BUREAU OP BIOLOGICAL SURVEY. 261 



Fifteen elk transferred from Yellowstone National Park (Gardi- 

 ner, Mont.] in March arrived in good condition, with the excep- 

 tion of 1 animal, wliicli died a feAv days afterward. Four deer, 3 of 

 which were does, secured from the North Dakota Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station at Fargo, were transferred to Sullys Hill, but 1 

 of the does, injured in crating, died shortly after being liberated. 



Arrangements are being made for placing a small herd of buffalo 

 on the reservation in the near future. 



TRANSFER OF GAME. 



Through cooperation with the Department of the Interior and 

 the Forest Service 90 head of elk were transferred from Yellow- 

 stone National Park. Fifty of these were taken to national forests 

 in Colorado, '26 to the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina, 

 and 15 to the Sullys Hill Game Preserve in North Dakota. No elk 

 were transferred from Jackson Hole. 



NATIONAL BIRD RESERVATIONS. 



Two new national bird reservations, the San Francisco Bay Reser- 

 vation in California, and the North Platte Reservation in Nebraska, 

 were created and set aside by Executive order in August, 191G, thus 

 increasing to 70 the number of bird reservations administered by 

 this bureau. This includes the Niobrara, now used also as a big game 

 preserve. 



Klamath Lake, Oregon. — Owing to plans for lowering the water 

 level and reclaiming certain of the marsh lands within the reserva- 

 tion, conditions in general have not been entirely satisfactory. Bird 

 life has been normal, but because of the late spring in the region, 

 nesting and brooding have been later than usual. The Government- 

 owned launch has been placed in first-class repair and is now avail- 

 able for patrolling the reservation north of the railroad embankment. 

 A new launch, provided by the National Association of Audubon 

 Societies, for patrolling the southern portion of the lake, w^as com- 

 pleted and placed on the lake June 30, 1917. 



Malheur Lake, Oregon. — As at the Klamath Lake Reservation, 

 conditions at Malheur Lake have been unsettled, owing to the agita- 

 tion of a plan to reclaim the marsh lands within the reservation by 

 deepening the channel between Malheur and Harney Lakes and shut- 

 ting off the intake of water from the Blitzen and Silvie Rivers. To 

 date, no actual work has been undertaken on this project. If it should 

 be carried out it would result in the destruction of one of the greatest 

 breeding grounds for waterfowl remaining in the United States, and 

 would deprive the State of a valuable natural asset. 



Big Lake Reservation, Arkansas. — Temporary warden service 

 has been maintained on this reservation since October, with very 

 gratifying results. The Arkansas Fish and Game Commission 

 placed a motor boat on the lake at the disposal of the warden patrol- 

 ling the reservation, and this greatly improves the efficiency of the 

 supervision exercised. The illegal practice of killing ducks and other 

 waterfowl on and in the vicinity of the reservation and removing 

 them by motor boats and automobiles across the Missouri boundary, 



