156 



YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



wich, and located within the area segregated by the broken lines shown upon 

 the diagram hereto attached and made a part of this order, are hereby re- 

 served and set apart, subject to valid existing rights, for the use of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds. 

 It is unlawful for any person to hunt, trap, capture, wilfully disturb, or kill 

 any bird of any kind whatever, or take the eggs of such birds within the limits 

 of this reservation except under such rules and regulations as may be pre- 

 scribed from time to time by the Secretary of Agriculture. Warning is ex- 

 pressly given to all persons not to commit any of the acts herein enumerated 

 and which are prohibited by law. 



This reservation to be known as the Hawaiian Islands Reservation. 



THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 



THE WHITE HOUSE, February 3, 1909. 



FIG. 1. Hawaiian Islands Reservation for protection of native birds, Territory of Hawaii, 

 embracing reefs and islets segregated by the broken lines and designated " Hawaiian 

 Islands Reservation." 



This refuge consists of a dozen or more islands, reefs, and shoals 

 that stretch westward from the archipelago proper for a distance 

 of upwards of 1,500 miles toward Japan. The average distance 

 between them is something like 100 miles. Some of them, like 

 Necker, Bird Island, and French Frigate Shoal, are masses of vol- 

 canic rock thrust up out of the ocean and so steep and rugged as 

 generally to be inaccessible to anything without wings. Others are 

 little more than diminutive sand spits, snatched from the grasp of 

 ocean by the aid of coral animals. Still others are larger, and a 

 few, like Laysan. being covered with sandy soil, are clothed with a 

 more or less nourishing growth of shrubs, vines, and grasses. 



BIRDS AS CARRIERS OF SEEDS. 



The sources of the vegetation and the means by which the seeds of 

 plants and shrubs were originally transported to these distant ocean- 

 girt islands, thousands of miles from the nearest mainland, are a most 

 inviting field of speculation. The winds are capable of conveying 

 minute seeds to great distances, and favorable ocean currents also 

 materially aid as plant distributors. Birds, however, are doubtless 



