The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1922-04-21
MIGRATORY BIRD TREATY ACT

The following circular, sent out by
the federal Department of Agricul-
ture, is published for the benefit of
those sports who are anxious to avoid
breaking the law:
Extract from charge delivered to
the grand jury in the District Court
of the United States for the Middle
District of Alabama at Opelika, April
4, 1921, by Hon Henry D. Clayton,
United States district judge for the
Northern and Middle Districts of Ala
bama.
Gentlemen of the Grand Jury: l
call your attention to our national mi
gratory bird law. l do this for the
purpose of asking you to examine into
any infractions of this law, and also
for the purpose of directing public at
tention, as far as can, to this i'm
portant subject, to the end that unin-
formed sportsmen may not violate the
law and to warn those who are not
sportsmen that they must not violate
the law. Besides, l ask that when you
return to your homes and mingle again
with your neighbors and their bright
boys and pretty girls you talk at ev-
cry convenient opportunity on this
subject. I want all of our boys and
girls to become more familiar with
our birds; their usefulness, their
beauty, and the music of these choris-
ters of our fields and woods. There
| will be less robbing of birds nests and
there will be less destruction of the
useful and beautiful birds.
1t is matter of history that the
people and the authorities of the Do
minion of Canada complained of the
wanton destruction of wild birds
Matched and raised in Canada and aft
erwards migrating into the United
States. This was especially true of
the ducks, geese and brant. So our
government negotiated treaty with
Great Britain and Canada for the pur-
pose of affording reasonable protec-
tion to migratory birds. Congress
has passed a penal statute to formu-
late and proclaim rules and regula-
tions in regard to wild birds of migra-
tory habits.
Recently in Alabama some of our
sportsmen have discussed in the pub
lie prints the question whether or not
the dove, the mourning dove-some-
times called the turtle dove-is a mi
gratory bird. The question is not de-
batable. Congress has declared the
dove to be migratory and within the
protection afforded by the national mi
gratory bird law. Of course, many
doves are Matched and raised here, but
that does not refute the legal ascer-
tainment that the dove is migratory
bird. AS a matter of law the dove is
migratory, for the act of Congress
and the rules and regulations made in
pursuance thereof declare it to be
such. That fact is just as well set
tied as the fact that Choctawhatchee
river at Bellwood in Geneva county
in this state is a navigable stream
for the act of Congress declares it to
be navigable, although in dry weather
an athletic young man can almost
jump across the stream at that point
When l was your representative ir
Congress it became my duty to have
a special act passed, authorizing the
railroad company to build a bridge
across that stream there, because
Congress had declared it to be a nav.
ligable stream, and no bridge could be
built across it without congressional
permission.
Provisions in the migratory bird Law
afford protection during certain sea
sons, which the law and regulations
mention specifically, against the kill
ing or capturing of the numerous fam
lilies of migratory birds, including
swans, ducks, geese, cranes, rails
plovers, snipe, curlew, woodcock AM
others, some of which, we, in this sec
, ton, never see and know but littl
about, as they never come inland bu
frequent the seashores and tida
} marshes. AS a general rule there i
: no open season for insectivorous birds
: and it is violation of law to kill o
icapture these at any season. Amoni
the birds thus protected I may men
4 tion the flicker. commonly called tn
| yellowhammer, woodpeckers, robin:
a bee martins and others, including bul
bats. Now let me say a good wor
for the bull bat. The ornithologist
: tell us that it is entirely insectivorou
and nv observations confirms me j