UNCLE SAM'S BIRDS 



399 



West, where Malheur Lake and Khiiiiath 

 Lake reservations, in Oregon, resulted. 

 The latter is todaj' the summer home of 

 myriads of ducks, geese, grebes, white 

 pelicans and other wild waterfowl, and 

 never a week passes but that the waters 

 of the lake are fretted with the prow of 

 the Audubon patrol boat, as the watch- 

 ful warden extends his vigil over these 

 feathered wards of the Government. 



Not only have lakes with reedy mar- 

 gins, and lonely islands in the sea, been 

 turned into federal bird reserA'ations, 

 but such reservations have been made 

 to include also numliers of the big gov- 

 ernment reservoirs built in the arid 

 regions of the \Yest. 



Once set in motion, this moA'ement 

 for federal bird reservations soon swept 

 beyond the boundaries of the United 

 States. One was established in Porto 

 Rico, and several others among the 

 Aleutian Islands of Alaska, where on 

 the rocky cliffs may be seen today clouds 

 of puffins, auks and guillemots (queer 

 creatures which stand upright like a 

 man), shouldering and crowding one 

 another about on the ledges overlooking 

 the dark waters of Bering Sea. One 

 reservation in Alaska covers much of 

 the lower delta of the Yukon, including 

 the great tundra country south of the 

 river, and embracing within its borders 

 a territory greater than the state of 

 Connecticut. From the standpoint of 

 preserving rare species of birds, this 

 reservation is doubtless one of the most 

 important which has thus far come into 

 existence. It is here that many of the 

 wild fowl which frequent the California 

 coast in winter, find a summer refuge 

 safe alike from the bullet of the white 

 man and the arrow of the Indian. Here 

 it is that the lordly emperor goose is 

 making probably its last stand on the 

 American continent against the aggres- 

 sions of the destructive white race. 



Away out in the western group of the 

 Hawaiian Archipelago are located some 

 of the world's most famous colonies of 

 birds. From over vast regions of the 

 Pacific, the sea birds journey hither 

 when the instinct for mating comes 

 strong upon them. Here come the 

 "love birds" or white terns, and many 

 albatrosses, those great winged wonders 

 whose home is on the rolling deep. 

 Their numbers on these islands are 

 such as to be almost beyond the belief 

 of men who are unfamiliar with bird 

 life in congested colonies. On Febru- 

 ary 3, 1909, these islands and reefs were 

 included in an executive order whereby 

 the Hawaiian Island reservation was 

 brought into existence. This is the 

 largest of all our government bird re- 

 serves, and extends through more than 

 five degrees of longitude. 



At intervals in the past these islands 

 had been visited by vessels engaged in 

 the feather trade, and although no funds 

 were available for establishing a warden 

 patrol among them, it was fondly hoped 

 that the notice given to the world that 

 the birds here were now the wards of the 

 United States would be sufficient to in- 

 sure their safety. 



A rude shock was felt, therefore, when 

 late that year a rumor reached Washing- 

 ton that a Japanese poaching vessel had 

 been sighted heading for these waters. 

 The revenue cutter "Thetis," then lying 

 at Honolulu, was at once ordered on a 

 cruise to the bird islands. Early in 1910, 

 the vessel returned, bringing with her 

 twenty-three Japanese feather hunters 

 who had been captured at their work of 

 destruction. In the hold of the vessel 

 were stored two hvmdred and fifty-nine 

 thousand pairs of wings, two and a half 

 tons of baled feathers, and several large 

 cases and boxes of stuffed birds, for 

 which, had the Japanese escaped with 

 their bootv, thev would have realized 



