14 THE AUDUBON BU Doli eatin 
Are Your Feathers Legal? 
THE STYLES IN LADIES’ HATS this season are including a considerable 
showing of bird plumage and it may be of interest to know what some 
of the federal laws have to say about its use. Feathers of domestic fowl 
are not affected by them and dealers generally have been careful about 
the character of the material they use, but it is not so generally under- 
stood that it is partly the responsibility of the buyer to know that they 
are not illegal. 
The following are abstracts of some of the more essential provisions 
of the statutes: 
FEDERAL MIGRATORY BIRD TREATY ACT 
(U. S. Cong, TITLE 16, SEcs. 708-711) 
“Sec. 703. That unless and except as permitted by regulations .. . 
it shall be unlawful to . . . possess, offer for sale, sell, offer to purchase, 
purchase ... or ship... any migratory bird, included in the terms of 
the Convention between the United States and Great Britain ... or any 
part, =. . of, any such bird? 
“Sec. 707... Any person ... who shall violate any of the provisions 
of ... this act ... shall be deemed guilty of misdemeanor and upon 
conviction thereof shall be fined not more than $500 or be imprisoned 
not more than six months or both.” 
FEDERAL LACY ACT 
(U. S. CobE, TITLE 18, SEc. 391-395. PENAL CODE OF THE U. S.) 
“Sec. 392. It shall be unlawful for any person ... to ship, transport, 
or carry, by any means whatever, from any State, . .. to, into, or 
through any other State ...any wild... bird, or the dead body or part 
thereof . . . imported ... contrary to any law of the United States, or 
. . purchased, sold, or possessed contrary to any such law, or... pur- 
chased, sold, or possessed contrary to the law of any State ... in which 
it was captured, killed, taken, purchased, sold, or possessed or in which it 
was delivered or knowingly received for shipment . .. or from which it 
was shipped ... ; and no person... shall knowingly purchase or receive 
any wild... bird, or the dead body or part thereof... shipped... in 
violation of this section; nor shall any person ... purchasing or receiving 
any wild ... bird, or the dead body or part thereof . .. imported from 
any foreign country, or shipped . .. in interstate commerce make any 
false record . .. in reference thereto.” 
“Sec. 393. All packages ...in which wild... birds, or the dead bodies 
or parts thereof ... are shipped ... or conveyed, by any means whatever, 
from one State ... to, into, or through another State ... shall be plainly 
and clearly marked or labeled on the outside thereof with ... an accurate 
statement showing by number and kind the contents thereof.” 
“Sec. 394. For each evasion or violation of, or failure to comply with, 
