29 July—While mowing the meadow yesterday afternoon I came upon a wild turkey feather, the first I had found in several years. Evidently a mature turkey had been preening himself or herself. So I was delighted to add it to my collection of turkey, crow, bluejay, cardinal (and possibly other species’) feathers.

Earlier in the day, while writing the Daily Disquisition, I had watched as a hawk, having been chased by crows, flew back to his customary perch on a pile of brush and plucked a feather from his wing. So I retrieved the feather when the hawk flew off. And in so doing I committed a crime subjecting me to a fine and time in Danbury, possibly with Steve Bannon.

Because it appears that under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) of 1918 (and amended several times) it’s illegal to collect and trade in—pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, or sell without a waiver—feathers (as well as other parts and eggs—and even nests) of some 1,100 species of birds found in North America, regardless of how they were obtained. And there’s no exemption for molted feathers or those taken from birds found dead from whatever causes.

I really had no idea. But ignorance of the law is no defense. Except for police, of course. And had I not done due diligence on confirming the particular species of hawk that had discarded the inculpatory feather, I’d still have no idea that I’ve been an unwitting criminal for decades.

Not that it matters, but what I’d thought was a red-tail turned out to be a juvenile red-shouldered hawk. I confirmed that with a couple of pictures I was serendipitously able to catch late yesterday of the dirty bird who had entrapped me.

Wild turkeys are among the birds not protected in any way by the MBTA (or any other legislation). Nor are so-called game birds (bred expressly to be shot) like pheasants and quails; domesticated and pet birds (bred expressly for captivity) like parrots and canaries; and non-migratory birds (bred for inhumane death) like chickens and ostriches.

Of course Indians—rather, Native Americans, i.e., enrolled members of federally recognized tribes—have special dispensation, as they do in so many things. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sells permits for otherwise prohibited activities, like sourcing, using, and trading in bird parts; taxidermy; and killing non-game birds around airports. And states have their own laws on top of the fed’s.

While red-shouldered hawks and crows, for instance, aren’t what we’d normally consider migratory birds, the fed has its own criteria and rationale. And the fact is that the law makes perfect sense when you consider that its purpose, while not intended to be humane, is to conserve and protect migratory and other bird species, their nests, eggs, and feathers—and you can’t be sure where or how feathers and other body parts may have been obtained.

So immediately after I post this abject and true confession, I shall destroy the young red-shouldered hawk’s secondary wing feather and do the same with all the contraband plumage secreted (simply because of size) among the lawfully collected wild turkey feathers.

Having confessed (however apologetically), then, should I be arrested by the Fish and Wildlife Service and fined and/or imprisoned, I’d supplicate for a presidential pardon. And that poses other problems . . .