose of this meeting is 
that the members and delegates present may be 
able to consult with each other in regard to the 
better protection of the birds, game and fish of 
the great Commonwealth of New York. I ex¬ 
pect that before the meeting is over many of 
those present will make valuable suggestions for 
improvements in the 
bird, game and fish laws 
as the result of their ex¬ 
periences during the past 
3'ear in the fields and 
forests and on the lakes 
and streams. I know 
that there is no body of 
men in this State who 
are more thoroughly 
competent to make sug¬ 
gestions to the authori¬ 
ties regarding the better 
preservation of one of 
the greatest assets of 
the State, its wild life, 
than the men who are 
now assembled in this 
convention. There is 
not a man present in 
this room, I believe, who 
will not be thoroughly 
sincere in any presenta¬ 
tion that he may make, 
nor is there one who is 
not entirely unselfish 
and who will only be 
striving for better con¬ 
ditions. You will un¬ 
doubtedly think before 
I have finished the few 
words I have to say to 
you that I may be some¬ 
what radical in my 
views, but I wish every 
person in this room to 
believe that my views are the result of many 
years of experience in wild bird protection, and 
' that I do not think that a single proposition 
that I will advance is too radical in view of the 
bird and game conditions as we find them at 
the present time in New York State. I may add 
also that while I am an amateur fisherman, still 
I shall not make any suggestions regarding the 
protection of fish, as such suggestions can,come 
better from men who are more thoroughl}' in 
touch with such matters than I am. 
I take as my text the Forest, Fish and Game 
Law of the State of New York, as enacted by 
the Legislature of 1908, and published for gen¬ 
eral distribution by the Game Commission, and 
will present for the consideration of this con¬ 
vention certain amendments which I believe to 
be vitally necessary, with a brief statement of 
the reasons for the changes recommended. Such 
reasons will be very brief, as I assume that there 
will be more or less discussion upon any propo¬ 
sition that is presented before it is finally adopted 
or rejected by the convention. 
Section 98 in connection with Section 241: 
Section 98. Certain Wild Birds Protected.—Wild biids 
other than the English sparrow, crow, hawk, crow-black, 
bird, snow-owl, great horned owl, and kingfisher shall 
not be taken or possessed at any time, dead or alive, 
except under the authority of a certificate issued under 
this chapter. No part of the plumage, skin or body of 
any bird protected by this section shall be sold or had 
in possession for sale. The provision of this section 
shall not apply to game birds for which an open season 
is provided in this chapter. 
I suggest and earnestly urge that the follow¬ 
ing substitute for Section 98 may become the 
law of the State long before the end of the next 
session of the Legislature. 
Section 98. Certain Wild Birds Protected.—Witd birds 
other than the English sparrow, crow, sharp-shinned 
hawk. Cooper hawk, goshawk, great horned owl, and 
kingfisher shall not be taken cr possessed at any time, 
dead or alive, except under the authority of a certificate 
issued under this chapter. No part of the plumage, 
skin or body of any bird protected by this section shall 
be sold or had m possession for sale irrespective of 
whether said bird was captured or killed within or with¬ 
out this State. The provisions of this section shall not 
apply to game birds for which an open season is pro¬ 
vided in this chapter. 
The changes suggested are as follows: 
Strike out the word "hawk” in the present 
law and substitute therefor the words "sharp- 
shinned hawk, Cooper hawk and goshawk.” 
The reasons for this important change are 
that the United States Department of Agricul¬ 
ture has furnished evidence that all of the hawks 
of the country are beneficial, with the exception 
of the three enumerated above, and consequently 
they recommend in the strongest possible lan¬ 
guage that all other hawks should receive pro¬ 
tection on the ground that they are nature’s 
check on rodent pests, such as field mice, rabbits, 
some species of squirrel and other small mam¬ 
mals. The three hawks in question belong to 
the family Accipiter and are pre-eminently live- 
bird hawks; that is, they will not feed on any¬ 
thing that is not alive and prefer birds to any 
other class of food. The sharp-shinned hawk 
in brown or blue plumage and the Cooper hawk 
in the same color phases are birds that live and 
breed abundantly in the State of New York; 
the goshawk is not a bird of the State of New 
York, so far as breeding is concerned, but is 
fortunately a winter resident only, yet some 
years it comes down from the North in large 
numbers and does a great amount of damage. 
These are the hawks whose sins are visited on 
the heads of other hawks that are of the utmost 
value, and these latter in 
the interest of agricul¬ 
ture and forestry de¬ 
serve and should re¬ 
ceive protection. 
The word crow- 
blackbird is stricken out 
of the present law for 
the reason . that while 
this bird in parts of the 
country does some dam¬ 
age and is not protected, 
yet in New York State 
their numbers are not 
great enough to war¬ 
rant their not being pro¬ 
tected, especially in view 
of the fact that the good 
the crow-blackbird does 
is far in excess of 
the amount of damage 
' done. One of its good 
traits is that it destroys 
numerous numbers of a 
white grub, the larval 
form of the May beetle. 
The word snow-owl 
is stricken out of the 
present law on the 
ground that the snowy- 
owl is a rodent-eating 
bird to a large extent, 
and, further, it is a 
maritime bird rather 
than a bird of the in¬ 
terior; in other words, 
it follows the seacoast during its infrequent 
migrations more than it does the interior part 
of the country. It is a bird that comes from 
the high latitudes and is never found in the 
State except in the coldest winter weather. For 
a number of years none will be seen, and it is 
rarely that very many are present in any year. 
It is too interesting and valuable to be slaught¬ 
ered. 
The vital change in Section 98, which is sug¬ 
gested, is the adding of the following words: 
"Irrespective of whether said bird was captured 
or killed within or without the State.” This 
refers to the plumage, skin or body of any bird 
protected by the section in question. As the 
law is now worded, it is only possible for the 
authorities to convict a dealer for the possession 
or sale of the plumage of beneficial birds that 
should be protected, provided the State can prove 
that the birds were killed within the State of 
New York. This is an extremely difficult mat¬ 
ter for the commission to do; in fact, it is im- 
{Continued on page 76.) 
DUSKY MALLARD OR BLACK DUCKS. 
From a painting by J. G. Jlillais. Courtesy Longmans, Green & Co. 
