1016 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[June 25, 1910. 
ease among our native quail and that we are 
only now recovering from the effects of it. In 
no other way can I explain the almost total ex¬ 
termination of quail in sections where native 
birds were always plentiful until such importa¬ 
tions were released, and where I know posi¬ 
tively gunners were not responsible for the de¬ 
crease. In several such places, I am happy to 
say, quail have increased for the past couple of 
years, although no birds have been liberated in 
that time. A bureau such as I have suggested 
could readily determine whether birds were suf¬ 
fering from a disease and whether or not it 
would be advisable to liberate them. 
We should also urge upon the State the neces¬ 
sity of securing in each county reservations or 
sanctuaries for game, with a competent man or 
men in charge, whose duty it should be to feed 
and protect all game thereon, and act as war¬ 
dens for the surrounding territory. On such 
reservations there should be kept in the winter 
time a quantity of food for distribution in severe 
weather. The surplusage of game on these 
reservations should be distributed to responsible 
persons for restocking purposes. If food was 
provided in such places in the winter, all the 
game in the surrounding neighborhood would 
soon congregate there and would remain until 
the severe weather was over. 
In certain sections, particularly Long Island, 
where large numbers of migratory birds such 
as geese, ducks and bay birds congregate, this 
question of bird refuges is becoming art urgent 
one, and the State should lose no time in secur¬ 
ing suitable locations—not only strips of beach 
and meadow land, but! certain parts of the bay 
should be marked off with buoys, and all per¬ 
sons and boats kept therefrom. Wildfowl 
should have certain rest days during the week 
and no gunning allowed on such days. It will 
no doubt be urged that there are a certain num¬ 
ber of days in the season when the gunner can¬ 
not hunt these birds on account of the weather, 
but it must also be remembered that on such 
days the birds cannot rest nor feed. There 
should be a day and season limit on ducks and 
geese. 
An effort should be made by the State to 
create artificial ponds wherever possible, and to 
plant therein suitable food for rails, ducks and 
other waterfowl. Such ponds could be created 
at very little cost by damming up small brooks 
and would greatly increase the numbers of our 
waterfowl. 
All men who act as guides for sportsmen 
should be licensed by the State and held account¬ 
able for all violations by the parties with them, 
and while acting as guides they should not be 
allowed to shoot game nor carry a gun. Such 
men make their living from the game and they 
should be required to protect it as much as 
possible. 
A few weeks before the opening of the fall 
gunning season, and during that part of the 
spring when ducks, etc., are migrating, our game 
commission should employ extra protectors, and 
all of our protectors should be instructed to in¬ 
vestigate reports of illegal shooting or game 
law violations, and whenever possible have a 
justice or magistrate issue subpoenaes for the 
parties involved and an examination held to de¬ 
termine whether a violation has been committed. 
A magistrate has the power to issue a subpoena 
to investigate whether a crime has been com¬ 
mitted, and it should not be necessary to actually 
catch a man in the act. I think a few such pro¬ 
ceedings will have a salutary effect. 
Personally I have long felt that this question 
of the proper protection of migratory birds will 
never be solved until the Federal Government 
takes control. It does seem ridiculous for 
Northern States to protect certain kinds of birds 
which Southern States allow to be killed, and 
it does not seem right for Southern States to 
kill ducks, geese, baybirds, etc., all fall, winter 
and spring while the Northern States protect 
them after the first of the year or thereabouts. 
It seems just as fair to protect birds in their 
winter quarters after a reasonable open season 
as to ask us to protect them while they are on 
their breeding grounds in the North, but I am 
afraid this question will never be solved under 
the present system of State control. 
An effort should be made to have represen¬ 
tative sportsmen of the different States meet 
and discuss this question of migratory birds with 
the view of reaching some equitable solution of 
this problem. 
It is time, gentlemen, that every man in this 
State who uses a gun should take a live interest 
in this matter of game and its protection and 
propagation, and I would urge every man pres¬ 
ent to agitate the subject among his friends, so 
that when our Legislature meets next winter we 
may be in a position to go there and ask for 
fair treatment. 
Massachusetts Legislature. 
Boston, Mass., June 18 . —Editor Forest and 
Stream: The bill for the establishment of a 
new fish hatchery met with defeat in the Senate. 
On the engrossment stage in the House, May 
27, the vote stood ninety-two in favor, eighty 
against, but the Ways and Means Committee of 
the Senate reported adversely. 
Nothing is left for our trout fishermen, but 
to be content with the meagre supply of finger- 
lings for fall planting which the commission 
can rear in the Sutton hatchery, or as hereto¬ 
fore purchase trout from the commercial hatch¬ 
eries, although the State association is prepared 
to continue the work of furnishing fingerlings 
the coming fall at a price much lower than they 
can be obtained in small lots from the trout 
raisers. Last year the association distributed 
56,000, and during the last 1 four years the total 
number furnished through this office was 180,000. 
There are hundreds of good trout streams in 
Massachusetts and there is urgent need of a 
■fishcultural station where there is an abundance 
of water of such temperature as the rearing of 
fingerling and adult fish demands. It is for the 
sportsmen of the State to say how long Massa¬ 
chusetts shall lag behind her sister States in fish- 
cultural work. 
House bill 1180, relative to the discharge of 
waste materials into streams, which has received 
the Governor’s, signature, is legislation in the 
right direction. It authorizes the commissioners 
to prohibit or regulate the discharge of saw¬ 
dust, shavings, garbage, ashes, acids, sewage, dye 
stuffs and other waste material from any mill, 
etc., which may injure the fisheries. 
The less red tape required in the enforcement 
of fish and game laws the better. Such legisla¬ 
tion is calculated to handicap the commission 
and to beget contempt for the laws, but we 
will at least hope this law will not prove to be 
a dead letter. 
Outside of legislation, an event which may be 
of considerable interest to the 30,000 or more 
men who purchased hunting licenses the past year 
(as well as to all the devotees of game protec¬ 
tion) was a meeting of Massachusetts gunners 
in Arcade Hall, Boston, on the evening of June 15. 
The purpose announced was the forming of 
an association of gunners^ to counteract the ef¬ 
forts of an agency bent upon destroying all gun¬ 
ning in Massachusettcs. Notices were sent out 
broadcast to gunners and one hundred men as¬ 
sembled representing nine of the fourteen coun¬ 
ties in the State. Fletcher Osgood presided and 
in opening the meeting he declared that for years 
legislation adverse both to inland and coast gun¬ 
ning had been passed at the State house and 
gunners have had no opportunity to combat it. 
“We are not organizing against rational protec¬ 
tion of game, but to secure fairer supervision of 
the laws, believing that those laws should be 
supervised by the gunners themselves. “It is 
time,” he said, “to do something to protect the 
interests of the 40,000 gunners in the State. We 
must save gunning to keep it from going to the 
dogs.” 
He read several letters, one from Governor 
Draper, thanking him for information conveyed; 
one from Dr. George W. Field, who rejoiced that 
the gunners of the State are getting together. 
The question of saving recreational gunning in 
Massachusetts is one of great importance. The 
introduction of this element in shaping legisla¬ 
tion would go far toward substituting facts' for 
opinion. Such an organization is sorely needed. 
A letter from House Chairman H. A. Ellis 
expressed his hearty approval of the movement 
as did one from Mr. Adams, of Boston, who sug¬ 
gested the wearing of a conspicuous button by 
the gunner as a substitute for his being com¬ 
pelled to have his license with him when in pur¬ 
suit of game. 
Representative McCarthy, of Marlboro, said 
he spoke for 250 members of the Marlboro Hun¬ 
ters’ Club in favor of the movement. Among 
others who responded were Mr. Fraser, of Bos¬ 
ton, and Townsend, who declared song birds are 
increasing in the State. Mr. Newcomb, of 
Salem, strongly favored game preserves in charge 
of someone to protect the game and to extermi¬ 
nate cats and vermin. 
C. H. Brown, of Vineyard Haven, declared 
for conservation and a campaign of education. 
C. H. Nye, of Hyannis, replying to Loring 
Crocker’s advocacy of no spring shooting, said 
the only opportunity to shoot brant is during the 
close time under the present law. He declared 
that the twenty-five gunners of Hyannis during 
the season of 1909 did not shoot more than one 
hundred birds all told. Mr. Shriver, of Ded¬ 
ham, declared too many permits were given to 
collectors and favored their being required to 
place their specimens in a museum of natural 
history. Remarks were made by Messrs. Tabor 
and McClellan, of the Brockton Fish and Game 
Protective Association, and several others. A. 
F. Means, Jr., was chosen temporary secretary 
and Mr. Adams, treasurer, who collected one 
dollar from each one present. The president 
was authorized to appoint three members of the 
working committee from each county not rep¬ 
resented and a mass meeting will be held in the 
fall. Henry H. Kimball. 
