84 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The work of carinn: for elk in Jackson Hole was continued dnrin'' 

 the winter in cooperation with the State authorities, and efforts 

 will be made to place the winter feeding of elk at that point upon 

 a more permanent basis by the acquisition of a refuge where hay can 

 be produced and fed. It is estimated that 7,250 elk were fed last 

 winter, but this is less than half of the 17,1G0 estimated to have win- 

 tered in that region. Adding these to the more than 30,000 which 

 wintered in the northern part of Yellowstone Park, it shows that 

 the great herds in the park and its vicinity number less than 50,000. 



With the 10 calves born this spring, the buffalo on the National 

 Bison Eange have now increased to 81, or 44 more than the original 

 number placed there three years ago. The beaver having disappeared 

 from Mission Creek, arrangements have been made to procure fresh 

 stock from the Yellowstone Park, and there are now several elk and 

 some antelope on the range. 



The national bird reservations number 56. including the Pribilof 

 Reservation in charge of the Department of Commerce and Labor 

 and the four new ones created during the year at Forrester Island 

 and Hazy Islands, Alaska, Niobrara, Nebr., and Green Bay, Wis. 

 For the better organization of the administration of these, four in- 

 spectors were appointed — one for the reservations in Oregon, one 

 for the coast reservations in Washington, one for the mountain dis- 

 trict, and one for the Florida reservations in the Gulf district. An 

 additional warden was appointed for Clear Lake Reservation, Cal., 

 arid a special agent detailed to inspect the reservation at Bellefourche, 

 S. Dak., Carlsbad, N. Mex., the southern reservations of Florida, and 

 Forrester Island, Alaska. No species has ever been introduced on 

 any of the bird resen^ations, with the exception of the European 

 rabbit on Farallon Islands, Cal., and Laysan Island, Hawaii. In 

 both cases they have increased so enormously that they have already 

 become a serious pest, and efforts will be made to reduce them on 

 Laysan Island. As in former years, permits have been issued to 

 trap on two of the Oregon reservations, and 4,858 muskrats, 190 

 minks, 13 skunks, 11 weasels, 12 raccoons, 3 otters, and 21 coyotes 

 w^ere taken. The severe storms destroyed many nests, eggs, and 

 young birds on the Passage, Key, and Pelican Island Reservations, 

 but information received in the spring indicated that they had 

 recovered from their losses. 



Every effort has been made to stop the sale of plumage of certain 

 birds, particularly herons, which in recent years have been slaught- 

 ered for the millinery trade. Laysan Island has recovered somewhat 

 from the devastation wrought by plume hunters in 1910, but the 

 colonies are still in a sadly reduced condition. Through the co- 

 operation of the Revenue-Cutter Service, the Thetis visited the island 

 twice during the year and reported everything in good condition. 



