September, 1918 
FOREST AND STREAM 
537 
there were pessimists who declared that in the next 
generation the gun would be used almost wholly on ar¬ 
tificial targets. Within the last few years, however, a 
blessed change has come o’er the spirit of our dream. 
Spring shooting was gradually abandoned, seasons were 
somewhat shortened; in some sections of the country bag 
limits were established. Finally, Congress passed the 
Migratory Bird Law, a treaty for the protection of mi¬ 
gratory birds was made between Canada and the United 
States, and laws were passed which have put that treaty 
in force. 
As a result of these measures there has been within 
the past few years a notable increase in the supply of our 
wild fowl, and in certain portions of the country—espe¬ 
cially on the south Atlantic Coast—the professional gun¬ 
ners actually grumble because the geese and swans have 
so increased, that—these gunners claim—they consume 
such large quantities of the natural food growing in those 
waters that the ducks do not get enough to eat. In cer¬ 
tain sections of the country there were flights of wild 
fowl last year such as have not been seen for nearly a 
generation. 
All these changes lend special interest to Mr. Grinnell’s 
book, for they are exactly in line with the recommenda¬ 
tions he made in the volume. In the concluding phrase 
of the chapter on the decrease of the wild fowl he says: 
“I repeat then that to bring back the ducks in their 
old time abundance the gunners must agree to 
Stop spring shooting; 
Limit the size of bags for a day and a season; 
Stop the sale of game.” 
As long ago as 1894 the Forest and Stream advocated 
the prohibition of the sale of game, and the importance 
of the principle has been growing in the public mind ever 
since that time until now the rule is very general; but 
the stopping of spring shooting and the establishing of a 
bag limit have taken place very largely since American 
Duck Shooting was first published. 
The passage and enforcement of the Migratory Bird 
Treaty promises an astounding increase in the numbers 
of our ducks, geese and swans. The youngsters of the 
rising generation may see wild fowl as numerous in cer¬ 
tain localities as they used to be in the days of their 
grandfathers. 
THE ENABLING ACT PASSED 
THE passage by the House of Representatives of the 
bill to carry out the provisions of the Migratory 
Bird Treaty with Canada, sent the measure to Conference 
Committtee. On June 28, the House, and on June 29, the 
Senate, took favorable action on the Conference report, 
and on July 3 the President signed the bill and it became 
law. 
The effort to bring about bird protection in this novel 
form which has thus succeeded, began in 1904. An enor¬ 
mous amount of enthusiasm and hard work was put 
into this effort and some of the best men in the country 
contributed their share to the present success—above 
all the Hon. George Shiras, 3rd, who originated the 
idea and initiated the movement. 
The passage of the Enabling Act will have a tremen¬ 
dous moral influence on gunners all over the United 
States and Canada, and while an adequate money appro¬ 
priation for its enforcement ought to have been provided, 
nevertheless, the fact that Congress has passed the Act 
and that the various states will feel an obligation to sup¬ 
port it, will give it an immense weight. The Biological 
Survey is authorized to establish regulations which shall 
carry out the purposes of the bill. These will provide 
absolute protection for a very large number of species 
and proper limitations of shooting for many other species 
—the wild fowl and the shore birds. 
Such regulations it may be supposed will follow the 
lines suggested by Mr. Grinnell in the last edition of his 
American Duck Shooting, and will include “reasonably 
short seasons, no spring shooting, no sale of game, a 
limit to the daily or weekly bag that may be lawfully 
killed, restrictions as to size of guns” and methods by 
which birds may be killed. In due time a complete ma¬ 
chinery for the enforcement of the law will be elaborated. 
Obviously the effect of the bill will be to limit shooting 
and to interfere with various methods that have been 
practiced in certain places by selfish sportsmen. The 
passage of the law will be of general benefit for it will 
increase the numbers of the birds useful for sport. 
Every patriotic American will rejoice also in the fact 
that—although the action was delayed—the United States 
has at last done its part to carry out the obligations into 
which it entered when it made the Migratory Bird Treaty 
with its neighbor and ally on the North. 
THE SPORTSMAN TOURIST IN CANADA 
PORTSMEN in the United States have been some¬ 
what concerned at rumors that tourists into Canada 
will find unpleasant restrictions in the matter of the per¬ 
sonal equipments which they will be permitted to 
carry with them on their hunting trips. This is a mis¬ 
apprehension. Our ally, the Dominion of Canada, 
still extends a warm welcome to the visiting American 
sportsman tourist. Customs collectors have power to 
permit entry of articles brought into Canada tempo¬ 
rarily. No application to the War Board is necessary. 
In a word the United States sportsman visiting Can¬ 
ada will do as he has always done before—take his per¬ 
sonal property with him, have it passed at the nearest 
Customs point, and then bring his equipment back with 
him when he returns. If a temporary deposit is required 
on certain dutiable articles, such deposit will be refunded 
at the point of collection, upon proof that the items are 
being re-exported. 
TRAPSHOOTING ASSISTS 
COME really good shots declare that trap shooting mil- 
^ itates against their field shooting. This may, per¬ 
haps, be the case with some, allowing a bit for exaggera¬ 
tion, but trap shooting has really assisted many poor 
field shots to get going right. It is not because they learn 
anything new that it helps, but it tames them down, by 
repressing overanxiety, thereby controlling that impor¬ 
tant member, the trigger finger. The first goose eggs of 
the season on quails are invariably traceable to jerking 
the trigger, and trap shooting must be given a lot of 
credit for curing this, if nothing else. In fact, many 
good field shots make it a practise to key up before the 
shooting season each year by firing several hundred 
shots at clay birds in preparation for field work. For 
this work the hand trap will prove useful as after a 
little practise all of the various angles of game birds 
can be simulated. , 
THE ANNUAL HYSTERIA 
T is at this season that the mad dog scare happens 
along with unbroken regularity. The frequency of 
rabies is much overpainted, and has more existence in the 
columns of daily papers than among the list of hospital 
patients. It is not uncommon for Fido to develop worm 
fits, whirligigs from the heat, or a case of partial conges¬ 
tion of the brain, whereupon Mr. Bluecoat shoots the 
hapless dog, if he should fall in a spasm or fit—irrefut¬ 
able indications of the absence of rabies. 
