304 CONSERVATION OF CANADIAN WILD LIFE 
thickly settled by Galicians, and the land cultivated or 
mowed pretty close to the edge of the lake. Some geese are 
said to breed on the islands in the lake, and they should be 
reserved, but it is questionable whether the remaining frag- 
ments of land on the edges of the lake are worth reserving. 
White Bear Lake, fifty miles north of Swift Current, Sask. 
This has the possibility of being a fairly good wild-fowl 
refuge, as the land immediately surrounding it is not such 
as to make it suitable for farming to any extent. It seems 
to have favourable places for ducks to nest along its shores, 
and plenty of shelter (thick beds of rushes) and good feed- 
ing-ground in the shallow waters. 
Crane Lake, fifteen miles northeast of Maple Creek, Sas- 
katchewan. This lake seems to have good breeding condi- 
tions for ducks, and also to have many gulls and shore-birds 
in summer. The land surrounding it is mostly rather poor 
and sandy; much of it is of little use except for grazing pur- 
poses. At present, the grazing does not seem to be close 
enough to interfere with the birds. 
Bigstick Lake, twenty miles north of Maple Creek, Sas- 
katchewan. The land here is very poor farming land— 
stony near the lake, and sticky alkali on the low places. 
Numerous ducks were seen on the lake, and numbers of 
geese on the land near the lake. The north, northwest, and 
southwest sides of the lake seem to be well taken up, and 
the small, fractional areas between these farms seem hardly 
worth retaining as sanctuaries. 
Birch Lake, eighteen miles southeast of Vegreville, Alberta. 
This lake has good possibilities as a bird sanctuary. It is a 
fair breeding-place for ducks; some Canada geese and gulls 
nest on the islands in the lake; and the brushy shores afford 
shelter to sharp-tailed grouse, which will need the shelter 
more as the country becomes more settled. The land sur- 
rounding the lake is, in many places, either too steep or too 
low for cultivation. 
