6 Massachusetts Audubon Society 



UNIQUE CANADIAN BIRD SANCTUARY 



A tag bearing a number of verses from the Scriptures and the name of 

 James Miner, Kingsville, Ontario, found tied to the leg of a wild duck killed 

 recently by Clyde Keener of Trenton, Jones county. North Carolina, has 

 brought to light the existence of a haven for wild fowl on the north shore of 

 Lake Erie to which the feathered tribes flock in huge numbers. Keener 

 wrote Miner advising him of the finding of the tag. 



The latter in an answering letter stated that wild ducks and geese stop 

 at his farm during the course of their migratory journeys and that he and 

 the birds are the best friends. He said he had built a pond for the feathered 

 tourists and that he feeds them five hundred bushels of corn each year dur- 

 ing the two months' stay at his place. Mr. Miner's letter, in part, follows: 



"Thank you for having reported finding the tag. I now have tags re- 

 turned to me off wild geese and ducks from North Carolina to Hudson Bay. 

 In several instances the tags have been found by Indians in the far North 

 after shooting the birds and they have taken them to Hudson Bay agents, 

 who forwarded them to me. 



"I have had tags returned from twenty-three different states and prov- 

 inces, the farthest south being Guydan, Louisiana, and the farthest west 

 being Englefield, Saskatchewan. 



"I try to tag all the birds that spend some time at my place. Forty per 

 cent, of those that I tag in the fall return to me the following spring. Others 

 stay here all the time, in spite of the fact that the weather grows very cold. 

 As I am writing you there are about seventy-five wild geese and forty wild 

 ducks feeding within fifty feet of me. 



"It took me several years to get the birds coming. At last, however, 

 a small bunch came and they apparently told others, until their little flock 

 grew into a small cloud. In fact, I have seen the wild geese rise up so 

 thick that you could scarcely see through them, and their honking could be 

 heard over a mile away. 



"During the last six or seven years I have fed them in the months of 

 March and April five hundred bushels of corn. When the birds stop off 

 here they seem to leave all fear behind them. Even strange birds, visiting 

 my place for the first time, let me come within a few feet of them. They 

 evidently have been told by the old-timers that there is no danger. 



"It is a great sight to see all these birds together. People for miles 

 around have heard of what I am doing and thousands have come to see the 

 sight. Even these strangers can come within forty or fifty feet of the wild 

 birds without causing them any fright. Not a single bird ever has been shot 

 on my premises and the feathered tourists seem to know that when they stop 

 off here they are on neutral ground. 



"Of course this is not so with regard to the surrounding territory, over 

 which I have no jurisdiction. I have seen men shoot and wound a duck or a 

 goose and I have seen the bird make a desperate effort to reach my place. 

 Sometimes they succeed and permit me to doctor them. At other times they 

 fall to the ground before they can reach the safety-zone. 



"I am opposed to deliberate slaughter of ducks and geese just for the 

 sake of shooting them. We've got to be careful and call a halt to this 

 destruction for, unless we are careful, it won't be many years before geese 

 and ducks are hard to find. I am trying my best to give the birds what pro- 

 tection I can. My system of tagging them is part of this plan. I have re- 

 ceived letters from many hunters who have written me that they uphold me 

 in my work. 



"There is always fascination in overcoming prejudice and dislike. 



