Our Toads and Frogs

SELDOM do the scientists give wild creatures such short, simple, pleasing names as they have given to toads and frogs. The explanation is easy. They found that the ancient people who used the Latin language called the toad "bufo" and the frog "rana". Then they discovered that some frogs spend a large part of their lives in trees so they made a third group between the other two and gave them a Greek name "hyla", meaning wood. Thus we got the three easy words — "bufo" for the toad, "hyla" for the tree frog, and "ran a" for the water frog. And now in studying toads and frogs we study some Latin and Greek.

The frog has a smooth skin; the toad's is rough and warty. The frog's fingers and toes are more fully webbed than those of the toad. The frog has small teeth in the upper jaw, while the toad has none. The eggs of most of the frogs are laid in an irregular, jelly-like mass, while the toad's eggs are laid singly and form a rope or string.

But while they differ in the four ways just described, in four other ways they are alike. They both pass through the tadpole stage and have similar shapes as . adults. They both absorb water through the "" skin instead of drinking through the mouth. They shed the skin in a similar way. They both hibernate in winter.

Our American toads, or common toads, or land frogs, as they were once called, live on land except from early April to late June. As soon as the spring weather suits them, they come out of the winter quarters in which they have hibernated and seek the ponds. Like the redwing blackbirds, the males come first and alone do the singing of their ur-r-r-r-r. The mother toads follow in due time and lay their eggs in long, curling strings attached to weeds or other objects under water. The number in one laying is generally somewhere from four to twelve thousand. One count showed 8,840.

The time required for hatching varies with the temperature. If the eggs are kept warm indoors, tadpoles may emerge in four days and by the tenth day may be able to open their mouths and wiggle around in search of food. At first the young tadpoles find tiny green plants just to their taste. They may also feed on the very small animals that live in the ooze at the bottom of the pond or in the slime at the top, or cling to the water weeds. In not more than eight weeks the tadpoles reach their full tadpole growth and are about an inch long.

By this time, their gills are covered over with a thin film, and they are beginning to resemble toads. The hind legs appear first. Ten days or two weeks later the front ones appear. Then the tail grows shorter and shorter; that is, is absorbed from within, so that the tadpole lives partly on his own tail till it finally disappears.

While this process o f absorption has been going on, the tadpoles crave more and more air and try, at length, to get out of the water. If kept confined in deep water, they rush to exchange the bad air in the pond for the fresh air above and, if they cannot stay above water for a considerable part of the time, will finally drown.

When their tails are gone they leave the pond, sometimes in great numbers. But their skins are still very tender and they are unused to being out of the water. So they must travel only when the air is moist. If the weather be dry, they must therefore travel by night and remain secreted during the daytime. Until their skins become less sensitive they must avoid the drying sun by hiding under stones and chips, or leaves and grasses or board walks or porches. But Let rain fall before they are too widely scattered or many have been killed and out they come. Then it seems to some

The Growth of the Black Grapple in Walgren Lake

PERHAPS you have noticed in the Hunting Number of the Outdoor Nebraska an item regarding the sinking of wells in an attempt to save the fish in Walgren Lake this winter. In this same item the editor mentioned that Walgren Lake is "considered one of the best fishing lakes in the state." In the few following paragraphs, I wish to make a preliminary report on the growth of the Black Crappie in Walgren, that will in part substantiate yo the above statement.

To the fishermen of the state, the crappie represents one of our most important species of game fishes. In Nebraska there are two species, one commonly called the Black Crappie, or Calico Bass, and the other the White Crappie. Both are widely distributed in our waters, although the Black Crappie seems to be much more abundant. Because of its importance as a game fish, and in order that intelligent conservation measures may be followed, it is important that the sportsmen know something about its growth rate. If Mr. Sportsman stocks a lake with crappies tomorrow, how long must he wait before he can expect to catch legal sized fish? The collection of scales necessary for a partial determination of this information has been carried out by Mr. G. J. Zimmerman and the members of the Hay Springs Sportsmen's Club.

During the summer of 1936, Mr. Zimmerman and the club members furnished scales and length-weight data from 46 Black Crappies taken from Walgren. These data are of special interest because of the uniformity of the size of their catch. All of the scales sent in were taken from fish ranging between the limits of 7 and 10 inches, and their age variation was no greater; all fish being between the ages of 7 and 10 years.

According to Mr. Leon J. Cunningham of Chadron, Walgren Lake was stocked in the fall of 1927 with some twenty thousand six-inch crappies. None were planted in '28, '29, or '30, but since that time a few small fish have been planted each year. It seems probable that most of the fish taken by the Sportsmen's Club members are of the spawn of these six-inch fish during the summer of 1928, and those following.

Various scientific workers interested in fish growth have found that the scales of a fish are formed early in the first summer of life. The number of scales laid down originally when the fish is very small remain practically constant throughout that fish's life, and as the fish grows, so the scales grow in the same proportion, in order to cover the body. Fish growth is not uniform throughout the seasons, as in many animals, but depends partly upon the amount of available food, and partly upon their activity. As in most cold-blooded animals, fish become very sluggish and feed but little during the cold seasons and their growth is similarly retarded. So during the summer the fish grows rapidly, and the scales grow rapidly to keep the fish covered. In the winter growth is retarded in both body and scales. This retardation of growth during the winter leaves a definite mark on the scale which is termed a winter ring, representing the very small amount of winter growth. Thus on the surface of a fish's scales are recorded the growth of the seasons. If the fish makes a remarkable growth in length during the second summer the record of that remarkable growth will be laid down on the scale between the first winter ring and the second; so on throughout its life, so that there is always available to the fish culturist a permanent record of previous years of growth. Some scales even show spawning rings, laid down due to a slowing of the growth rate during the spawning period. If the scale presents a picture of the growth of the fish from which it is taken, one can see that it is readily possible to figure the actual length of a fish at the end of the growth period of any summer.

Wild Game Belongs to the People

DOWN through the centuries from early Roman days, courts and other law tribunals of many lands have been called upon to answer the questions: "What is wild game?" "Who owns it?"

Innumerable legal decisions on the subject have been rendered and duly recorded.

While different nations and political subdivisions have on their statute books varied classifications of wild game, it has been universally determined by law that:

1. Animals, fowls, and birds ferae naturae, or wild by nature, fit and commonly hunted for use as food, are wild game, and that:

2. They are owned by the state in its sovereign capacity in "trust" for the benefit of the people, and that:

3. They are not subject to private dominion to any greater extent than the people, through the legislature, may see fit to make.

The law of ownership and regulation of wild life as it existed in the Roman law and the civil and common law of England was dealt with by Mr. Justice White, of the United States Supreme Court, in the case of Geer v. Connecticut. Said Justice White:

"From the earliest traditions the right to reduce animals ferae naturae to possession has been subject to the control of the law-giving power.

"The writer of a learned article in the Repertoire of the Journal du Palais mentions the fact that the law of Athens forbade the killing of game, and Merlin says that 'Solon, seeing that the Athenians gave themselves up to the chase, to the neglect of the mechanical arts, forbade the killing of game.'

"Among other subdivisions, things were classified by the Roman law into public and sommon. The latter embraced animals ferae naturae, which, having no owner, were considered as belonging in common to all the citizens of the state.

"In tracing the origin of the classification of animals ferae naturae, as things common, Pothier says: 'The human race having multiplied, men partitioned among themselves the earth and the greater part of those things which were on the surface. That which fell to each one among them commenced to belong to him in private ownership, and this process is the origin of the right of property.

" 'Some things, however, did not enter into this division, and remains there to this day in the condition of the ancient and negative community. These things are those which the juri-consults called res communes. Marcien refers to several kinds—the air, the water which runs in the rivers, the sea and its shores. * * * As regards wild animals, ferae naturae, they have remained in the ancient state of negative community.'"

Justice White quotes Blackstone to the effect that "by the law of nature every man from the prince to the peasant has an equal right of pursuing and taking to his own use all such creatures as are ferae naturae, and, therefore, the property of nobody, but liable to seizure by the first occupant, and so it was held by the imperial law even so late as Justinian's time.

"But it follows from the very end and constitution of society that this natural right as well as many others belonging to a man as an individual may be restrained by positive law enacted for reasons of state or for the supposed benefits of the community."

Continuing, Justice White says:

"The practice of the government of England from the earliest time to the present has put into execution the authority to control and regulate the taking of game."

Undoubtedly this attribute of government to control the taking of animals ferae naturae, which was thus recognized and enforced by the common law of England, was vested in the colonial governments, where not denied by their charters or in conflict with grants of the royal prerogatives, Justice White held.

"It is also certain," his decision reads, "that the power which the colonies thus possessed passed to the states with the separation from the mother country, and remains in them today."

After the Norman Conquest and before the Magna Charta of King John it seems that the ownership of wild game in England was vested in the English king, who claimed such ownership in his individual capacity and as a personal prerogative.

When the barons at Runnymede exacted from King John the Magna Charta in 1215 a change occurred in the treatment of the ownership of animals ferae naturae. Since then, it has become established that the king owns all wild game, not reduced to possession, in his sovereign capacity, as distinguished from his individual capacity.

It is said that he holds such property as the representative of, and in "sacred trust" for, the people. This principle forms a part of the common or unwritten law and does not rest upon statutory enactment.

The colonists who settled in America carried with them the common law of England which governed their dealings. After the American Revolution the question arose as to whether the newly independent colonies had a common law.

It was judicially decided that the common law of England, plus all English statutes prior to the Revolution so far as applicable to our conditions, constituted the common law of the various states. All statutory enactments declaring that wild game is the property of the state are merely declaratory of the common law upon which the title of the state rests.

Since the state owns the game in its wild state in its sovereign capacity, it follows that an individual cannot obtain an absolute property right in such game except upon such conditions, restrictions, and limitations as may be permitted by the state.

The individual may acquire an absolute property right in game only as a matter of privilege; not as a matter of right. The conditions under which an individual may acquire such rights are within the province of the legislatures of the various states.

While the state has an ownership of the wild game within its borders, the individual owner of real estate has an interest in the game on his premises.

This interest is not an absolute right, but is in the nature of a qualified property interest in such game.

No other person has a right to go upon his premises, without permission, to take the game. Subject to the regulations imposed by the state, the owner of the land has the right to control the game on his lands.

Apart from game laws questions of law frequently arise on the question as to which one of two individuals owns particular game. Such a situation would arise during an "open season" where two hunters pursue the same game and it is captured by one of the hunters.

The universal law in this case is that the one who first subjects it to his control is deemed to have obtained a property right in the game.

Here are excerpts from a few of the innumerable court decisions having to do with interpretations of game laws which have been rendered in this country:

"It is elementary that no one has any property in wild game until he has reduced it into his actual, manual possession; and that mere ownership of the land whereon the game chances to be does not constitute such reduction to possession."—Smith v. Odell, 194 App. Div. (N. Y.) 763, 786.

"Pursuit alone or pursuit accompanied

Conservation of Fish

THE Bureau of Fisheries is one of the government agencies interested in conserving our national resources, and is chiefly concerned with the perpetuation of the Nation's fisheries.

Pure water is essential to the life of fish, oysters, and crabs. I come from a section of the country where water means much to the existence of the people, and the past season again has brought home to us all in no uncertain terms the need for conservation and flood and erosion control. Clean water is not only required for the preservation of our fish, but for the salvation of ourselves. With the establishment of industrial plants, many of our streams and rivers have become polluted and with this condition, injurious to health in many instances, has come the complete extermination of fish life in waters where they were formerly taken in large quantities for food. In places where waste products have not been utilized, but permitted to flow uncontrolled into the nearby waters, the streams have been converted into open sewers.

Closely connected with the conservation of water is the preservation of our forests and soil. Let us consider the latter for a few moments, for I cannot cover all of the various branches of conservation in this brief paper.

In former days when times were not so good, our citizens pulled up stakes and pushed further westward to new and fertile lands and new frontiers. But today we have no promised lands to push forward to, and our families are compelled to remain on lands which have become inferior in many instances through soil erosion—soil so washed by rains, dried by hot suns, and blown by strong winds— that a decent living cannot be obtained from the remnants which the forces of nature have spared.

Fish cannot thrive on deserts; so control of soil erosion is vital to the conservation of our fish. You may be interested to know in connection with soil erosion that fish are injured by it even though there is water. Fish must have oxygen to live, just as we people do. When fields are washed into streams by erosion, the soil suspended in the water is known as silt; silt takes the oxygen out of the water and the fish die from suffocation; silt through erosion is a form of water pollution fatal to fish life.

Conservation in connection with fish life today means the protection of fishery resources from various forms of destruction; it means the limitation of the catch if necessary to prevent encroachment upon our capital stock; with the teeming years of national expansion and in spite of our efforts at protection, depletion of our formerly abundant fish life has occurred. Conservation also means the restoration of fish habitats by restoring the streams to their natural conditions where they have been destroyed by floods. In fact, the people are becoming conservation-minded; we as a people recognize it is essential to conserve our farms and our homes for our people first; conserving our fish and game and fur bearers and purifying our waters is just one of the things we are doing to better living conditions so that the people of the United States can be healthier and happier. We must build wisely for the future.

I had the honor to present a year or so ago to the Special Committee on the Conservation of Wild Life of the House of Representatives, a bare outline of the conservation program of the Bureau of Fisheries. Briefly, it was this: The protection of existing fish supplies; the development of fishery resources in our interior waters; the reclamation of fishing waters ruined by pollution or other causes; management of the commercial fisheries partly through national exploitation and the supply, stabilization of the yield, and a wise use of all fishery products; improved conditions for the anglers, now recognized as an important army of some 9,000,000 citizens who fish for sport, exercise, recreation, and food.

There is also a most important and indispensable place in our program for continued scientific research. It is true that there has been much investigation of fish and fish problems, but so long as fisheries exist, new problems will be presented that can be solved only by patient labor in the vineyard of science. This, however, does not preclude the sensible application of that knowledge already acquired without further delay. Studies in fish diseases, stream improvement, fluctuations in abundance of supply, and other similar activities of the Bureau of Fsheries must go on if we are going to conserve our fish for the benefit of all our citizens.

A word about one other branch of the work of the Bureau in conserving and increasing our fish supply, namely, our fish hatcheries which are, in effect, our fish factories. The record of the Bureau in fish culture is one to be proud of; it has done as much if not more to make two fish grow in our waters where only one grew before than any one branch of conservation work. Raising trout or bass or other fish is now standardized on a routine basis.

I am happy to say our fish factories, or hatcheries, from a physical standpoint, are in better condition today than for a number of years. This has been made possible through grants of PWA funds, the assignment of CWA labor, and the services of the boys in the CCC camps. Our repairs, reconditioning, reconstruction, and enlargements have been thus well taken care of. Our output from our hatcheries this year reached the stupendous

EDITORIAL

In an address before the Association of School Boards and Executives at Lincoln, recently, several speakers charged that "certain politicians" are raiding school funds and that the outstanding instance of this is a so-called diversion of a special tax derived from hunting and fishing permits.

It is not our desire to call any one names nor to doubt the sincerity of his motives. We only wish to discuss this problem in a fair and sane manner. There are many schoolmen and women in Nebraska who are greatly interested in the work the Game and Parks Commission is doing, and would deplore seeing the department impaired.

It is true that a section of the Nebraska constitution says that fines, penalties, and license moneys arising under the general laws of the state shall belong to the counties where paid and then be appropriated to the use and support of the schools.

Now that is being done today. All fines, penalties, and license fees arising under our general laws go to the schools. Over ten thousand dollars in such fees were paid over last year by this department alone.

What the officers of the Association of School Executives have in mind, and want to get, is a special tax levied against those who hunt, fish, and trap. This tax is provided by a special law enacted by the legislature and has nothing whatever to do with what the constitutional convention had in mind—the disposition of certain funds arising through the application and enforcement of our general laws. We have discussed this matter with several members of the 1920 convention and they tell us that is exactly what they had in mind—the disposition of fees arising from the application of general laws and not from any special tax the legislature might want to levy from time to time.

Even if we grant that hunting and fishing permits come under the above, and that these speakers are right, what would happen if these receipts are put into the school fund?

Just exactly what happened some years ago. There would be little or no receipts coming in and, furthermore, there would be little or nothing left of our outdoors. If Mr. Carr or Mr. McDuffee think that our citizens are going to pay a special tax when there are no birds, no fish, no public recreational areas, no outdoor resources, then they are grievously mistaken. If they have their way, they would tear down the work and plans of our Commission. But the schools in turn would soon get nothing and our citizens get nothing in the way of outdoor recreation.

We do not believe our constitutional convention ever intended to make those who love our outdoors and wildlife to support the schools in a greater degree than others. To charge a man a dollar to go fishing and then take his dollar and put it in the school fund and provide no fish is so grossly unfair that no body of men would deliberately do such a thing. It would be just as sensible to charge each schoolmaster a dollar a head to put up some monuments commemorating Indian battles. Practically all progressive states in the Union recognize the principle that fishing and hunting receipts should go to the cause of conservation and protection of such outdoor resources.

Our schools should be given our support, but each and every citizen should pay his share. We feel that special taxes like that for fishing, driving a car on the highways, operating a car, and so forth, should better be used for the specific purpose for which it is collected. Otherwise, why collect it? Right now it seems to us that it would be far better to use the drivers' license receipts to promote safety on the highways—

The Outlook for 1937

GOALS TO ACHIEVE

1. Rehabilitation of lakes and ponds damaged by the drought.

2. State-wide program of cover for game birds.

3. A breeding farm for game birds.

4. Replanting of trees destroyed by the drought.

5. More use of Nebraska State Parks.

6. Greater education in conservation.

7. Intensive warfare against game law violators.

8. Greater cooperation among fanners and sportsmen.

9. Greater conservation of natural resources.

10. Less drainage and more impotinding of tvater.

WHAT will the coming year bring us in the way of hunting, fishing, and other outdoor recreation?

That is a question difficult to answer, because it depends greatly on conditions completely beyond human control. It will all depend on the amount of rainfall during the year.

Nebraska has gone through two serious droughts within three years, and the state has not had adequate or normal rainfall over the last five years. If this drought cycle has now ended, and we again get the necessary rain, then we can go forward and rapidly rebuild that which has been damaged or destroyed.

At any rate our face is turned forward, and we are marching on into the future with optimism and hope. We believe in Nebraska and will continue to do so.

The first goal of the Nebraska Game Commission is to rehabilitate the lakes and ponds of the state, many of which are completely dry. Just as soon as these fill with water again they will be restocked with fish. A larger number of game fish than usual are being held in the hatcheries for this very purpose—to restock the ponds and lakes that are now without fish.

In some measure, the drying up of some lakes may, in the long run, be of some benefit. In the past some of the larger lakes have been filled with non-game fish or small perch. With these lakes dry for a year, the Commission can restock with more desirable species, such as bass, crappie, bluegills and rock bass, and see that only certain species are placed in such waters. We can correct some mistakes that all of us have made in the past.

Another goal that the Commission would like to work toward during the coming year is a state-wide movement for more cover for game birds. It is believed by most persons interested in game restoration that "cover" is the key to the problem, and that such things as artificial stocking, winter feeding, and closed seasons are at the best only temporary measures. The sportsman who wants to hunt must join hands with the farmer in providing more cover for the birds. This may be done by "adopting a farm," organizing a district, or setting aside areas throughout the state, but the fact remains that if we are to have more game birds we must provide more cover.

A third objective that is important is the conservation of our natural resources —especially those that effect our moisture, like lakes, swamps, marshes, and low areas where water is held back and not allowed to run off. If the people of Nebraska have become conscious of one thing during the recent droughts, that is the value of water. Many of us have come to the conclusion that we have made some very bad mistakes in the past and that we certainly must take steps to correct them. Indiscriminate drainage has probably been the greatest error of all. We have listened to the drainage promoter too long—now is the time to mend our ways and listen to the water conservator.

It is the hope of the Commission to see many trees planted during the coming year to replace the thousands that have been cut for fuel or that have died for lack of water. It is their hope to see more education in conservation matters, better enforcement of game laws, greater cooperation between the farmer and sportsman, and a wider and more general use of our recreational facilities.

PLANTS FOR WILDLIFE

A circular recently issued by the U. S. Department of Agriculture helps take the guesswork out of wildlife management. It lists the plants that grow wild or have been "naturalized" through cultivation and are widely used by wildlife.

Each of the 193 fruit or seed-producing plants recommended in the circular is an important source of food for at least ten kinds of wild birds or animals. This was determined through research into the food habits of wildlife, field observations, and from scientific records. All the plants listed are grouped according to their value in producing cover, browse, herbage, mast, fruits or seeds for wildlife, and their importance in soil-erosion control. The circular (No. 412), entitled "Groups of Plants Valuable for Wildlife Utilization and Erosion Control," was prepared by W. L. McAtee, technical adviser and research specialist of the U. S. Biological Survey.

Almost 150 of the plant groups listed as useful to wildlife are also recommended for soil-erosion control because they have far-reaching root systems or the habit of making dense growth, or the capacity to grow on lands denuded of topsoil. Tap-rooted pines and some other relatively weak-rooted plants are included because of their ability to take hold and thrive on barren ground.

Commonly planted grasses and legumes, says the circular, are used to check erosion on lands still tillable. On lands where erosion has removed practically all of the topsoil, plantings of trees, shrubs and vines are likely to be required. These plants, the circular points out, may well be encouraged on any* spot of rough or infertile land or on uncultivated parts of the farm "for the sake of their value to wildlife, for improving the appearance of landscapes, and for yielding wood and other products."

Practically all plants, says the circular, are of some use in erosion control and many are used to some degree by wildlife. Abandoned fields in some sections, for example, first grow up in broomsedge and brambles, followed the second year by sassafras and sumac bushes, and yellow pine. Broomsedge provides good cover, and brambles furnish both food and cover for cottontail rabbits, quail and other game species. Sassafras and sumac fruits are eaten by many birds and animals. Yellow pine furnishes cover and in seed years it produces an abundance of food for many species of wildlife.

Copies of Circular No. 412, "Groups of Plants Valuable for Wildlife Utilization and Erosion Control," may be obtained at 5 cents each from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C.

COMMISSION FIELD ACTIVITIES

In spite one of the worst droughts in recent years, the Nebraska Game, Forestation and Parks Commission distributed a considerable number of fish during 1936, as well as held over a large number to stock in the spring of 1937. It is hoped that rainfall will fill many lakes and ponds the coming spring.

The total fish stocked are as follows:

Through the kindness of Mr. E. E. Augustine of Grand Island, Stolley State Park now boasts of a deer. The animal was given to the park recently by Mr. Augustine and he has been placed in a pen prepared by Mr. Blaise, the superintendent. Now Mr. Blaise is looking for a mate for the animal.

The State Game Commission's seining crew have been operating this winter at Moon and Minatare Lakes, where they have removed quite a large number of carp.

The carp found in Moon Lake were very small and most of them unsalable. These were processed and used for fish food. Part of them were canned and part made into fish meal—a new plan the Nebraska Game Commission has worked out. This meal is highly concentrated and, where water and cereal is added, costs about 2 cents a pound. This feed is used for trout and is much cheaper than other foods.

The carp found in Minatare were in better condition and many of them are being sold at the lake. Reports indicate that there are thousands of perch in Lake Minatare—many of which weigh a pound or better. Here is a tip for the western fishermen that ought to be kept in mind for the 1937 fishing season.

Even game officials sometimes differ in their opinions regarding hunting and fishing and such matters. Every one knows that hunters and anglers all have many conflicting ideas, but here is a case where the hunter and the angler can get back at the game officials.

In this case the Game Commissioner of South Dakota states that he does not believe it necessary to feed pheasants during the winter months. Here is what Mr. Johnson says:

"Those who might underestimate the regard in which the rank and file of South Dakota citizens hold our state's game bird resources would be pleasantly surprised if they could read the correspondence which comes to the office of the Game Department at Pierre during the fall months. Letters are received not only from those who are conservationists because of their love for hunting, but from those in all walks of life, many of whom never fire a shotgun—some because they enjoy seeing birdlife along the highways, others base their arguments on the value of birdlife in insect control.

"To those charged with the administration of the state's wildlife and recreational resources, this public interest is gratifying and indicates a decided reversal of sentiment in the past two decades.

"The pheasant is the bird which apparently receives greatest consideration, if communications are an indication. Many letters urge winter feeding, others more restrictive hunting regulations. Some advocate the creation of more game refuges. Now and then an individual complains of game law violation such as out-of-season shooting, excess bag limits, trespassing, and acts of vandalism on the part of unscrupulous hunters. Some urge the employment of a larger law enforcement force, and not a few volunteer their services in cooperating with the local warden.

"It would be unreasonable to expect the Game and Fish Commission, a board made up of six representative farmers and business and professional men from different sections of South Dakota, to formulate and prescribe feathered game hunting regulations that would be unanimously accepted as perfect. However, the records rather definitely indicate that no serious mistakes have been made by the Game Commission in its annual pheasant hunting regulations during the past fifteen years, inasmuch as pheasants have increased most encouragingly in practically every section of the state; whereas, migratory waterfowl (the hunting of which the Commission has had no authority to regulate until the past two years) have diminished during this same fifteen-year period to the point of near extinction.

"To the person whose observations are confined to a limited area, annual pheasant hunting regulations in some cases seem too generous and in other cases unnecessarily restrictive; but inasmuch as the Commission's regulations must of necessity be general, understandable, and enforceable, it is impossible to regulate perfectly for each individual area. Pheasants, though more 'homing' in their instincts than are most other varieties of upland game birds, will abandon an area for one providing food and cover in greater abundance. This, in some cases, means that part, or now and then an entire county, might be more or less depopulated, while the adjoining county would, to all appearances, be overstocked. The local resident feels that the Game Commission should take this into account and either shorten the season or reduce the bag limit in the less densely populated area.

"Much as the Game Commission would like to carry out this plan, it will be readily understood that even though the Commission were advised of these conditions previously, regulations conforming precisely to such conditions would be so voluminous as to be confusing to the hunter and unenforceable. The Commission believes that this variation in area bird population is self-adjusting, inasmuch as the more intensive hunting will be done in heavily populated districts. In this day of good roads and modern transportation facilities, an individual is not likely to spend much time in a locality harboring but few birds. He prefers rather to drive a few extra miles to more attractive cover.

"In estimating the pheasant population of South Dakota, many compare present conditions with those existing in six or seven James River Valley counties during the years 1926, 1927, and 1928. In making such comparisons, all conditions must be borne in mind. During the period 1926 to 1928, near normal farming conditions prevailed in South Dakota. Perhaps 40 per cent of the cultivated farm area was cropped with corn. A portion of this corn was cut, either for silage or fodder, leaving about 30 per cent of the farming area to standing corn. In periods of normal rainfall, fall plowing of small grain stubble land was the general practice, thus it will be seen that less than half of the farm land of South Dakota afforded pheasant cover during the fall hunting season. During the past few years, drought has made fall plowing impossible and the result is that 100 per cent of the cultivated land in most sections of South Dakota has a growth of cover that affords the pheasant ideal protection. Not only does this provide shelter for the birds during the hunting season, but since this ground cover consists primarily of weeds, such as Russian thistles, sunflowers, wild buckwheat, pigeon grass, etc., food, in spite of crop failures, is more plentiful than is apparent to the casual observer.

"The fact is not generally known that many noxious weeds, of wThich the Russian thistle predominates during drought periods, produce an abundance of seeds high in food value to all forms of birdlife; hence many well meaning citizens stress the importance of the winter feeding of birds on the theory that crop failures mean winter feed scarcity.

"Representatives of the Game Department investigate bird conditions throughout the entire year and almost without exception pheasants carry the greatest amount of surplus fat during the months of January and February. During 1934-35 this condition was found to be true in areas where an examination of the crop contents of birds revealed that Russian thistle seeds were the sole source of food supply.

"The artificial feeding of birds during the winter months is advocated by many individuals, groups, and organizations, and it is difficult for them to understand why the South Dakota Game and Fish Commission so consistently disregards urgent requests for the sponsoring of a state-wide feeding campaign. An individual can attract pheasants, prairie chickens, western sharp-tailed grouse, and Hungarian partridges, as well as other species of winter resident birds, to his dooryard by daily scattering grain, and the fact that this daily feeding attracts birds into his yard is to him rather conclusive evidence that such feeding is necessary in order that the birds may survive. No one contends that birdlife will not frequent the 'bountifully spread board,' nor can anyone successfully contend that birds thus fed could not shift for themselves if compelled to. To turn a deaf ear to an appeal for bird feeding seems heartless, but 'Nature in the raw is seldom mild' and one of her first laws is 'the survival of the fittest.' South Dakota cannot afford to harbor 'milk-sop' game birds that must be 'tailed up' and nurtured during our normal winter season. The winters of South Dakota are mild in comparison with those of the plains of Siberia, Mongolia or Northern China, the native habitat of the Chinese ring-necked pheasant, and the fact that it has survived throughout the ages in the 'Far East,' should be comforting to those who are concerned about its welfare in our state. Nor is it necessary for us to go abroad to substantiate the theory that the pheasant is partial to rigorous northern climes. Consistent efforts to introduce the bird into southern sections of our Nation have met with failure, whereas plantings in the northern states have been successful. It is the contention of the observer that the superiority of the Northwest Plains States' pheasant is due in a large measure to the severity of winters which only the fittest can survive.

"To those who advocate a general winter feeding campaign, we wish to call attention to what this would involve. Records reveal that there are 75,000 individual farmers in South Dakota, and if feeding is necessary on one farm, it is necessary on all of them, in that it would be extremely difficult to explain to fFarmer Jones' why feeding was more important on 'Smith's' farm in an adjoining township than on his. If each one of these farmers were to be given 103 pounds of shelled corn, a quantity which everyone will readily agree would be wholly inadequate to feed any appreciable number of birds, if feeding were actually necessary, it would involve an outlay of funds (with corn at its present price) of more than $150,000.00, or the equivalent of the total annual receipts of the Department.

"Sub-zero blizzards of extended duration take considerable toll of pheasants. Investigations indicate that birds thus lost are those which are overtaken by storms while feeding away from their sheltered roosting cover. At times such losses are rather severe, but unfortunately they cannot be averted by resorting to artificial feeding. More extensive development of tree plots and shelter belts is the most effective means of reducing such winter losses.

"In conclusion, we wish to state that the Game and Fish Commission, if extermination of pheasants is threatened, may amend its previously prescribed hunting regulations, but those familiar with the habits of the pheasants and their uncanny ability to hide within areas open to hunting, as well as their resourcefulness in seeking the harbor of numerous state and federal game refuges and posted lands, will agree that overshooting of pheasants is virtually impossible under reasonable season and bag limit restrictions, and so far as investigations conducted thus far in South Dakota, artificial winter feeding is not sufficiently important to justify the expense, even though such campaign could be conducted efficiently. The Game Commission does not wish to discourage the individual who, through humanitarian impulse, is prompted to scatter feed for the benefit of the birds, but it is believed that funds thus expended could be more wisely used in the furtherance of the cause of conservation."

Look, listen and, if necessary, make sure that a train is not coming. Stop before crossing a railroad crossing.

Nebraska Wildlife Federation Program

Dr. M. C. Pedersen, Chairman of the Nebraska Wildlife Federation, has announced that organization's program for the coming year. It is as follows:

"First, the Nebraska Wildlife Federation requests that the 10 cents taken from the sportsman's dollar that is now spent to support the seven state parks in Nebraska, be eliminated, and the $20,000.00 needed annually be appropriated from the general tax fund for use in maintaining state parks.

"Our state parks are a wonderful asset to Nebraska, but they are for the benefit of all the people and should not be supported by sportsmen's money. Sportsmen also pay taxes into the general fund the same as any property owner. These parks are Arbor Lodge, Ponca, Niobrara, Victoria Springs, Stolley, and Chadron State Park. We are perfectly willing that our money be spent to support recreational lakes and parks, of which the state owns twenty-three, besides the seven parks mentioned.

"The money that is now spent for the maintenance of seven state parks could be available for other activities of the State Game Commission that are in need of further expansion. We almost expect the Game Commission to do the impossible with the money available.

"Second, the sportsmen of Nebraska are insisting on a State Game Farm where experimental work of raising game birds can be completed as to Nebraska terrain and food habits. Some plan of furnishing several pairs of pheasants to farmers as a starting nucleus, in order that a cooperative plan between sportsmen and farmers can be completed, in order that the farmer may be compensated for feeding and allowing hunters on his farm.

"It has been suggested the Genoa property will be a prison farm, and as part of the activity the prison manpower could be furnished under the supervision of the Game Commission, as a very worth-while, non-competitive industry for prison labor.

"Third, legislation is needed to correct our drainage laws and to correct many evils of prior rights as they exist at present. For instance, the Federal government has spent thousands of dollars on Garden, Crescent and Island Lakes in central Nebraska as a bird sanctuary, but irrigation rights are lowering the water level so that the lakes will soon cease to exist and this will destroy aquatic life as well as sanctuary needs.

"Another instance is the water right of the Southern Nebraska Power Company at Superior. When their millrace above the dam fills with sediment, the sluice gates are opened, the swirling waters cause a muddy slime that clogs the gills of fish that swim up to meet the rise in water, and are killed by the thousands. Merely ask Mr. Frank O'Connell the truth of this statement. This has happened about twice a year for the past twenty years. Yes, our Game Commission and a few dozen people have protested, but the power company has water rights and will do nothing about the matter which, according to the Game Commission engineers, can be corrected.

"Fourth, we feel a law should be passed making it a misdemeanor to have a fish trap or net in possession in Nebraska. Under the present law, the trap must have a fish in it and the violator must be caught operating the trap. A very weak law, as it is next to impossible to apprehend culprits, and still the Game Commission must place fish in our streams and lakes against those heavy odds. The Missouri River vicinity should be the only accepted area of nets, and I am positive nets should not be placed at the mouth of tributary streams of the Missouri River, as they now are by commercial fishermen, if we are to continue to have catfish in rivers of Nebraska.

"Fifth, the Federal law should be corrected so it will not be necessary to have a grand jury indictment before the Federal government can prosecute violators of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Shooting of ducks in the spring should be vigorously prosecuted by State and Federal governments, but grand juries are slow and unwieldy. The Federal authorities practically never prosecute in Nebraska for this offense.

"Sixth, the Wildlife Federation feels a bounty should be placed on crows. The crow, no doubt, has a place in our scheme of things, but their numbers are so great in Nebraska that they are a distinct detriment to other forms of wild bird life. Crows destroy nests of other birds and eat young birds, as well as destroy field crops.

"Seventh, the Nebraska Wildlife Federation will be very much opposed to the plan of the state superintendent of education in asking the Supreme Court to declare the Nebraska law as now written, which states all permit money shall go to the school fund.

"The sportsmen have no quarrel with school authorities, and wish to do our part to perpetuate our school system, but we believe that we already pay taxes to support schools, and our hunting and fishing permit money is a separate expenditure on our part. We want our hunting and fishing funds for that purpose, and that purpose alone."

NEW SAFETY MAGAZINE

Every forward-looking citizen is today deeply interested in greater safety. Too many accidents, especially on our highways, are taking place.

Recently a Nebraska State Safety Council was organized. Following this a new magazine called "Nebraska Progress and Safety Magazine" has made its appearance. It is edited by Mr. D. M. Fowler, and the manager is Mr. O. E. Baer.

This magazine should be helpful in reporting the progress of our state and in lessening the number of accidents. Prevention of accidents is primarily a matter of education and all persons should join in learning how to prevent the same.

PULL OVER .TO RIGHT ON BEING PASSED

The driver of an overtaken vehicle shall give way to the right in favor of the overtaking vehicle on audible signal and shall not increase the speed of his vehicle until completely passed by the overtaking vehicle.—State Law.

DON'T TRY TO PASS OTHER CARS ON HILLS

No vehicle shall, in overtaking and passing another vehicle, be driven to the left side of the roadway when approaching the crest of a grade or upon a curve in the highway, where the driver's view along the highway is obstructed.—State Law.

USE CARE IN STOPPING CARS

Even under the best of conditions and with four-wheel brakes it takes 55 feet to stop a car going 30 miles an hour; nearly 100 feet to stop a car going 40 miles an hour, and 154 feet to stop a car going 50 miles per hour. This is after the brakes are applied. Traveling at 30 miles an hour you will go at least 25 feet before you can get your brakes applied; at 40 miles an hour 30 feet, and at 50 miles an hour 35 feet. So that at 30 miles an hour it will take you 80 feet to make an emergency stop, at 40 miles an hour 130 feet, and at 50 miles an hour 190 feet. If you are not a quick thinker and a quick actor it will take you more.

LETTERS

The first day of pheasant season is history. Natives of the open counties survey the damages of one day's frolic. Their conclusions as to some hunters: "They came, they saw, they acted like ------." You fill in the rest. Automobile county numbers of 1 and 2 predominated here in Knox County, with an equal share scattered over others. Welcome to all of you. We want you to come and enjoy what the cooperation of state and individual farmers has placed at your disposal. But, when returning, please play the rules of the game.

Heard the morning after were these among the many tales: One family had forty ducks enjoying a pond in their pasture. In the evening fifteen of them returned home, three of them crippled. Another man's horses got scared through too close shooting, ran into barbed wire fences, resulting in cuts needing professional attention. After asking permission to hunt on the place, one group started to haul down the farmer's pet pigeons. One party, not satisfied with gun for game, plowed with their quick-pickup car into a flock of chickens feeding on the road—two dead. Another farmer had to inform some county's guests that shooting from their car into his front yard was not the proper thing to do. One man had fed a fine flock of birds marked for distant friends, guarding his place with "no trespass" signs. At 8 A.M. those friends came too late.

Foreclosed farmers especially feel that the city feller is taking an unfair advantage all around. Farmers are human and expect when company comes they will behave like gentlemen.

There seems to be some confusion in the minds of a great many people about recreation and what it is all about. With me, I am an outdoors manhunting, fishing, trapping are my hobby. [ have heard the sob sisters complain about the cruel trappers. I will answer that for myself. A trapper is usually not a villain, but a man who will pile out when the thermometer is froze up and hurries over his traps so some poor animal can be relieved of suffering as, soon as possible.

This bow and arrow club I have at Belvidere and Bruning aims to show each boy what can be done in a constructive way with what material we have on hand. We go to the timber and find a good second growth of ash sprout, take it back home, hew it out. I use an Indian hunting bow pattern. We go to the lumber yard, get good scraps if possible; if not, we get a board. Fir is all we can get here. We rip it out in narrow strips, plane them down to about one-fourth inch, for small boys, by 24 long, saw a piece of steel out with a hack saw. Saw a slit in end of arrow, glue good, and wrap it with copper wire. Then we are ready to go hunting. The main thing is to know where to look for rabbits. After a few trials in the field the boys usually get a rabbit, but they must practice between hunting trips. It is play in work. A boy who will stick till he gets rabbits will go a long way in this world, and it keeps the boys from forming gangs and starting wrong.

The way to keep a boy out of a reformatory is to not let him get started wrong. I think there is too much hog ideas and not enough sporting spirit used today in all things. It requires very little skill to pot shoot rabbits with a shotgun. You may get the hog version of sports. Try a bow and arrow. It requires skill in making, skill in stalking game, and also in shooting.

When you come home with a bag of rabbits you know what sport is. One of the first things I teach the boys is game laws and what they stand for. Contempt for one law breeds contempt for all laws.

The following was once fixed to a barbed wire fence some miles outside of San Francisco:

Trespassers will B persecuted to the full extent of 2 mungrel dogs which never was over sochible to strangers & 1 dubble brl shot gun which aint loded with sofa pillors. Dam if I aint gettin tired of this hell raisin on my place.—B. Griscom.

In parking on a hill turn your wheels into the curb, set your hand brake and put the car in gear. If everybody did this there would be no runaway cars.

a need so urgent that our constitutional convention could not possibly have anticipated it twenty years ago.

Our Commission today is really spending more of the funds in an educational way than was turned over to the schools in the old days. After all, conservation is primarily a matter of education, and in a larger measure our schools are now a beneficiary of hunting and fishing funds.

Feed the Birds

This is the time of year when the birds need help.

During the summer they can look out for themselves. Then insects and other food is abundant. But during a few weeks in the latter part of winter many birds have difficulty in getting enough to eat.

A bird requires much more food in proportion to its weight than does a human being or wild animals. This is because they have a very high temperature and much food must be consumed to furnish the body heat.

There are a number of ways that both song and game birds can be fed. Table scraps, a little grain or suet hung in trees or left in boxes will attract many song birds.

There are a number of ways to feed game birds. Sometimes grain or other seeds scattered on a bare place where the snow has been scraped away will suffice. Ear corn, sunflower heads, seed pods, and a dead jackrabbit split open with the entrails exposed, if attached to a wire fence or the limb of a tree and left hanging about eighteen inches or two feet from the ground, will make excellent food for the pheasant. Some people use a common gun shell case made into a grain hopper. This is filled with grain and left out near roosts where birds are seen. Small grain and seeds should be left in bare places along hedge rows or in plum thickets where quail roost. Suet nailed to trees or attached to a thick mass of evergreens, tied to a tree or fence, make excellent food for the smaller birds. Wild rose pods, wild rice seed, and corn make excellent feed for the grouse or prairie chicken in the sand hill area of our state.

Our Toads and Frogs

people as if they have rained down from the clouds. The fact is they have only come out into the rain to get wet again.

The Bullfrog is the biggest of his kind in our country. He proves it every time he straightens out his powerful legs and hurls his heavy body from a high bank into some pond or stream. His body often measures seven or eight inches in length, while legs and all often stretch to eighteen. His eyes seem like a pair of headlights on a small automobile and the ear, which in both sexes is as large in diameter as the eye, in the male is even larger. His size is one of the surest marks by which to distinguish him from other frogs. The bigness of his voice is often exaggerated, but, as his name implies, it is somewhat like that of a bull and can be heard surprisingly long distances. Lastly, he spends a longer time than other frogs in the tadpole stage and takes two years or more to attain full size.

The Leopard frog is better known than others, not only because of its wider distribution and greater numbers, but because it has the habit of going considerable distances from its pond, or marsh. It is the frog met with when we walk across country through fields and orchards. As we wander slowly through the meadows these frogs leap out from underfoot. They make long, low leaps, seldom appearing above the clover and grasses. They are not satisfied with one jump for safety, but give three or four in succession, each probably in a somewhat different direction. If we walk still more slowly and watch very carefully, we are likely to catch a glimpse of a spotted back and of squirted water as an especially large one makes a flying leap. If we try to catch a large one and meet with any success, we discover that this habit of squirting water may sometimes result in protection to the frog, since the water has a disagreeable odor.

All toads and frogs can produce sound by passing air over vocal cords in the larynx or throat. They therefore have true voices. We human folks must open our mouths to sing, but toads or frogs must keep theirs shut and breathe through the nostrils. The air so inhaled passes back and forth over the vocal cords and thus the sounds are produced. They possess internal vocal sacs in the region of the throat or on each side of the shoulder. These, when inflated, may push out and stretch the loose outer skin of the body and thus show as external vocal pouches. These sacs are filled with air through openings in the mouth and act as resonators that increase the volume of sound somewhat like the Scotch bagpipe.

American toad (Bufo americanus).

Cricket Tree frog (Acris gryllus).

Three-striped Tree frog (Chorophilus triseriatus).

Green Tree frog (Hyla carolinensis).

Pickering's Tree frog (Hyla pickeringii).

Chameleon Tree frog (Hyla versicolor).

Leopard frog (Rana pipiens).

Pickerel frog (Rana palustris).

Screaming frog (Rana clamitans).

Bullfrog (Rana catesbiana).

Wood frog (Rana sylvatica).

Gopher frog (Rana areolata).

PINTAIL BANDED IN U. S. KILLED IN EAST ASIA

Recovery of a United States Biological Survey bird band in Asia has been reported to the Bureau for the first time.

A pintail duck killed last spring by an Eskimo near Indian Point, Siberia, about 100 miles west of St. Lawrence Island of the Territory of Alaska, carried the band, according to a report from a school teacher on the island. The bird was banded January 3, 1936, at Los Banos, Cal., by Dwight G. Vedder, a cooperator of the Survey.

"Finding in Eastern Asia a pintail that had been banded in this country was not unexpected, although most of the American subspecies of this bird breed and nest in the northern regions of North America," says F. C. Lincoln, in charge of the Survey's bird-banding activities. "There are other records," explains Mr. Lincoln, "of the American subspecies that have appeared along the eastern coast of Asia, but such occurrences are rare. The European subspecies breeds and nests in the northern regions of Asia and Europe."

Banding thousands of birds annually in this country enables the Survey to accumulate valuable information on their habits, length of life, migrations, and abundance. Under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, bird banders are required to have a Federal permit.

CARS APPROACHING YOU HAVE SOME RIGHTS

No vehicle shall be driven to the left side of the center of the roadway in overtaking and passing another vehicle, unless such left side is clearly visible, and is free of oncoming traffic for a sufficient distance ahead to permit such overtaking and passing to be completely made without interfering with the safe operation of any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction or any vehicle overtaken.

ADVISE FISH STUDIES

Research into the production of fish for angling in the lakes and streams of the country by improvement of waters rather than by artificial planting is asked of the American Wildlife Institute by its technical committee, headed by Dr. Aldo Leopold, professor of game management, University of Wisconsin. The report of Dr. Leopold's committee, made public by the Institute, pays tribute to the improvement in the fish-carrying capacity of streams which was brought about by the Civilian Conservation Corps in Michigan and several other states.

The CCC, the report says, used dams, covers and other structures to improve the streams, and their experiments, notably in Michigan, yielded a great increase in catchable trout.

"Until it is known just how this increase came about," the report says, "it is impossible to adapt the technique successfully to other states. A series of experimental streams, located in various regions and carefully measured and censored, would throw light on this problem. Analysis of how structural improvements affect the fish problem must go hand in hand with the further elaboration of structural designs and materials."

The technical committee asserted that the effect on fish of the harnessing of streams for power, storage, navigation and irrigation had been "a mass destruction."

One way in which research projects into fish conservation could help check this, the committee said, was to scatter those projects about the country in numerous localities to build up local centers of opposition to ill-considered navigation or power projects, destructive of native wildlife. "Experience shows that the momentum of the rolling pork barrel is otherwise irresistible," the report said. It designated "the local university" as the best place for building up local knowledge on wildlife conservation and local sentiment in favor of it.

The fish research program of the committee calls for a study of fish cropping in lakes, and of erosion, silting and the poisoning of streams. "Silting and warming of streams has moved the southern boundary of the trout belt steadily northward, just as slick-and-clean farming has pushed the native game birds out of their original range," the report said. "To this shrinkage in fish habitat has been added the destruction of reproductive capacity and the poisoning of adult fish by stream pollutions.

"Basic changes in regional streams must be adequately measured and analyzed for their effect on fish life if the country is to have an effective fish restoration program."

The technical committee of the Institute, in addition to Dr. Leopold, is composed of Gardiner Bump, Superintendent of Game, New York State Conservation Department; George C. Embody, Professor of Fish Culture, Cornell University; Carl L. Hubbs, Institute of Fisheries Research, University of Michigan; and Herbert L. Stoddard, Cooperative Quail Study Association, Thomasville, Ga.

A six-phase research program, drawn up by the committee, is now before the trustees and officers of the American Wildlife Institute for adoption and financing. The research is also to include studies of farm, forest and range game, migratory waterfowl, fur species, rare and non-game species now threatened with extinction, and wild flowers.

Game and Fish Belong to the People

with wounding does not give a vested property right unless the animal actually is taken."—Pierson v. Post, 3 Caines (N. Y.) 175.

"If the state permits one to obtain title to wild game, so long as such game is confined by a hunter so that it can not escape, the hunter retains his property therein; but as soon as it escapes from his control, his title is lost and that of the state is resumed."—Duval v. Harvey, 148 La. 739, 740, 741.

"The exclusive use of his own property is a property right of the owner which is protected by the constitution. A legislature cannot authorize another to enter the premises for the purpose of taking game. Thus, a hunting license granted by the state to an individual, even if it purports to do so, gives the holder of the license no right to invade the private hunting grounds of another." —Diana Shooting Club v. Lamoreux, 114 Wis. 44.

"Where a state provided for the punishment of a person who hunted with gun or dog within the enclosure of another without his consent or that of the person in charge, it has been held that it is no defense that the fence constituting the enclosure was not a lawful one or was in poor condition, since a lawful fence was not necessarily within the contemplation of the statute. The court further held that the additional fact that the fence enclosing the land was disconnected in one place would not change the situation." —State v. Sparrow, 52 Mo. App. 374.

"A hunter, though standing in a place where he has a legal right to be, has no right to shoot over the premises of an adjoining owner, or to go on to the premises to get game which has fallen there." — Whittaker v. Stangvick, 100 Minn. 386.

"The right to shoot waterfowl from a boat is analogous to the right to take fish from the water. The public has a right to resort to public waters and take fish or shoot waterfowl."—Hall v. Alford, 114 Mich. 165; Ainsworth v. Munoskong Hunting Club, 153 Mich. 185.

"Even in the case of public waters a hunter must not pass over private property to reach the public shooting grounds." —Balsa Land Co. v. Burdick, 151 Cal. 254.

"The owner of one island in a public water has a right to shoot fowl from such island, though the effect thereof is to intercept the game and prevent its passing to a neighbor's island and though such neighbor's hunting privileges are thereby materially injured."—Meredith v. Triple Island Gunning Club, 113 Va. 80.

"Although a person has no natural or inherent right to hunt on the premises of another, a right to so hunt may be acquired by a grant from the owner. * * * Since the grant of a hunting or fishing privilege is the grant of an interest in land it is within the statute of frauds, and must be in writing."—Bingham v. Salene, 15 Ore. 208.

"A tenant having possession of the premises and the right to exercise the hunting privileges thereon has sufficient legal title to maintain the action against a trespasser." — Kellogg v. King, 114 Cal. 378.

Conservation of Fish

pendous number of eight billions, the greatest output in the history of the Bureau, but we are not satisfied. We intend not only to produce more fish through efficient operation, but are going to continue our fight for cleaner streams to plant our fish in, for reforestation of our hillsides to prevent soil erosion, to build dams to impound the run-off waters; in fact, each of you has a vital personal interest in this conservation business; it strikes HOME to everyone of us, for its ultimate object is for the welfare of ourselves, for our children, and our children's children. Last summer I made a two-month inspection trip of our Alaska fisheries. This great silver horde of salmon from a commercial standpoint averages some forty millions of dollars annually, and provides work for thousands of our people. This great run of fish each year is made possible by strict conservation regulations by the Federal government. Alaska, being a territory, the Bureau of Fisheries has the full responsibility of maintaining and conserving their fisheries. As Commissioner of Fisheries I feel justly proud of the progress being made in Alaska each year. Through wise regulation we continue to take a larger pack and at the same time allow proper escapement to the spawning area to properly reseed them. The Bureau of Fisheries through close cooperation with the Conservation Departments of the states works out a coordinated plan applicable to each state, and also works with other conservation organizations looking in a broad way to the protection of all wild life and fisheries' resources.

REPORTED SALES OF MIGRATORY BIRD HUNTING STAMPS

Growth of the Black Crappie

This is usually done as follows: The scale is cleaned and mounted on a glass microscope slide in some transparent material. Then the slide is placed in a projection machine, and the scale, very much enlarged, is thrown on a screen, much as one would handle a lantern slide. In this position it is a simple matter to measure from the center of the scale to the middle of the anterior edge (the part covered by overlapping scales). This distance represents the total length of the fish. Now the distance from the center to any winter ring represents the length of the fish at the beginning of that winter, in proportion to the total length from the center to the anterior edge. Thus, in a fish caught in the second summer, showing one winter ring some distance out from the center of the scale, the total distance from center to anterior edge might be 8 units and the distance from the center to the first winter ring, 4 units, or 1/2 of the total. If the length of the fish when caught was 12 inches, then the length up to the first winter ring (the growth during the first summer) would be 4/8 or 1/2 of 12 or six inches. In this manner it is possible to figure the length of the fish at the end of each summer throughout its life. In some species it is necessary to make a slight correction due to a change in body shape after the early growth period.

This method applied to the crappie scales gives a fairly accurate picture of crappie growth during previous years. Calculated lengths from scale measurements show that at the end of the first summer the Walgren crappies averaged 1.7 inches. By the end of the second summer they had attained an average length of 3.5 inches; by the third, 4.9 inches; by the fourth, 6.1 inches. If the legal length is 6 inches, then 54% will reach legal length during the 4th summer; 46% will still be illegal for fishing. During the 5th summer all will become legal length and the average length 7.0 inches; during the next summer (6th) the average length reaches 7.7 inches; by the 7th, 8.5 inches; by the 8th, 9.1 inches; and by the 9th, 9.45 inches. The average weights for the 7th, 8th, and 9th years are 7.5 oz., 7.9 oz., and 8.3 oz., respectively.

It seems probable that these crappies spawn for the first time during the third summer, at an average length of 4.9 inches. If the legal length is 6 inches, all will have an opportunity to spawn during the third summer, and 46% during the fourth summer, even if all legal sized fish were removed from the lake. If no fry were available for stocking, it might be well to raise the legal length to 7 inches, thereby giving all the fish an opportunity to spawn at least twice. However, with a small yearly stocking to make up for loss of the spawn of the legal sized fish caught by fishermen, the population should remain fairly constant.

It is obvious from a study of the growth rate of the crappies in this lake, that good fishing is a long term affair, and what is "sown" today in the way of fingerling fish may not be "reaped" until four or Hve years have passed. Thus it is essential that the yearly crop of young fish remain constant from year to year (or nearly so), provided the lake produces "good fishing". It is always possible that the numbers of young fish may be too low, due to excessive predation by the larger fish. If such a situation is present, there will be a general scarcity of fish in the lake. On the other hand, if too many young fish survive, the competition for food will become so great that the growth rate will fall off sharply, and the fish will be numerous but small. The optimum, of course, is a sufficient number of young fish to eat up the excess of small organisms, leaving a sufficient number to be preyed upon by the larger insect larvae, which in turn become the food of the larger fishes. In this way there is no scarcity of food, either for the young or the older and larger individuals. Thus every animal inhabiting a lake depends for food directly or indirectly upon the semi-microscopic animals and plants. If they are abundant and the fish population well balanced (as to species and sizes) the lake will produce "good fishing". When the lake is unproductive, or the fish population overbalanced, then the fishermen suffer. Although most animal communities tend toward an optimum balance between larger and smaller individuals and species, it seems that an overpopulation of fish in a lake does so at a very slow rate. Of course more fish are taken by predatory animals and birds and fishermen, but the reproductive capacities of the fish ordinarily seem to keep pace with the combined effect of predatory forces, unless such fish are present as the Northern Pike or the Wall-eyed Pike. In small lakes it would be a serious mistake to introduce these species, because in a short time the picture would actually be reversed, the small fish would be gone and the predators would go hungry. Once a lake has attained a satisfactory balance to produce "good fishing", great care should be taken not to upset the balance either by overfishing, introduction of large numbers of fingerling fish, or experimental introduction of species not already present. Undoubtedly in the near future fish culture will have progressed to the point where the hatchery man will know from a study of the available foods in the lake in question, and from a survey of other conditions, i. e., oxygen, transparency, depth, temperature, and bottom characteristics, just what fish are best suited for the environment as it stands, and just how many fish must be introduced to a given volume of water, to reach the optimum of fish production. However, at the present time, although this problem has been taken up in its two phases, lake study and fish growth, foods and habits, there is inadequate correlation between the two and we must look forward to future experiments for the solution of these problems.

In my estimation, a lake that will produce a good crop of 9-inch crappies each year is quite exceptional. For that reason I have made this study, although the actual data is quite inadequate for a complete survey. This can be no more than a preliminary report, but should give a true picture of what 46 Black Crappies have been doing in regard to growth during the past several years.

No vehicle shall, in overtaking and passing another vehicle, be driven to the left side of the roadway when traversing any intersection or railroad crossing, or when approaching within 100 feet of any bridge or tunnel.—State Law.

Handy Reference of Nebraska Hunting and Fishing Regulations Season 1937

A hunting and fishing permit is required for every person having arrived at his sixteenth birthday. Said permits shall be carried in a button furnished for the permit, said button to be worn in plain sight on breast or hat of holder. The permit, together with the button, shall be on the person of the holder at all times while he is hunting, trapping or fishing, and shall be shown immediately upon demand to any officer or person whose duty it is to enforce the provisions of this act, and any person hunting, fishing or trapping in this state without such permit and button actually on or about his person, as above required, shall be deemed to be without such permit and button.

Hunting and Fishing Permit______________$1.10

Trapping Permit (All persons regardless of age must have a trapping permit)_______$2.10

Unless holding a permit as required, it shall be unlawful for any person to trap or otherwise take any furbearing animals, or for any person sixteen years or older to hunt for, kill, shoot at, pursue, take or possess any kind of game, or take, angle for or attempt to take any kind of fish from the waters of this state or possess same.

It shall also be unlawful for anyone to do or attempt to do any other thing for which a permit is provided, without first obtaining such permit and paying the fee therefor. Any violation of this provision shall constitute a misdemeanor and subject the offender to fine of not to exceed $100.00 except for trapping in violation of this section for which the punishment shall be a fine of from $5.00 to $500.00 or imprisonment not exceeding six months or both fine and imprisonment.

It is unlawful to buy, sell or barter game birds, animals or fish protected by the game laws of this state: Provided, however, catfish 13 inches in length or over, legally taken from the Missouri River on permit issued by the Game Commission.

All game birds and fish shipped must be tagged in accordance with the law.

It is unlawful to hunt on private lands without permission of owner.

It is unlawful for anyone to trap fur-bearing animals upon land of another without his consent.

It is unlawful to destroy house or den of fur-bearing animals.

It is unlawful to use spear or any like device in hunting or taking fur-bearing animals or use explosives, chemicals or smokers.

It is unlawful to use ferrets.

It is unlawful to run bird dogs or other dogs in fields where game birds are found between the first day of April and the sixteenth day of September.

It is unlawful to run dogs on forest reserves.

It is unlawful to explode dynamite, powder or use poison, lime, etc., in the taking of fish.

It is unlawful to pollute the waters of the state.

It is unlawful to place carcasses in waters of the state.

It is unlawful to disturb private fish ponds or damage private property of another.

It is unlawful to take beaver without a special permit from the Chief Conservation Officer.

It is unlawful to place game and fish in cold storage or ship the same unless same are properly tagged.

It is unlawful to hold fur after the close of the season without special authority from the Game Commission.

IT SHALL BE UNLAWFUL:

(a) To shoot from any public highway at any bird or animal protected by this act;

(b) To hunt for any of such birds or animals with a spotlight or other artificial light;

(c) To hunt or kill or attempt to hunt or kill any waterfowl from any boat or water craft propelled by sails or electric, gas or steam power or from an aeroplane or hydroplane;

(d) To use any rifle or swivel-gun or shotgun larger than ten gauge in hunting any game birds, or to trap, snare, net, or attempt to trap, snare or net any game bird or birds;

(e) To take or needlessly destroy the nests or eggs of any game bird or birds;

(f) To hunt or kill or attempt to hunt or kill any game bird or birds earlier than one-half hour before sunrise or later than sunset.

It is hereby declared unlawful to take, catch, kill, destroy or attempt to take or catch any game fish by any means other than angling with hook and line. Fishing with a line having more than five hooks thereon, or with artificial bait having thereon more than three triple-gang hooks, or by snagging fish externally with hook and line, is declared unlawful. Provided that, carp, suckers or other non-game fish may be taken by spearing between sunrise and sunset from April 1st to December 1st.

Seines, trammel nets and hoop nets, the meshes of which are two inches or larger, may be used in the Missouri River, south and west of the middle of the channel of said river and not less than 300 yards in any direction from the mouth of any stream emptying into said river upon procuring from the Secretary of the Game, Forestation and Parks Commission an annual permit for the use of same. Fees, $5.00 for each 500 lineal feet of seine or fraction thereof; $2.50 for each 500 feet of trammel net or fraction thereof; 50 cents for each hoop net. Each net and seine must have metal tag attached thereto having permit number stamped thereon. Cost of tag, 10 cents. Before any such permit is issued to non-residents of the state, bond for $200.00 with two sureties must be furnished.

A Personal Message from Game Commission to All Permit Buyers---

You, as a purchaser of a hunting, fishing or trapping permit, are entitled to know what the Nebraska Game Commission does with the fee you pay. This message will give you some facts about your Commission and its activities. Read it carefully.

The Nebraska Game, Forestation and Parks Commission does not cost the property taxpayers anything at the present time, as all its expenses are met by money collected from the sale of permits to hunt, fish and trap.

Here are some of the things your dollar is used for:

Conservation officers to protect our wildlife.

Fish hatcheries to raise fish to stock our rivers, lakes and ponds.

Game management, sanctuaries and resting grounds for birds.

State recreation grounds for fishing, picnicking and camping.

State parks for picnics and vacations.

Fish reserve work and distribution.

Research—Investigation of diseases, food, cover, etc.

Education—Motion pictures for schools and clubs.

Publications—Game laws, Outdoor Nebraska, maps, etc.

Purchase of permits, badges, supplies, etc., for administration.

Cooperation with Federal authorities in migratory waterfowl management.

Cooperation with 4-H clubs and summer conservation camp.

Exhibits at state fair, county fairs, etc.

Building up and conserving our natural outdoor resources.

More than a half million men, women and children in Nebraska enjoy the privileges of fishing, hunting and camping, and nearly everyone in the state benefits either directly or indirectly as a result of the conservation of our natural resources.