Chap. 227.—An ACT to amend and re-enact chapter 95 of the Code of Virginia in
relation to the preservation of certain useful birds and animals, and to prevent
unlawful hunting, and to repeal sections 2075, 2076, 2077, 2081, and 2082 of the
Code of Virginia, and an act entitled an act to prevent the extermination of
partridges (or quails) in the State of Virginia, approved January 27, 1896, as
amended by an act entitled an act to amend and re-enact sections 1 and 4 of an
act entitled an act to prevent the extermination of partridges (or quails) in the
State of Virginia, approved January 27, 1896, in force since December 15, 1897.

Approved May 14, 1903.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That chapter
ninety-five of the Code of Virginia, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven,
be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

§ 2070a. When and how unlawful to hunt, et cetera—1. It shall
be unlawful for any person to shoot at, kill or capture any wild
fowl or wild turkey at any time during the night in this State,
any time to capture them in traps or nets or other contrivances,
use reflectors or other lights, or sneak boats or artificial islands -
tecting or capturing or shooting of wild fowl or game of any ki:
to hunt or shoot muskrats at night with a light in the tidewate
tions of the State, or to shoot at any game on land or water i
State with a gun larger than an eight bore. All sneak boats,
traps or reflectors or other unlawful appliances so used or fou
the possession of any person shall be seized by any game warc
other officer and held by him as evidence, but the same shall 1
destroyed except by the order of the court or justice having ju
tion, upon warrants duly issued, which said court or justice
upon satisfactory evidence of the guilt of the party, or of the un
nature of the article seized, order the same to be destroyed. Th
session of any of said guns, sneak boats, nets, traps, reflectors, or
unlawful appliances shall be prima facie evidence of the guilt |
person in whose possession they are found.

2. It shall be unlawful for any person to hunt, kill, or capt
any manner, or buy, offer for sale, or have in possession any wil
keys, pheasants or grouse, quail or partridges or woodcock east
Blue Ridge mountains between February the first and Novemb
first, and west of the Blue Ridge mountains between Decemh
thirty-first and November the first, or to track or hunt any of t}
snow, except wild turkeys, or to trap or net them at anv time, or
stroy their nests, eggs, or young at any time, or to kill, chase, c
ture, or buy, offer for sale, or have in possession any wild deer b
January the first and October the first, or to track or hunt tk
snow, or to kill or capture, or buy, offer for sale, or have in poss
any winter wild water fowl between April the first and Octob
fifteenth, or summer or wood ducks between January the first ar
gust the first, or any rails, mud hens, gallinules, plovers, surf
snipe, sand pipers, willits, tattlers, or curlews, hetween January tt
and July twentieth, or robins between April the first and Februs
teenth. The possession of anv of said game birds or game ar
or parts thereof, protected by the laws of this State, during the
in which it is unlawful to hunt, kill, chase, or capture the same
be prima facie evidence of the guilt of the party in whose poss
they are found. |

3. It shall be unlawful to shoot or otherwise hunt anv wild
fowl or any game birds, or game animals, protected by the laws «
State, later than an half an hour after sunset or earlier than 4
an hour before sunrise, or to shoot or hunt anv game in this &t.
Sunday.

4. Any person violating any of the provisions of this sectior
be deemed guiltv of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished hy
of not less than five nor more than fiftv dollars, or imprisoned
for not more than thirty davs, or both fined and imprisoned, at ¢)
cretion of the justice or jury trying the case.
5. All acts, or parts of acts, in conflict wiith this section are hereby
repealed, but the board of supervisors of any county shall have the
power to shorten the open season in their said county, and may permit
the shipment of wild water fowl from said county or out of the State,
and by regulations, not inconsistent with the provisions of this section,
may further protect the game within their said county.

6. Nothing in this section shall be construed to refer to the bird
known as sora.

§ 20700. Game wardens; their appointment, duties, et cetera.—It
shall be the duty of the city or corporation court of the cities, or the
judges thereof, in vacation, on the application of five resident free-
holders of any city, to appoint two suitable persons in such city as
game wardens, whose jurisdiction shall be confined to their respective
cities, and where the board of supervisors of any county shall, by reso-
lution of record in the minutes of said board, request the judge of the
circuit court for said county so to do, the said judge shall, upon the
application of five resident freeholders of any magisterial district in
said county, appoint one suitable person in such magisterial district
as game warden, whose jurisdiction shall be confined to said magisterial
district; when the said appointment is made by the judge, in vacation,
he shall certify the same to the clerk of his court, who shall enter the
same in the order book of his court in the same manner as if made
in term.

2. The said wardens shall hold office for the term of four years
from the date of their appointment, unless sooner removed from office,
and shall qualify according to law.

3. It shall be the duty of said wardens to enforce all statutes of this
State. and of the United States now in force, or hereafter to be enacted
for the protection and propagation of wild water fowl, game birds, and
game animals or song or insectivorous birds. The said wardens shall
have power, and it shall be their duty, to arrest any person detected by
them in the act of violating any of the aforesaid laws, or any person
against whom a warrant shall have been duly issued, upon the informa-
tion of any other person for such violation, and forthwith to carry
such person before a justice or court having jurisdiction over the
offense, who shall proceed, without unreasonable delay, to hear, try,
and determine the charge against such person. No game warden shall
have any right, under this act, to go upon the land of another person
without the consent of such other person, until and unless such game
warden shall have procured a search warrant in conformity with the
provisions of subsection five of this section, or shall have a warrant
for the arrest of some person thereon: provided, however, that such
game warden may, without a warrant, arrest any person who violates
any of the provisions of this chapter in the presence of such game
warden, and should any person violate any of the provisions of this
chapter in the presence of such game warden, such game warden may
lawfully follow such person anywhere in the effort to arrest.

4. The several commanders of:the oyster police boats of this Com-
monwealth are hereby constituted game wardens of this State, whose
jurisdiction as such wardens shall extend over the lands and waters of
this Commonwealth within their several jurisdictions as commanders.
They shall enforce the statutes of this State, and of the United State;,
for the protection of game or other animals or birds protected by law,
and render report to the board of fisheries of all prosecutions, and the
said board of fisheries shall publish the same in their annual report a:
information. The commanders of the said oyster police boats shall
receive no additional compensation for the performance of these duties.
except that in cases of conviction they may receive the fee provided
for in subsection eight of this section.

5. Any court, judge, or justice having jurisdiction over the offense.
if satisfied upon affidavit that there is reasonable cause to believe that
any wild water fowl, game birds, game animals, or song or insectivo-
rous birds, or parts thereof, caught, taken, killed, shipped, or about to
be shipped, or in transit, contrary to the laws of this State, or of the
United States, are being concealed or stored in any place, shall issue a
search warrant and cause search therefor to be made in any such place.
and to that end may, after demand and refusal, cause any building,
enclosure, or car to be entered, and any apartment in which it is be
lieved that game is concealed, to be examined by any of said warden:
or other officers executing the warrant: provided, that the issuanc
and execution of such search warrants shall be in accordance with th:
jssuance and execution of search warrants in other cases, as_ provided

y law.

6. All game animals, wild water fowl, and birds protected by lav.
or parts thereof, found under such warrant, shall be seized by the
warden or other officer making the search, and shall be disposed of
as the court, judge, or justice having jurisdiction may direct. Al:
guns, gunning, or hunting appliances found in such search shall be
seized by said warden or other officer, and held subject to the payment
of the fine prescribed by law for the offense charged, and the cost of
prosecution. If any of the articles so found be such as are not author-
ized by law, they shall, upon the order of the court, judge, or justice
having jurisdiction, be destroyed, and all other of such articles shall
be sold at public auction, after the lapse of twenty days from the time
of seizure, and after such notice as the court, judge, or justice having
jurisdiction may prescribe, unless the reputed owner appears and
acquits himself of the charge or pay the fine that may be imposed by
the court, judge, or justice.

7. Any person or persons interfering with any of said game warden:
in the discharge of their duty, or resisting lawful arrest, shall he
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be
fined not less than five dollars nor more than fifty dollars.

8. All fines and penalties imposed and collected under the provisions
of this chapter shall be paid to the Commonwealth, and in addition
to said fines and penalties there shall be assessed against the offender
in every case of conviction, under the provisions of this chapter, a fee
of two dollars and fifty cents, which shall be collected as fines are cal-
lected under the general provisions of law, and be paid to the warden
who shall secure the conviction.
9. If any warden appointed under this section shall refuse or wil-
fully neglect to prosecute any person violating any of its provisions,
or any of the laws of this State relating to wild water fowl, game birds,
or game animals, or song or insectivorous birds, his appointment shall
be revoked by the court having jurisdiction, and such warden shall be
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall
be fined not exceeding twenty dollars, and the vacancy thus created
shall be filled by the court or judge, in vacation.

10. All money paid to or collected by clerks of courts as hunting
licenses shall constitute a fund for the payment of the said regularly
appointed game wardens of this State, as herein provided, and the clerk
shall, after deducting a fee of fifty cents for issuing such license, on
the first of April of each year, pay in equal amounts to the said warden
or wardens of his county such sum as may be in his hands arising from
the issuance of such licenses: provided, that no one warden shall receive
more from this source than three hundred dollars in any one year,
and shall make return to his court a detailed statement of such receipts
and disbursements: provided, that in the counties of Accomac and
Northampton the circuit court for said counties shall appoint, on the
recommendation of. the Eastern Shore Game Protective Association,
the game wardens of the said counties, who shall make report at regu-
lar intervals to said association as its laws shall provide, and the said
clerks of the courts of said counties, upon the order of said association,
shall distribute among the game wardens for said counties, or as may
have been agreed upon by contract between the said association and
said wardens, or in proportion to the services which in their judgment
have been rendered by them, respectively, the fund arising from the
license of non-residents provided for in this chapter, or so much thereof
as may be necessary. Should there be any surplus remaining after pro-
viding an efficient system of game protection in said counties from
the license on non-residents above mentioned, said association may use
it for restocking said counties with game. The clerk shall pay to the
treasurer of said association such sums as may be thus expended, pay-
ing any amounts not needed for the purpose above mentioned to the
auditor of public accounts, as provided in section twenty hundred and
seventy c.

§ 2070c. Non-residents to obtain hunting licenses; when and how
game may be exported, et cctera.—1. It shall be unlawful for any
person, not a resident of this State, to hunt or kill wild water fowl,
wild turkeys, pheasants or grouse, woodcock, partridges, quail, or other
game birds, or deer, within this State, until he shall have first secured
a hunting license, as hereinafter provided; the non-resident children of
resident owners of land in this State shall be allowed to hunt on such
lands as though they were residents of this State.

2. Upon the personal application of any non-resident to the clerk of
the circuit court of any county in which he first begins to hunt, such
clerk shall, upon the payment of ten dollars, issue to such non-resident
a hunting license, using a form to be prescribed by the auditor of pub-
lic accounts for that purpose, entitling him to hunt and kill wild tur-
keys, pheasants or grouse, woodcock, partridges, quail, and other game
birds during the open season in the six months next following, and
subject to any restrictions now existing against, or which may here
after be imposed upon residents of this State. And upon the payment
of an additional fee of fifteen dollars such non-resident shall have
issued to him a license entitling him to hunt and kill, in addition to
the game already enumerated, wild water fowl and deer, under the cir-
stances and restrictions above set forth. The clerk shall retain fiity
cents as his fee for issuing such license, and the residue he shall account
for to the auditor of public accounts, unless otherwise provided for by
law. Such license shall not be transferable.

3. It shall be unlawful, except as hereinafter provided, to ship or
transport, or to cause to be shipped or transported, from this Suate,
whether alive or dead, wild water fowl, wild turkeys, pheasants o:
grouse, woodcock, partridges, quail, or other game birds, or any dee:
or venison, killed or captured within this State, nor shall the same le
killed, captured, or possessed with intent to ship or transport from thi:
State.

4. Any person authorized to hunt under the laws of this State may.
during the open season, take with him out of the State, either in his
personal possession or as his baggage, on the same conveyance with
him, not in a closed package, but exposed to view, not exceeding thirtr
wild water fowl, fifty quail or partridges, ten pheasants or grouse, three
wild turkeys, one deer, or plovers, snipe, sand-pipers, willits, tattlers,
or curlews, not exceeding twenty-five of each, or not exceeding one
hundred in the aggregate, when killed or captured by himself: prv-
vided, the same shall be plainly labelled or tagged with the name and
address of such person; and any citizen of this State may, during the
open season, ship or have transported from this State, as a gift, anc
not for market or sale, so stating on the shipping tag, one deer durirz
the season, and not exceeding three wild turkeys, six pheasants, twelve
wild water fowl, eighteen partridges or quail: provided, that such game
shall be shipped exposed to public view and unconcealed, and each
parcel or package shall be plainly labelled or tagged with the name and
address of the donor and of the donee, and the number of each of suc
game so shipped. This section shall not apply to sora, or rabbits.
or hares.

5. It shall be deemed a violation of this section for any person to
deliver any of the game herein mentioned to any common carrier or
person for shipment or transportation out of the State, or for anr
common carrier or person to carry or transport or receive for shipment
or transportation any such game in any other manner than is provided
in this section.

6. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent common
carriers from carrying or transporting any of the game herein mentioned
in unbroken packages from beyond the confines of this State through
the same to some point in another State.

?. Any person or corporation violating any provision of this section
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and be liable to a fine of fifty dollars
for each offense, or imprisoned in jail for not exceeding sixty days.
8. No person charged with an offense under this section shall, within
the meaning thereof, be deemed a resident of this State, who shall not
have resided within the limits of the State twelve months next preced-
ing the time when the alleged offense was committed, unless he shall
have, bona fide, taken up his residence in this Commonwealth, and has
his bona fide domicile therein, and in any prosecution for such offense
the burden of proof as to residence shall be upon the defendant.

§ 2071. Unlawful hunting, trespassing, et cetera, on another’s
lands.—If any person, without the consent of the owner or tenant,
shoot, hunt, range, fish, trap, or fowl on or in the lands, waters, mill
ponds, or private ponds of another, which are enclosed, or the bounda-
ries of which, or the streams adjacent to which, constitute a lawful
fence, or on any lands, waters, mill ponds, or private ponds of another,
east of the Blue Ridge, or in the waters on said land, he shall be
deemed guilty of a trespass, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined
not less than five dollars nor more than fifty dollars, and in addition
thereto shall be lable in an action for damages; and if any person,
after being warned not to do so by the owner or tenant of any premises,
shall go upon the lands of the said owner or tenant, he shall, in addi-
tion to the labilities imposed under this section, be deemed guilty of
u misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, punished by a fine not
exceeding fifty dollars or imprisoned in the county jail not exceeding
sixty days, or both, in the discretion of the justice or jury trying the
case.

§ 2072. In certain counties——If any person shoot, hunt, range, or
fowl on the lands or in the water courses comprehended within the
survey of any proprietor of lands in the counties of Alexandria, Fair-
fax, Prince William, Stafford, and King George, and within five miles
of navigable tidewater, without license in writing from the owner or
tenant of said lands, he shall, besides being liable to such owner or
tenant in an action for damages, forfeit to the informer three dollars
for the first offense, six dollars for the second offense, and nine dollars
for each succeeding offense, the forfeiture in each case to be double
if the offense be committed in the night or on Sunday; and he shall
likewise forfeit to the informer in each instance his boat or other
means of conveyance, his guns, dogs, and all his shooting and hunting
apparatus used in the commission of the offense, and be liable for all
costs and expenses incurred in apprehending and prosecuting him for
the recovery of said forfeiture.

§ 2073. Punishment of offenders.—Any person violating either of
the two preceding sections may be arrested, and the property forfeited
under the last section may be seized with or without warrant by any
sheriff or constable, or any game warden of the Commonwealth within
their respective jurisdictions, and held to await judgment. The
offender shall be carried before a justice of the county in which the
offense was committed, and a report be made to him of the property,
if any, seized. The justice shall proceed to try the case and give
judgment thereon. If judgment be rendered against the offender, it
shall be for the forfeitures, pecuniary and otherwise, and the costs and
expenses incurred, and any property seized, adjudged to be forfe
shall be delivered to the person entitled to the forfeiture in part s
faction of the judgment. If the offender does not satisfy the judm
in full, the justice shall commit him to jail for one month, unless
satisfaction be sooner made. If the olfender be acquitted, any
perty seized shall be released.

§ 2074. Proceeding when convicted a third time——If a perso
convicted a third time of any of the offenses mentioned in this cha
the justice rendering judgment therefor shall require him to gm
recognizance, with suflicient surety, for his good behavior for a °
and if he fail to give such surety, commit him to jail for one m:
unless he sooner give it. Such recognizance shall be deemed t
forfeited if such person commit any of the said offenses within the
limited in the recognizance.

§ 2078. Damages for shooting or killing tame deer.—If any pe
shoot or kill a tame deer, having a bell or collar on its neck, he
pay to the owner the value of such deer.

§ 2079. Concerning the protection of certain wild birds other
game birds, their nests and eggs.—It shall be unlawful at any tin
kill or capture the turkey buzzard, or black buzzard, or to kill or
alive out of the State the mocking bird, or kill or capture the th
gold finch, oriole, wren, rain crow, ¢ cardinal or red bird, wood r
blue bird, martin, starling, or any wild bird other than the game
herein named, or to destroy their nests or eggs, or to purchase or
for sale any such wild bird after it has been killed or caught, or
part thereof, and the possession or sale, or offering for sale, in
State of any bird so protected shall be prima facie evidence of ¢
provided, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to
to the English sparrow, great horned owl, sharp shinned hawk, Coa
hawk, crow, crow black bird. or rice bird.

§ 2080. Penalties for violating preceding section—If any pe
violate any of the provisions of the preceding section he shall be g
of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined not less than two dollars nor.
than twenty dollars, and imprisoned in jail-until the fine is paid.
not exceeding thirty days.

Sections twenty hundred and seventy-five, twenty hundred
seventy-six, twenty hundred and seventy-seven, twenty hundred
eirhty-one, and twenty hundred and eighty-two of the Code of Virs
and an act entitled an act to prevent the extermination of partr'
(or quail) in the State of Virginia, approved January twenty-sev
elghteen hundred and ninety-six, as amended by an act entitled
act to amend and re-enact. sections one and four of an act entitle
act to prevent the extermination of partridges (or quail) in the §
of Virginia,” approved January twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred
ninety-six, in force since December fifteenth, eighteen hundred
ninety-seven, and all other acts or parts of acts in conflict with the
visions of this chapter as hereby amended and re-enacted are he
repealed: Provided, that nothing in this act shall be construe
repealing a special act approved March eighth, nineteen hundred an
two, restricting the shooting of wild water fowl in Back bay and i
tributaries, in the county of Princess Anne.

2. ‘This act shall be in force from its passage.