544 ANNUAL KEPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Lake Malheur. — Various questions have arisen on Lake Miilheur 

 Reservation concernino; the rifj^lits and privileges of residents on 

 adjoining hmd — such questions as cuttin<i: hav between the meander 

 line and the shore line, burning tules, grazing hogs on Pelican Island, 

 destroying coyotes, and trapping fur-bearing animals. These ques- 

 tions have been so met as to maintain friendly rehitions with the 

 residents and secure their cooperatioiL 



Klamath Lake Reservation. — Under protection grebes are in- 

 creasing on Klamath Lake. A trespasser who was shooting ducks 

 from a motor boat was arrested in Noveml^er by the warden and wa« 

 fined $25 by the court. The warden has been commissioned deputy 

 United States marshal for California and Oregon, and during the 

 winter he cooperated with the warden service of California in pro- 

 tecting deer and antelope in the northern part of that State. In 

 winter mule deer, driven by heavy snows out of the mountains of 

 Oregon, repair to the Modoc lava beds, where they, as >vell as the ante- 

 lope, are easily killed by lawless hunters. Both species are rapidly 

 decreasing. Under the arrangement made it is hoped to prevent 

 the illegal hunting. 



Cold Springs Reservation. — The Cold Springs Reservoir, which 

 was completed three years ago, was filled to its capacity this year for the 

 first time. The boundaries of the reservation are 10.3 miles in length, 

 and the water surface is 1,530 acres. Owing to the absence of rushes 

 and green food and the roughness and depth of the water, present 

 conditions are not favorable for nesting waterfowl, and it is not 

 probable that the small number of breeding birds will be greatly 

 increased in the near future. But from September to May this reser- 

 voir is a stopping place for thousands of migratory ducks and geese, 

 the latter of which remain all winter. There was formerly consider- 

 able duck shooting here, but under the present protective regulations 

 the shooting has ceased. 



Deer Flat Reservation. — The Deer Flat Reservoir affords a rest- 

 ing place in the fall migration for large numbers of ducks and many 

 geese, brant, and swans. Indications are that it will be also an im- 

 portant nesting ground for waterfowl in the future. The lake is, 

 however, likely to become a pleasure resort, and as it is only a half 

 hour's ride by trolley from Caldwell, and launches are being intro- 

 duced, probably some restrictions will be needed. 



Hawaiian Reservation. — Another Japanese vessel having been 

 reported at Laysan Island, the revenue cutter Thetis was again dis- 

 patched to the island. The commander of the Thetis found, however, 

 that the captain of the vessel, apparently ignorant of the arrest of 

 the Japanese left the year before, had called for them, but had re- 

 turned to Japan, and that no injury had been done to the birds of 

 the island. 



A cooperative arrangement was made with the University of Iowa 

 to send an expedition to Laysan Island, through which conditions on 

 the island might be investigated, temporary warden service estab- 

 lished in the breeding season, and specimens of the fauna secured for 

 the Biological Survey and the university. The specimens collected 

 for the university will form the basis of a panoramic exhibit of the 

 bird life of the island. The expedition visited Laj^san late in April 

 aiid remained until about the 1st of June. The bureau's representa- 

 tive notes in his preliminary report a marked decrease in the number 



