Page:Bird-lore Vol 06.djvu/176

 The Audubon Societies

United State or the bill submitted by the Audubon Society was the result of all oi the legislative experience since Audubon work began. Simply by the strenuous ellorts of good men and women throughout the state who im- mediately. alter the defeat at l902. started a campaign of education. When the citizens of a commonwealth learn the value of bird life. the demand lor its protection is a natural

How was this result obtained?

sequence. How powerful this force can be is illustrated by the following bit of what is now history. House Bill No. to; was a " Prepared Law for (It: Prvlu‘liou a} Na..- Game Bird}. .~In An fur lite I'ru/ern'an 0/ Bird! other than Game Bird; and their New, and 5.. Provide for the Punirllrnm/ of I’ialutinru Thereof. Drafted and pub- Iished by the Audubon Society of Lou- isiana," The bill was sent to a Committee and it was by them reported hat-It to the House. amended in Section 7. relating to the trailic in live birds. it was the last de- spairing effort of the cage-bird dealers to perpetuate their cruel and wastelul trade. The House did not approve of this amend- ment,signilying its disapproval by a vote of a: to 2. It immediately passed the bill as originally oilered. by the same vote. June 24 the Senate passed the hill without a dis- senting vote. and on June 29 the Governor olﬁcially notiﬁed the General Assembly that he had signed House Bill Now}. it takes but a lew words to tell this story to the bird- loving public. but it took months of time and much hard labor on the part of the President of the Audubon Sovier and his co-workets to accomplish the result, which could not have been secured without the great aid given by Mri Page Baker. managing editor ol the "Times-Democrat.‘ gave the most etﬁcient help through the edi- torial and news columns of ltis paper. The thanks at all bird-loving people are dtte tor aueh a high standard oieiyus. The pas» aageol the model law in Louisiana isthe cap-

who

stone in the arch of legal protection in the United States. as it enables the Committee to prevent the sale and trallir in all parts of the country of such species as Mockingbirds. Cardinals. Nonpareils ....d lntllgo-Buntings. through the enforcement of "I‘he Lacey

ul

Act.‘ /\ few weeks \illl‘l’ the Chairman Visilutl the store of a bird dealer in New York. and inunt- large rage saw not less than sixty Mockingbirds. stltlle ol tilt-m at. young that when the cage was approached the poor birds hopped to the wire netting ﬂuttering

their wings and opening tl mmttlls It) be fed. As nine-tenths (d all the native cage- birtls ollered for sale in the United State were trapped or stolen from nests in Lnu'

na. the ofﬁcers and tnelrilien of the several State Audubon Societies need have tlo ltesitaucy in bringing action against rage-bird dealers who persist in the trade; however, it will he prudent in all cases to submit the iat‘tstlu the Chairman lot advice as to how to proceed legally in the matter.

In lvlassaellusetts the elitirt to obtain pro- tection for the beneﬁcial Hawks and Owls was unsuccesslul. The chairman of the Fish and Game Committee advised the inlrutlttt'ur of the bill "that the Committee lavored it, but thought it had no chance with the He suggested. therefore. that it be laid aside for consideration at the next

Housed"

session. and in the meantime an educational campaign he conducted with the members and tilt rtlral distric.. The aessions ol the Legislature in Massachusetts being an- nual. another eliort for this very desirable legislation can be made early in 1905, and in the interim the advice of the Fish and Game Committee can be followed by the Audubon Society. local secretaries representing the Society should render thisspecial educational work very easy of accomplishment. Notwithstand- ing all eliorts to protect the Least ‘l'erns hrecding on Martha's Vineyard. the rolony seems destined to he gradually exterminated by egging. A visit in Katanta Beath by a resident of the Island, who

The large number at

a wartn friend of bird protection and who freely gives his services. rcvtaled the tart that some vandals had visited the breeding-ground and. as [at

as could be judged u.— the empty he. . had illegallytaken not less .l.a.. 300 eggs. The Committee at once published in the ~ \‘ine-

yard (iazctte‘ an otter of a reward of £25 for evidence that would convict the egg thieves.

The splendid legislative work of Mr.