Chap. 0095 An Act for the preservation and protection of birds, birds' eggs, deer and game.

Be it enacted, &c, as follows :

Section 1. Whoever in this Commonwealth takes or kills any woodcock, or any ruffed grouse commonly called partridge, between the first day of January and the first day of September in any year, or any quail between the first day of January in any year and the first day of November following, or within the respective times aforesaid, sells, buys, has in his possession, or offers for sale any of said birds taken or killed within this Commonwealth, shall forfeit for every such bird twenty-five dollars.

Section 2. Whoever in this Commonwealth takes or kills any wood or summer duck, black duck, or teal, between the fifteenth day of April and the first day of September in any year, or within said time sells, buys, has in possession, or offers for sale any of said birds, shall forfeit for every such bird twenty-five dollars.

Section 3. Whoever in this Commonwealth takes or kills any Bartramian sandpiper, commonly called upland or field plover, between the first clay of January and the fifteenth day of July in any year, or within said time sells, buys, or has in his possession or offers for sale any of said birds, shall forfeit for every such bird ten dollars.

Section 4. Whoever in this Commonwealth takes or kills at any season of the year any undomestieated birds not named in the preceding sections of this act, except birds of prey, erows, crow blackbirds, herons, bitterns, wild pigeons, jays, rail, Wilson's snipe, wild geese, plover, sandpiper, or any of the so called marsh, beach or shore birds, and such fresh-water or sea fowl as are not named in the preceding sections of this act, or wilfully destroys or disturbs the nests or eggs of any undomestieated birds, except the nests and eggs of birds of prey or crows, shall forfeit for every such offence ten dollars: provided, that any person having a certificate from the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge, the Massachusetts Agricultural College at Amherst, the Boston Society of Natural History, the Worcester Lyceum and Natural History

Society, the Peabody Academy of Science at Salem, or from any incorporated society of natural history or college in the state, to the effect that he is engaged in the scientific study of ornithology, or is collecting in the interests of and for said institutions, or any one of them, may at any season of the year take or kill any undomesticated birds, or take their nests and eggs.

Section 5. Whoever in this Commonwealth at any season of the year takes, kills or destroys any game bird, except wild pigeons, by means of traps, snares, nets, or springes, or shoots at or kills any wild fowl or any of the so called shore, marsh, or beach birds, with or by the use of any battery, swivel or pivot gun, or by the use of any torch, jack or artificial light, shall forfeit for every such offence twenty-five dollars.

Section 6. Whoever in this Commonwealth at any season of the year prior to the first day of January eighteen hundred and eighty, and whoever thereafterwards between the first day of December in any year and the first day of October following, takes or kills any deer (except his own tame deer kept on his own grounds) shall forfeit for every such offence one hundred dollars ; and any person may kill any dog found chasing or hunting deer where the dog is used for that purpose with the knowledge of his owner or keeper; and whoever, between the first day of March in any year and the first day of October following, takes or kills any gray squirrel, hare or rabbit, shall forfeit for every such offence ten dollars.

Section 7. Whoever in this Commonwealth at any season of the year takes or kills any pinnated grouse, commonly called prairie-chicken, unless upon ground owned by him, and grouse placed thereon by the owner, shall forfeit for every such bird twenty-five dollars : provided, that any person may buy, sell, or have in possession quail and pinnated grouse, commonly called prairie-chicken, at any time, provided the same be not taken or killed in this Commonwealth contrary to the provisions of this act.

Section 8. In all prosecutions under the provisions of this act, the possession by any person or corporation of any gray squirrel, deer, or of birds mentioned as protected in this act, during the time within which the taking or killing of the same is prohibited, shall be prima facie evidence to convict under this act.

Section 9. All forfeitures accruing under this act shall be paid, one-half to the informant or prosecutor, and one-half to the city or town where the offence is committed.

Section 10. Chapter three hundred and four of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and seventy, chapter three hundred and twenty of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and seventy-one, chapters fifty-seven and seventy-seven of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and seventy-four, and chapter one hundred and seventy-two of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and seventy-five are hereby repealed. Approved March 31,1877.