The Audubon Societies 



319 



attracted to the tower are innumerable 

 Starlings, Larks, Thrushes, Gulls, Terns and 

 Oystercatchers. In addition there is a great 

 variety of other land and shore-bird species. 

 The perches or 'ladders' are erected twice 

 a year and remain up for two months during 

 the period of migration. 



Similar Efforts in England 



It is but natural that the wonderful success 

 attending this experiment should attract the 

 attention of the officers of the Royal Society 

 for the Protection of birds just across the 

 English Channel. At the annual meeting of 

 that Society held in London on March 6, 

 1913, Lord Curzon headed a special fund 

 with a gift of £25 for the purpose of equip 

 ping some of the lighthouses in England. 

 Many other members of the Society at once 

 contributed. The London Times took up the 

 campaign and materially aided in the col- 

 lection of funds which soon amounted to the 

 very useful sum of £500. 



In the annual report of the Royal Society 

 for 192 1 there appears this paragraph: 



Bird-rests at Lighthouses 



"The perches at the four lighthouses 

 equipped by the Society were erected as 

 usual for the spring and autumn migrations, 



and abundant evidence was again given of 

 their value to bewildered little migrants. 

 The lighthouses at present furnished with the 

 rests are the Caskets, St. Catharine's, Spurn 

 Point, and South Bishop. The Committee 

 will be glad to add Bardsey Lighthouse 

 (Carnarvon), when funds permit. This year 

 the apparatus at Spurn has had to be re- 

 newed at a cost of £70, owing to the de- 

 struction wrought by heavy storms." 



In America perches for birds have never 

 been erected on any of the lighthouses, but 

 it is a question that has frequently been dis- 

 cussed. Some months ago the National 

 Association of Audubon Societies took up 

 the matter with the Lighthouse Board in 

 Washington. Inquiry was made as to 

 whether the Government would look with 

 favor on the idea of the National Association 

 equipping one lighthouse witli perches as an 

 experiment. In reply we were advised that 

 the Biological Survey of the Department of 

 Agriculture is at the present time engaged 

 in making a thorough investigation of the 

 extent of the destruction of birds by Ameri- 

 can lighthouses. It will probably be a year 

 before the Survey will make its final report, 

 after which we shall be in position to know 

 what further consideration of the subject is 

 needed. 



GUARDING THE GREAT TEXAS HERONRY 



The great colony of Reddish Egrets dis- 

 covered in Laguna Madre, Texas, in 1920, 

 was taken under the care of the Association 

 the past season. The work of guarding these 

 extremely rare and interesting birds was 

 entrusted to R. D. Camp, of Brownsville. 

 It may be recalled that the Texas Legislature 

 at its last session enacted a law authorizing 

 the Commissioner of Public Lands to lease 

 to our Association, without cost for a period 

 of fifty years, various islands in these waters, 

 whose vast bird-life had been brought to the 

 attention of the public by our field work in 

 that territory. While the necessary legal 

 arrangements for taking title of the Islands 

 have not yet been completed, we felt the 

 necessity of immediately beginning the work 

 of protecting the birds. 



It was the southern group of these Laguna 

 Madre Islands that Mr. Camp undertook to 

 protect. These consist of Green Island, 

 Moro Island, and the Three Islands. His 

 report of the season's work is of more than 

 usual interest, and this means is taken to 

 present it to the members of the Association. 



"I arrived at Green Island on May 20, in 

 a sailboat, towing the houseboat and skiff, 

 having made the trip from Point Isabel in 

 seven and one-half hours. The houseboat 

 was an old affair with a cabin 10 by 20 feet 

 built on two small barges. I rented it for 

 the season for $15. The deal proved very 

 satisfactory as it gave me a dry and semi- 

 comfortable place to camp, away from the 

 mosquitoes which were troublesome at times. 



"During my stay in the Laguna a number 



