A School-Sustained Bird Reservation 



By RALPH E. WAGER, De Kalb, 111. 



THE following account of the establishment of a school-sustained bird 

 reservation may be of service to some who are interested in the general 

 problem of the conservation of our wild-bird life. Could high schools, 

 normal schools, even colleges and universities, be stimulated to undertake the 

 protection and care of bird reservations, it would do more to develop a keen 

 personal interest on the part of students and, therefore, in those who later are 

 to hold the reins of government and mold pubHc sentiment than volumes of 

 writings and numberless lectures. Such an undertaking presents a definite 

 problem which must be solved in some definite manner. 



Not only so, but it is also true that it is entirely practicable. There is in 

 every locality a woodland or uncultivated tract of some sort, which may easily 

 serve the purpose of a bird reservation. It becomes such the moment definite 

 steps are taken to prevent wilful or preventable destruction of bird life upon it. 

 From such a center of efTort and accomplishment there radiates an influence 

 over wide territory. 



Some years ago the writer visited a grove, situated in Ogle County, 111., 

 and annually occupied as a nesting-site by a colony of Black-crowned Night 

 Herons. Although but a comparatively small tract of planted Norway spruce, 

 there were, nevertheless, between seventy and eighty pairs of the birds occupy- 

 ing it. Inquiry revealed the fact that the colony had in the past been rather 

 frequently raided by hunters. At one time, if my memory serves correctly, 

 sixty-five of the birds were killed and hung up on the nearby wire fence in 

 evidence of the skill and valor of their destroyers. 



More or less periodic visits were made for the purpose of studying the birds. 

 The complete destruction of two rookeries in the northern part of the state of 

 Illinois suggested the desirabiUty of making secure the one known to the writer. 



The farm on which the grove is located is owned by families under the name 

 of Sedgwick and Bebb, but the local management is given by Mr. W. W. Jones, 

 a gentleman in thorough sympathy with all good movements, and hence with 

 that of conserving wild life. It was therefore suggested to Mr. Jones that an 

 effort be made to establish the two or three acres of wooded land as a reserva- 

 tion. The suggestion met with a hearty acceptance. Mr. Jones took the matter 

 up with the owners and secured their cooperation. The proposition was then 

 placed before the students and faculty of the Northern Illinois State Normal 

 School. The students contributed five or ten cents apiece to defray the neces- 

 sary expenses, and by similar annual payments the necessary moneys are to be 

 raised. By vote of the faculty the school placed itself on record as being 

 behind the movement, and the president signed the papers, which are here 

 reproduced. 



Signs were then prepared and transported to the grove and placed in con- 



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