16 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[July 2, 1910. 
her with suspicion, however. The other day a 
little black-capped, russet-winged fellow|thought 
she had designs upon his nest, and was not 
satisfied with scolding her off the premises, but 
followed along after, screaming at the top of 
his voice and occasionally darting down as 
though intent upon pulling hair. Other birds, 
big and little, from ground sparrows to jays, 
joined in the excitement, and we had a feath¬ 
ered escort for the remainder of our round. I 
wish I could repeat all the uncomplimentary 
things they said about us. Evidently the cat 
was a bit hurt at the unwarranted abuse, for 
she would turn from watching the birds and 
mew a tremulous protest. S. D. Barnes. 
Hunting in California. 
San Francisco, June 18.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: It is estimated that this season the 
sum of $128,000 will be received from the sale 
of hunters’ licenses, from which 10 per cent 
must be deducted to cover the expenses of the 
county clerks who collect the fee. In the past 
two years $22,000 has been paid out in bounties 
for mountain lion scalps, and it is estimated 
that the slaughter of 1,060 of these has saved 
the live^ of more than 50,000 deer. Hunting 
licenses for 1910-11 are now ready and will be 
in force after July 1. The license this season 
is in the shape of a card four inches long by 
two and a half inches wide and has on one side 
a vignette of California quail and blank places 
to be filled in with a description of the pur¬ 
chaser. On the reverse side is printed section 
8 of the hunting statute and a space for the 
holder’s signature. The $1.00 licenses are 
printed in blue, the $10.00 licenses in brown, 
and the $25.00 cards in green. 
The deer hunting season opens in California 
on July 15 and ends September 1, except in such 
counties where local provisions makes the sea¬ 
son shorter. Reports from deer sections in 
both the Coast Range and the Sierra Nevadas 
indicate that bucks will be plentiful. In some 
sections forest fires have driven the deer down 
into the interior valleys and they have been 
seen near large towns. The bounty placed 
upon mountain lion scalps has resulted in many 
hunters going after this animal, and the result 
is found in the increased number of deer to 
be seen this year. A. P. B. 
Genesee County F. and G. P. Association. 
Batavia, N. Y., June 18 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: At our regular meeting last night we 
had thirty members in attendance. Five new 
members were elected. In April, 4,500 brook 
trout fingerlings were placed in the streams of 
Batavia and adjoining towns, and the first week 
in June we planted 13,000 brown trout finger- 
lings. 
After the business meeting we had a smoker 
with a program of songs, a talk on how to hunt 
snipe, woodcock, partridges and pheasants, fol¬ 
lowed by cards and the serving of a light lunch. 
The Hungarian partridges we liberated in De¬ 
cember are doing nicely and several broods are 
reported. 
We suggest a smoker or program of some 
kind to other organizations as a means to keep 
up the interest. Chas. W. Gardiner, Sec’y. 
The New Game Law. 
Albany, N. Y., June 27 .— Editor Forest and 
Stream: In closing his consideration of the 
thirty-day bills left by the Legislature, Governor 
Hughes signed the following measures amending 
the forest, fish and game law: 
Senator Schlosser’s, relative to quail and 
grouse in Dutchess county. 
Assemblyman Reed’s, making the open season 
for lake trout and whitefish in Owasco Lake 
from April 16 to Oct. 31 instead of from May 
1 to Aug. 31. 
Governor Hughes also signed the Senate com¬ 
mittee bill amending generally the forest, fish 
and game law. In approving the measure the 
Governor filed the following memorandum of 
reasons for his action: 0 
“This bill contains many amendments of the 
forest, fish and game law. While some of these 
are of minor consequence, others are important 
to provide protection for the rights of the State 
and to carry out the policy of the law. The bill 
is therefore approved. 
“There has been strong objection to one of 
the amendments of the bill, striking out the 
provision in Section 109 that ‘whitefish less than 
two pounds in the round shall not be taken from 
any of the waters of the State or possessed at 
any time.’ The objection to this amendment I 
believe to be well founded. There is, however, 
another bill (Assembly No. 1625) which simply 
amends Section 109 in a minor particular and 
leaves intact the provision above quoted relating 
to whitefish. My subsequent approval of this 
latter bill will restore the prohibition as to tak¬ 
ing whitefish less than two pounds in the round 
and obviate the objection to the general bill.” 
Commissioner James S. Whipple, in explain¬ 
ing some of the provisions, said that the bill 
provides for the establishment of game bird 
refuges by the commission upon the request of 
a majority of the town board of any town and 
the consent of owners of such land as is desig¬ 
nated. Land may thus be set aside for a period 
of ten years, and the taking of game birds be 
more closely prohibited than is possible under 
the general law. 
An additional fire district with another fire 
superintendent has been authorized. This dis¬ 
trict will be made up from the three now exist¬ 
ing in the Adirondacks. It will greatly facilitate 
the work of the fire fighting organization. The 
territory in that section of the country is so ex¬ 
tensive and difficult of access that three super¬ 
intendents found it impossible to properly cover 
their territory. 
The deer season has been shortened inasmuch 
as the fifteen days in November for bucks are 
cut off. Now the season for deer hunting is 
from Sept. 16 to Oct. 31, as it has been in the 
past with the exception of last year. 
Taking of rabbits by the use of ferrets is per¬ 
mitted, but the limit of bag is confined to ten 
rabbits or hares in one day by an individual. 
The muskrat season begins Nov. 1 and extends 
to April 15. 
Spring duck shooting has been practically pro¬ 
hibited by the curtailment of the brant season. 
Lhider the old law the long period in which 
brant could be legally shot afforded an oppor¬ 
tunity for the slaughter of all kinds of water- 
fowl. The season as fixed by the new law for 
ducks, geese, brant and swans extends from 
Sept. 16 to Jan. 10 , with possession until Jan. 
15 . These birds may be sold, however, when 
taken without the State, under bond, from Jan. 
10 to March 1 . 
The close season for pheasants, a few coun¬ 
ties excepted, has been extended to 1914. The 
law has been made more stringent in the punish¬ 
ment of aliens and non-residents for hunting 
without licenses. Black bass taken in any of 
the waters of the State cannot be sold or offered 
for sale. A license must be taken out before 
an eel weir or eel pot can be maintained by any 
person. 
Penalties in relation to pollution of water, the 
draining of streams or lakes and the use of ex¬ 
plosives have been made more severe. Viola¬ 
tions of these sections are punishable by im¬ 
prisonment of one year or a fine of $ 500 , and 
an additional penalty of $10 for each fish taken, 
possessed, bought or sold. 
The law is now in effect. E. C. C. 
Alligators to Spare. 
A letter received recently at the New York 
Aquarium was as follows: 
Dear Mr. Aquarium: A fair correspondent 
of the New York World lately visited Florida, 
and thinking that I possessed every necessary 
and comfort of this life except a live alligator, 
sent me one which I am forwarding to you 
under separate cover. While the lady’s inten¬ 
tions were of the best, her conclusions were 
wrong. I really do not need an alligator this 
winter. Another reason for .parting with my 
gift is that affairs in this office may resume 
their normal business level and the lady clerks 
do their work sitting in their chairs instead of 
standing on them. 
As to a name, he has been called “Frankie” 
for the week he has been with me, but this is 
not to be considered as binding upon you. If 
your experts decide that the name is inappro¬ 
priate call her “Josie.” 
The specimen was accepted and the following 
answer sent to the donor: 
Please accept my thanks for the specimen of 
Alligator mississippiensis which you have been 
so kind as to send to the Aquarium. Be pleased 
also to accept my thanks for'your sprightly let¬ 
ter of transmittal which you will pardon my 
saying is worth more than the ’gator, being 
much rarer. 
The Aquarium gets a million or two baby alli¬ 
gators a year from returning Florida tourists, 
but there is of course always room for a few 
more. When they get too thick we send ’em 
back to Florida for the restocking of depleted 
waters, as alligator leather is becoming scarce, 
owing to the activity of the above mentioned 
tourists. 
The name is no longer a matter of importance, 
as we ran out of names so long ago that the 
clerk’s “Accession number” serves the same pur¬ 
pose. Hope that the lady clerks in your office 
are now enjoying freedom from alarm.—Zoo¬ 
logical Society Bulletin. 
All the game laws of the United States and 
Canada, revised to date and now in force, are 
given in the Game Laws in Brief. See adv. 
