Show FO OUR tn GAME SAN W HE federal federa 1 regulations for the protection of waterfowl ae and other migratory birds are being strictly enforced during tho the fall season in recent years a number of causes have contributed to diminish the numbers of the migratory game birds to such an extent that vigorous M measures e agures are necessary to prevent their total extermination tho the federal government has therefore supplement ed the various state laws with regulations which aro are given below Shore shorebirds birds in par particular ticul ar in including ing snipe woodcock curlew avocet plover yellowlegs yellow legs and sand sandpipers pipers or peeps have suffered from persecution As late as the seventies these birds were found in vast numbers not only on the sea coasts and ner near r the great lakes but even on the prairies since then however they have been slaughtered mercilessly one man in louisiana for example killed in the course of twenty years snipe as 9 n average of birds a winter on one december day in 1877 he shot the wilson snipe usually referred to simply as snipe oner offer perhaps the best sp sport of any of the smaller birds they are however decreasing so BO rapidly that snipe shooting like buffalo hunting Is likely to be a thing of the past if adequate prote protection clon Is not afforded the chief cause for tile the de da crease is undoubtedly winter shooting in the southern part of the united states where the snipe spend approximately six months the birds riest nest principally in canada though a few breed as far south as the latitude ot of now new york city in september and october they move southward toward the gulf of Al mexico exico offering excellent shooting to sportsmen in some of the territory through which they pass in the northern states nature provides in this way a natural limit to the open season which usually does not exceed six or seven weeks in the wintering grounds of the south 4 however there Is no such natural protection and the birds are continuously exposed to slaughter the extent of this slaughter in the past has already been indicated to put a stop to this in the future and to provide with adequate protection for the birds equal opportunities for sportsmen in all sections Is one object of the federal regulations spring shooting is absolutely prohibited because of the waste involved in killing birds on their way to the breeding grounds in canada where they are fully protected it if allowed to reach these grounds unmolested they will return six months later with their num i bers increased from 50 to per cent next to the snipe the woodcock Is fryy f y as joyt tho the most Import important of tho the shore birds with reasonable protection the woodcock will thrive even in a thickly seti tied country and as it does no harm to agriculture there Is no reason why it should not remain indefinitely available for sport it has however been seriously threatened by two factors winter storms and summer shooting the birds winter as tar far north as they can find unfrozen ground in consequence a severe cold wave la Is likely to reduce them to starvation and drive them into places where thea the can be slaughtered unmercifully in 1892 tor for instance a gale that swept the coast of south carolina drove them in thousands into the streets of one village where fully two thousand were killed in one day the shooting of mated birds in spring and tho the massacre of young ones in summer have contributed to bring the woodcock to the verge of extermination the tha eskimo curlew affords an excellent object lesson of the ease with which a species once abundant can be actually exterminated on the prairies west of the mississippi vast flocks docks on their way to labrador were formerly a common sight in the last dozen years scarcely a dozen individual birds have been seen packed ranks of the migrating mcgrat ing birds offered the easiest of markland mark sand they thery were literally mowed down in spring before they could reach their breeding grounds in addition they were slaughtered for or months in their winter home in the argentine and the final touch to their destruction was given when both the argen argentine tine and the western prairies were turned into vast wheat fields to save our other species from the fate ot of the eskimo curlew Is the ob eject of the federal migratory bird ard law since the birds are continually passing from state to state experience has shown that the laws of individual states are not sufficient clent protection and that this can only be afforded by a scheme comprehensive enough to include the whole range of the birds travels under the federal regulations the th j country Is divided into two zones zone no s wy 1 the he breeding zone includes tho the states of 0 egon idaho colorado nebraska iowa illinois indiana ohio pennsylvania and now jersey and all slates north of thorn zone no 2 the wintering zone includes all states south or of those named the regulations prescribe seasons as aa follows 0 i OPEN SEASONS FOR MIGRATORY BIRDS IN 1915 UNDER FEDERAL regulations ZONE NO 1 WATERFOWL sept idec I dec 16 1 exceptions massachusetts rhode island oct 1 jan jam I 1 new york pennsylvania oregon washington idaho ioco i oct ijan I 1 jan io 1 new jersey NOV 1 laeb feb I 1 minnesota Minne mota north Dal dakota cota south dakota wisconsin sept 7 deo 1 RAILS COOTS GALLIN gallinules ULES sept dec idec I deo I 1 exceptions massachusetts new hampshire rhode island islando 1 gauf i aug Auf 15 deo dea i 1 connecticut michigan new york long island Sept 18 26 dec I 1 minnesota north dakota south dakota wisconsin sept T idec dee I 1 oregon washington oct ijan I 1 jan 16 WOODCOCK oct lil dec I 1 exceptions connecticut massachusetts new jersey oct 10 deo 1 n rhode hode nov I 1 de deo 0 i 3 pennsylvania long island oct 15 doc dec 1 SHORE BIRDS BLACK BLACIC BREASTED AND gorden GOLDEN PLOVER JACKSNIPE yellowlegs 6 sept idec I dec 14 exceptions maine blaine massachusetts new Hamps lre rhode island lulng asland dAUK Islan aug 15 de dac I 1 new york tork except long island sept 16 dee dac I 1 minnesota north dakota south dakota wisconsin sept 7 dec I 1 oregon washington oct 1 adeo deo ta 1 insectivorous birds protected indefinitely ini tely dand band tailed pigeons cranes swans curlew smaller shore birds and wood ducks protected until september 1 1918 rails in vermont and woodcock tn in illinois also protected until 1918 shooting prohibited between sunset and sunrise or at any time on oil sections of upper mississippi and missouri rivers after january 1 1915 OPEN SEASONS FOR MIGRATORY BIRDS IN 1915 UNDER FEDERAL regulations ZONE NO 2 WATERFOWL oct ijan I 1 jan is 16 exceptions delaware maryland district of columbia virginia north carolina alabama louisiana Louisia nov I laeb fab I 1 florida georgia south carolina nov I 1 feb le missouri kansas oklahoma sept ia reb 1 arizona california Texas an oct 15 feb 1 RAILS COOTS GALLIN GALLINULE ULES 8 sept idec I dec deo I 1 exceptions tennessee utah oct idec I dec I 1 missouri dept 15 jan I 1 louisiana Louisia I 1 nov I laeb feb I 1 arizona california coots 1 oct IS 15 F feb eb 1 1 WOODCOCK nov ijan I 1 jan I 1 exceptions delaware Loula laca a nov 15 jan I 1 west virginia oct idec I dec 1 georgia dec 1 ijan jan I 1 SHORE alack BREASTED AND PLOVER JACK SNIPE sept idec I 1 dec 16 exceptions florida georgia south carolina Caroli nov 20 feb I 1 alabama louisiana mississippi texas nov I laeb feb I 1 tennessee oct idec I 1 dec 16 arizona california oct 15 yeb feb I 1 utah snipe oct idec I 1 dec 16 utah plover and yellowlegs I 1 sept 1 wh insectivorous birds protects protected ea indea ini finitely tely band tailed pigeons cranes ewans bwana curlew and smal smaller smallen lei shore birds protected until september 1 I 1918 wood ducks in kansas and west virginia rails and wood ducks in california nia and woodcock in missouri are also protected until september 1 1918 shooting prohibited between sunset and sunrise or at any time on the mississippi river between minneapolis and memphis after january 1 1915 |