248 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Smith Island, Wash. — The value of this reservation as a refuge 

 for waterfowl has been clearly demonstrated during the past winter. 

 Several species of ducks, notably widgeons, occurred about the reser- 

 vation in such numbers as to cause complaints of damage to clover 

 fields in the vicinity. An inspector sent to investigate the matter 

 ascertained after careful examination that the damage was local and 

 by no means serious. Application was made to the Department of 

 Commerce for permission to use the lighthouse reservation as a basis 

 for operations for gathering kelp in the vicinity of the island. These 

 operations will be confined to three months during the summer, and 

 in the permit which has been issued provision has been made for pro- 

 tection of the birds. 



Forrester Island, Alaska. — The number of birds on this reser- 

 vation was about the same as in 1914, except that an additional colony 

 of Cassin auklets was found which was not noted last season, and 

 forked-tailed petrels were apparently less plentiful. The warden 

 reported that fishing during the season of 1915 showed a decided im- 

 provement over that of the previous year, although the number of 

 fishermen on the reservation was much smaller, only about 180 per- 

 mits being issued as against more than 500 during 1914. Several hard 

 wind storms visited the island, one particularly severe, on July 5-6, 

 doing considerable damage to the boats. 



Hawaiian Islands. — On September 25, 1915, the American 

 schooner O. 31. Kellogg, bound for San Francisco from a point in 

 the South Pacific went ashore on Maro Reef, not far distant from 

 Laysan Island, and the captain and his crew made their way safely 

 to that island, where by chance they found Capt. Max Schlemmer 

 with two companions, who had landed a short time before. With 

 the aid of Capt. Schlemmer's yacht Helene the crew of the 0. M. 

 Kellogg reached Midway Island, and were safely transferred to 

 Honolulu by a naval tug. Subsequently, the U. S. S. Nereus return- 

 ing from Japan stopped at Laysan and brought back Capt. Schlem- 

 mer and his two companions. 



During the last cruise of inspection of the Coast Guard cutter 

 Thetis in March and April, 1915, a landing was made on Nihoa, or 

 Bird Island. This precipitous rock rises to a height of some 500 feet 

 above the sea and has remained one of the most inaccessible islands 

 in the reservation. Among the interesting birds found was a finch 

 supposed to be related to the species which occurs on Laysan. On 

 Lysianski Island no vegetation was left and all the rabbits which 

 had been introduced some years ago had disappeared, evidently 

 showing that the rabbits had eaten all the vegetation and had then 

 perished through lack of food. There was no evidence that the 

 birds had been disturbed by poachers. On Laysan Island there 

 was a mnrked improvement in the condition of the birds over that 

 of the previous year. Many more albatrosses were found breeding, 

 thousands of the Hawaiian terns were nesting, and 35 of the rare 

 Hawaiian teal were seen, more than twice as many as were previously 

 reDorted. 



IMPORTATION OF BIRDS AND MAMMALS. 



Continuance of the war in Europe has had an even more notice- 

 able effect on the importation of birds and mammals than during 



