came into being in every state in the
Union an extensive, complex system of prohibitive measures regarding
seasons for hunting, methods of killing, size of bag limit,
restrictions on sale, and limiting the kinds of game that might be
killed.

Many states also went into the business of rearing, in a condition of
semi-captivity. Pheasants, grouse, Hungarian Partridges, Quail, Ducks,
and some other species of birds highly esteemed as food, the object of
this being to restock covers that had been depleted of bird-life by
excessive shooting, or to supply new attraction for field-sports in
regions where other game was limited.

Theoretically the methods adopted by the several states were sure to
keep the numbers of game birds up to a point where a reasonable amount
of sport might be engaged in by those of our citizens who enjoy the
excitement and recreation of going afield with gun and dog. It could
easily be proven on paper that by judiciously regulating the shooting,
{176} and having this conform to the available game supply, every state
could at one and the same time preserve the different species, and
furnish satisfactory shooting for its sportsmen.

But in practice the theory failed to work as expected; the gunners were
on hand every fall in increasing numbers but the birds continued to
grow scarcer.

In the vernacular of the sportsman, birds that may legitimately be shot
are divided for convenience into three groups, viz., upland game birds,
water fowl, and shore birds. It is in reference to the fortunes of the
water fowl and shore birds that the greatest apprehension has been
felt. Approximately all of the species concerned are of migratory
habits. The open seasons when these may be hunted vary greatly in
different states and all attempts to get anything like uniform laws in
the various hunting territories have been attended with failure.

It became clear in time that the most important action that could be
taken to conserve these birds {177} was to prohibit shooting during the
spring migration, when the birds were on their way to their northern
breeding grounds. Some states adopted this measure and the results
bore out the predictions of those who urged the passage of such laws.
New York State, for example, tried the experiment, and within two years
thousands of Black Ducks were breeding where for a long time they had
not been known to occur in summer. So the feeling became general among
bird protectors t