Pelican Island, Florida. From the painting by Bruce Horsfal, background of the 

 brown pelican group in the American Museum. Pelican Island, the first national bird reser- 

 vation, was set aside in March. 1903. by order of President Roosevelt. It is guarded by a 

 warden employed by the National Association of Audubon Societies. Only visitors who have 

 secured a permit from this warden are allowed to land on the island 



albatrosses, shearwaters, frigate birds, noddy and sooty terns, and the 

 beautiful snow-white Pacific tern resort to breed. Here are also found 

 resident throughout the year the peculiar Laysan rail, the Laysan teal, the 

 Laysan finch, and the Miller bird. 



How the Birds are Protected 



In many cases the chief protection to the birds lies in the isolation of the 

 reservation. The islands on the Washington coast and the Farallon 

 Reservation are very difficult to land on even when the sea is smooth, and 

 in rough weather are practically inaccessible. On the larger and more 

 accessible reservations wardens are stationed throughout the year or at 

 least during the season when the birds are breeding. In several cases, 

 chiefly through the cooperation of the National Association of Audubon 

 Societies, motor boats are provided for the use of the wardens in patrolling 

 the waters about the islands. To protect the birds on Bird Key in the Dry 

 Tortugas, recourse is had to the Navy Department which several times 

 each year sends a Naval tug from Key West to the reservation to transport 

 the warden and his supplies. In the case of the Hawaiian Reservation a 

 revenue cutter is now despatched from Honolulu at least once each year 

 and sometimes oftener, to make the round of the islands and ascertain 

 whether the birds have been disturbed. In 1909 a company of twenty-three 

 Japanese plumage-hunters visited Laysan and Lysianski and destroyed 



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