CHAPTER XIII 

 REFUGES AND PROTECTED COLONIES 



Attracting Water-birds. In conjunction with the heron 

 colony just mentioned, Mr. Mcllhenny has a pond with 

 pinioned wild ducks and geese as a nucleus. No shooting, 

 of course, is permitted, and a host of other wildfowl are 

 attracted in here to spend the winter and feast upon the 

 hospitality of the owner. Some like it so well that they 

 decide not to migrate North, but remain to breed. This 

 sort of thing, in localities naturally attractive to waterfowl, 

 could and should be done more and more, and this instance 

 serves as an instructive practical example. 



Wildfowl Reservations. A splendid movement, which has 

 gathered momentum in the past few years, is the establish- 

 ment of reservations on tracts of marsh and swamp land, un- 

 suited to human occupancy, where wildfowl can gather and 

 feed in winter and be safe from molestation. Well known 

 already are the Ward-Mcllhenny tract in Louisiana and that 

 of Marsh Island, donated by Mrs. Russell Sage. Latterly 

 comes the vast tract under the Rockefeller Foundation ad- 

 joining the above in this great marsh region. Together these 

 comprise some 500 square miles, and extend for 75 miles 

 along the coast. Already ducks have begun to breed there 

 in considerable numbers, according to Mr. Mcllhenny — 

 the blue-winged teal, gadwall, black duck, and mallard, and 

 probably others in time will join them. Similar measures 

 should be taken, even if on a smaller scale, in every State of 



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