further provision of this proposed law should be that all fines, and the money derived from the sale of confiscated guns, should be paid to the Game Commission, one-half of the sum received being used in preparing and distributing warning notices printed in foreign languages and the balance being added to the fund used for the protection and propagation of game and birds. If such a law can be passed in the portions of the country that are overrun by the alien hunter, this menace to our small birds and game will be removed.
Small Shore Birds, Known as "Peeps."—In one of the sections of the Model Law, birds are divided into two classes, known as game-birds and non-game birds, and among the former are the "Limicolæ, commonly known as Shore Birds, Plovers, Surf Birds, Snipe, Woodcock, Sandpipers, Tatlers and Curlews." Most of these are true game-birds, desirable for food if shot legitimately during a short open season after the breeding period is past. All of these birds are rapidly disappearing, and some of them are getting dangerously near the line that demands special legislation to prevent their extinction. There are included in the Limicolæ several species that are game-birds in name only, their bodies being so small that they possess no value whatever for food purposes. These are the three species of Phalarope, the Least, Semi-palmated, Western and Spotted Sandpipers, the Killdeer, Piping, Snowy, and Mountain Plovers. All of these birds are long-winged and thus look, especially when flying, much larger than they really are. Their bodies without feathers are very small indeed, the largest of them weighing only a few ounces.
As food they are valueless, but as added attractions on the beaches, marshes and prairies they possess a great esthetic value; moreover, they are largely insect-feeders and thus have a distinctly economic value. There is absolutely no reason why they should not be removed from the game-bird class and be included among the birds for which there is no open season. Thousands and thousands of these beautiful and graceful creatures have been slaughtered solely for their plumage, their diminutive bodies not being considered of enough value to send to market. It is the duty of this Association to secure, as rapidly as possible, laws that will protect these minute specimens of bird life from the raids of plume-hunters and others who do not recognize esthetic or economic values, but only those values that will bring them a few cents or dollars.
The Bartramian Sandpiper.—This bird, which is more commonly known as the "Grass Plover" or "Upland Plover," formerly was found in great numbers in the dry upland grass fields over a large part of the country, but its numbers have been so greatly depleted that now it is comparatively rare and its exquisitely melodious whistle is not often heard. Its disappearance is a distinct loss to the agricultural interests of the country, as it consumed great numbers of grasshoppers and other insects. In order that the Bartra-
