Vol. XX 

 1904 



n DuTCHER, Report of Committee on Bird Protection. 197 



Warden work. — Eight wardens were employed, as usual, to 

 guard the very extensive series of breeding grounds in Northamp- 

 ton and Accomac Counties, which extend from the mouth of 

 Chesapeake Bay northward to the Maryland line. Warning 

 notices were prepared and were liberally posted throughout the 

 State. The new law unfortunately did not go into effect until 

 too late to prevent some egging ; however, the breeding birds 

 had a reasonably favorable season and some increase was made. 

 Before the next breeding season the public will have learned 

 about the law and the penalties for its violation, and the moral 

 effect will be good. The territory to be guarded is- very large, 

 is distant from dwellings, and it is difficult to prevent egging, a 

 custom that has been followed by the baymen for generations. 

 There is urgent need for a naphtha launch, in order to have a 

 single warden who can move rapidly from place to place. The 

 warden should be appointed by the State authorities with full police 

 powers ; his compensation can be provided for by the Thayer 

 Fund. From the reports of wardens and several well-known 

 ornithologists who visited this territory during the past breeding 

 season there seems to have been little or no mortality from shoot- 

 ing the adult birds. The bird colonies above referred to suffered 

 an excessive mortality of young or unhatched eggs by reason 

 of some exceptional high tides during June. Such mortality must 

 be expected almost annually at breeding grounds that are at best 

 not over one or two feet above the normal high tide mark. A 

 severe and continued easterly storm on the Virginia coast brings 

 in a tide that usually covers all but the highest portions of the 

 beach and marshes. For this reason it is imperative that these 

 colonies of sea and marsh birds should be carefully watched and 

 protected from the raids of eggers and gunners. 



Audubon work. — The Secretary reports as follows : " The 

 Audubon Society of Virginia was organized Sept. 29, 1903, and 

 has distributed a large number of warning notices supplied by the 

 National Committee. 



"A mass meeting of school children was held at Falls Church, 

 when the school was presented with the Massachusetts Audubon 

 Society Bird Charts. 



" The Society is now planning to print copies of the game laws 



