120 President's Address : \ f™" 



L ist Jan. 



Bird Sanctuaries. 



[Address of the President (Mr. D. Le Souef, C.M.Z.S., &c., Director of 

 the Melbourne Zoological Gardens) before the Australasian Orni- 

 thologists' Union, Adelaide Session, 1909.] 



It is gratifying to state that this subject has lately come well to 

 the fore in Australia, especially in the southern States, and I 

 hope that whatever has been done will only be a forerunner 

 of much more to come. 



Our native fauna and flora are not ours to do what we like 

 with, but, to quote another, " are given to us in trust for the 

 benefit both of the present and future generations. We must 

 render an account of this trust to those who come after us ; it is 

 therefore the duty of every Australian to promote the protection 

 of our forests and wild life, while there is still some left to 

 preserve, and, if rightly conserved, wild game, especially birds, 

 constitutes a valuable asset to any country which possesses it, 

 and it is good statesmanship to protect it." 



The few reserves in Australia at present are insignificant to 

 what we should have, especially in comparison with what is 

 being done in other countries. Take Canada, for instance — she 

 has the Rocky Mountain Park, consisting of 2,764,800 acres ; 

 Jasper Park, Alberta, 3,488,000 acres ; and six others, with a 

 total area of 4,179,200 acres. In the United States they had 

 up to 1st June, 1909, 12 national and provincial parks and 

 game preserves, of a total area of 7,258,963 acres ; and besides, 

 to quote from The New York Zoological Bulletin — " Around the 

 coast of the United States there is being gradually extended a 

 chain of insular bird sanctuaries, that means much to the 

 avifauna of North America. Prior to ist January, 1909, 25 

 national bird refuges had been created by executive order and 

 proclamation, chiefly along our sea-coasts. They provide 

 specially protected breeding grounds for the Pelican, Gulls, 

 Terns, shore-birds of various species. Herons, Egrets, Ducks, 

 and numerous other species. It is impossible to over-estimate 

 the zoological value of these sanctuaries, or to praise too highly 

 the wisdom that brought them into existence. During the 

 present year 26 more island preserves have been proclaimed." 

 Our American cousins would not make all these reserves and 

 sanctuaries if they did not consider them necessary for the well- 

 being of their country, and surely we should not be behind 

 them. Sanctuaries are just as necessary to our country as 

 theirs, possibly more so. 



When we consider for a moment the enormous amount of 

 insect life that is yearly consumed by our insectivorous birds, it 

 is incalculable and beyond our comprehension. Just to give 

 one instance, when Surgeon-Colonel C. Ryan and myself 

 visited a single Ibis rookery in New South Wales, we estimated 



