Government agents will make a return visit to a Camden, ME restaurant to confiscate the eatery's stuffed bird. U.S. Fish and Wildlife agents recently paid a visit to the restaurant.
The owners of Cappy's Chowder House were told agents were going confiscate the stuffed greater black backed gull that's hung in the House's upstairs dining room for more than 20 years.
Agents say possessing the 150-year-old bird is illegal under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The law makes possessing a prohibited species punishable by up to six months in jail and a $500 fine. Gulls have been under federal protection since 1918. Agents say they were responding to a customer complaint.
Cappy's owner, Johanna Tutone, said it never occurred to her that the bird was illegal. She bought the bird at an estate sale. She originally thought the two agents were pulling a prank on her, until they told her they would be back to take the bird to a government warehouse in Colorado.
Tutone is concerned the bird will disintegrate if it's taken out of the glass frame its been in this entire time. She's trying to reach a deal with the state to have the bird placed in a museum.

















