In legally permitting the slaughter of the robin, red-winged blackbird, dove, grosbeak, wood-duck and gull the state of Louisiana is very culpable.
For good reasons, forty states of the American Union strictly prohibit the killing of song and insectivorous birds. The duty of every state to protect those birds is not a debatable proposition. I put this question to the people of Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee and other states where the robin is treated as a game bird: Is it fair of you to kill and eat robins when that species is carefully protected by forty other states of our country for grave economic reasons? What would you say of the people of the North if they slaughtered your mockingbird to eat!
Remember this proportion:
The Robin : The North :: The Mockingbird : The South.
CHAPTER XXX
NEW LAWS NEEDED IN THE STATES
(Continued)
Maine:
There are reasons for the belief that Maine is conserving her large game better than any other state or province in North America. One glance over her laws is sufficient to convince anyone that instead of studying the clamor of her shooting population, Maine has actually been studying the needs of her game, and providing for those needs. If all other states were doing equally well, the task of writing a book of admonition would have been unnecessary. The proof of Maine's alertness is to be found in the number of her extra short, or entirely closed, seasons on game. For example: