Dec. 31, 1910.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
1057 
Here certainly the meaning is obscure. When 
can they be taken or possessed if the section is 
strictly enforced? Apparently not at all. 
According to the present law certain birds 
cannot be legally shot at all, for before the 
opening of the season for shooting them they 
have left on their Southern migration. For in¬ 
stance, our common field plover migrates before 
the 1st of September, and save on Long Island, 
where it is at present a rather rare bird, it can¬ 
not be shot lawfully until Sept. 16. Many of 
the bay snipe are found around the inland lakes 
and marshes, and with the field plover the ma¬ 
jority have gone south long before the 16th of 
September. The wording of Section 95 should 
be changed to read: 
“Section 95. Plover and Other Birds: The 
open season for English snipe, plover, bay snipe 
or shore birds shall be from July 16 to Dec. 31, 
both inclusive. They shall not be taken or pos¬ 
sessed at any other time.” 
There is no good reason for a separate section 
to cover Long Island, and Section 174 should be 
stricken out. The term “Wilson” is seldom, if 
ever, used, but as “English snipe” or “jack 
snipe,” the bird is known everywhere. “Bay 
snipe or shore birds” will include all varieties 
of these birds. As worded at present Sections 
95 and 174 enumerate certain varieties which 
may be shot, but omit dowitchers, marlin or 
godwit (two varieties), long-legged sandpipers, 
robin snipe and turnstones or calicobacks, though 
with yellowlegs these varieties make up the 
greater part of the bay snipe shot on Long 
Is'and in July and August, and yet, strictly 
speaking, not one of them can lawfully be killed. 
Rail, mudhen and gal'inule should not be in 
the same section with plover and bay birds, but 
in a separate section, say Section 95a, worded 
as follows: 
“Section 95a. Meadow Hens and Other Birds: 
The open season for meadow hens, rail, mud- 
hens and gallinule shall be from Aug. 16 to Dec. 
31, both inclusive. They shall not be taken or 
possessed at any other time.” 
And Section 172 should be stricken out as 
unnecessary. 
Blue-winged teal might well be added to this 
section, for by Sept. 16 the majority of these 
birds have gone South, and by Oct. 1, when they 
can be shot on Long Island, almost all of them 
have disappeared, save when a very mild season 
occurs. Few, if any, of these birds breed with¬ 
in our State, and even if some do, the young 
are ful'y grown by the 16th of August. The 
present law does not protect them during the 
stated close season, for they are killed by most 
of the gunners without hesitation whenever seen. 
The wording of Section 87: 
“Wildfowl; Open Season: Ducks, geese, brant 
and swan may be taken from Sept. 16 to Jan. 
10, both inclusive, and possessed from Sept. 16 
to Jan. 15, both inclusive. They shall not be 
taken in the night after sunset until sunrise; 
they shall not be taken or possessed at any other 
t'me. There shall be no open season at any time 
for woodduck, etc., etc,” 
and the similar wording of Sec'ion 170 should 
be changed to read as follows: 
“Section 87. Wildfowl; Open Season: Ducks, 
geese, brant and. swan may be taken between sun¬ 
rise and sunset from Sept. 16 (Section 170, Oct. 
1) to Jan. 10, both inclusive, and possessed from 
Sept. 16 (Section 172, Oct. 1) to Jan. 15, both 
inclusive; and, with the exception of blue-winged 
teal, they shall not be taken or possessed at any 
other time. There shall be no open season for 
woodduck, etc., etc., etc.” 
The present law does away, in effect, with 
woodcock shooting on Long Island, for by Nov. 
1 our native bred birds, and most of the flight 
birds, have already gone South. In justice to 
the sportsman of Long Island, the provisions of 
Section 90 should be extended to cover Long 
Island, and the wording of Section 173: 
“Section 173. Woodcock, Grouse and Quail: 
The open season for woodcock, grouse and quail 
shall be from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, both inclusive. 
Such birds shall not be taken or possessed in 
their close season,” 
should be changed to read: 
“Section 173. Grouse and Quail: The open 
season for grouse and quail shall be from Nov. 
1 to Dec. 31, both inclusive. They shall not be 
taken or possessed at any other time.” 
It is comparatively seldom that any woodcoclc 
are killed after Nov. 30. 
The wording of Section 175: 
“Trout: The open season for trout shall be 
from the last Friday in March to Aug. 30, both 
inclusive. Trout taken lawfully may be sold 
or possessed in the city of New York in the 
open season established by this section. They 
shall not be taken or possessed at any other 
time,” 
should be changed to read: 
“from the last Saturday in March to Aug. 31,” 
in order to correct what was evidently a clerical 
error in the redrafting of the section, when the 
words “close season” were changed • to “open 
season.” 
These are a few of the changes which it seems 
to me are advisable, and will, I think, appeal to 
the majority of sportsmen throughout the State. 
Do not waste time in striving to pass local 
game laws. Let all our proposed changes of 
the present law be restricted, so far as possible, 
to those which, based on common sense, will 
recommend themselves to the large majority of 
sportsmen, who, while earnestly wishing to pre¬ 
serve our fish and game, still think that a rea¬ 
sonable amount of sport should be lawfully en¬ 
joyed. 
Colors for Hunters’ Clothing. 
New York City, Dec. 8.- —Editor Forest and 
Stream: In- view of the numerous so-called ac¬ 
cidental shootings of hunters because of their 
being mistaken for deer, the writer suggests that 
your readers adont the custom which he has 
followed for a number of years of wearing bright 
green as a costume. 
With a brigh f green sweater, green hat or 
cap, and if possib’e Green trousers, there is small 
chance of being mistaken for a deer or bear. 
Red, which is worn by many, is of course senn 
protection, but many inexperienced hunters have 
heard of deer in the red coat and miyht take a 
chance. Green has another merit in that it is a 
natural color in 'our Northern woods, and for 
that reason would not attract the attention of 
game. Of course when the light is very poor 
any color wi'l appear dark. 
In November, 1903, while still-hunting deer 
in the Adirondacks in a snow storm, I saw a 
large object moving slowly through some brush 
about one hundred yards ahead of me. In color 
it was like a deer, but large; in fact, I thought 
it was one of a few elk which had recently been 
turned out near there. 
While I stood watching it, it suddenly rose 
upright and turned toward me, and to my as¬ 
tonishment the supposed elk was a man with a 
blanket thrown over his head and secured at his 
throat, forming a hood and cloak. 
Upon my calling out to him he approached 
and I found he was a well known guide and 
pot-hunter whose camp was some miles from 
my own. He informed me that he knew it was 
risky to wear such a rig, but supposed no one 
else was out that day because of the storm. 
Another man, I was informed, was in the 
habit of wearing a ’coon skin coat while mov¬ 
ing slowly along the ridges watching for deer 
and never seemed to think how gamy he must 
have looked to an excited man with a rifle. 
In 1897, while hunting elk in Wyoming, we 
camped for some days near a fork of the Buf¬ 
falo River. On returning to camp one night 
about 9 o’clock after a hard but successful day, 
the cook informed us that another outfit had 
pitched camp near us that morning, consisting 
of an elderly Englishman and several guides. 
The following day I called upon him, and as 
he had as,yet killed no meat, presented him with 
a hind quarter of elk. He then informed me 
that two elk had forded the river near him the 
night before, but that although he could hear 
them splashing through the water, the moon 
was not bright enough for him to get a shot. 
If it had been, the writer might have escaped, 
for old Ed. had much the larger “head.” The 
next day we moved camp. 
Joseph E. Bulkley. 
Sportsmen’s Clubs. 
The Pelee Fishing Club, which is noted for 
its skill in catching fish in the parlors of its 
club house on Point Pelee Isle, Canada, and 
whose members are almost exclusively Cincin¬ 
nati business men, has been notified by Secretary 
Albert Hill, says the Cincinnati Tribune, that 
the annual dinner of the club will be given Jan. 
7, at 6:30 p. m. These annual events are gen¬ 
erally for the purpose of reviewing the history 
of the summer's fishing excursion to the club 
house and the happy days spent there by the 
club. It is productive of much good cheer and 
a great deal of fun and oratorical endeavor. 
The annual meeting of the Middlesex County 
Fish and Game Club was held at Hotel Chafee, 
Hartford, Conn., on the night of Dec. 14. The 
committee appointed to prepare a bill governing 
fishing in local waters reported little progress 
and not much interest among the members of 
the committee. President W. C. Fisher and Sec¬ 
retary A. V. McDowell declined re-elections. 
Samuel Russell, Jr., was chosen as president and 
George Burnham secretary. A. H. Bishel was 
substituted for John Hutchings as vice-president 
for Middletown and Dr. Parkinson for Joseph 
Deming as vice-president in Portland The 
others were re-elected There was an attend¬ 
ance of more than fifty and a general discussion 
of the game laws. 
