THE MARSHES OF MALHEUR 97 



hundred and forty-three square miles of swim- 

 ming, winging, crying birds*? 

 : Lake Malheur Reservation is in the southeast- 

 ern quarter of Oregon, and is only one of several 

 such wild-life sanctuaries within the borders of 

 that great commonwealth. Indeed, the work being 

 done by Oregon for the protection of wild life 

 seems almost past belief to one used to the small 

 things of the Eastern States. And the work there 

 has but just begun I In 1912 the private game 

 " refuges," where the State Game Warden has en- 

 tered into contracts with owners of private land, 

 covered an area of 143,789 acres. In addition to 

 these small refuges there are six vast state reser- 

 vations, set aside forever by the Legislature for 

 game and bird protection, covering 1,698,320 

 acres, or 2654 square miles, an area more than 

 twice the size of Rhode Island. Besides these state 

 reservations are the four great Federal preserves : 

 Three Arch Rocks Reservation, off the coast ; Kla- 

 math Lake Reservation, lying partly in Oregon 

 andpartly in California; Cold Springs Reservation, 

 in Umatilla County, in the northeast; and Lake 

 Malheur Reservation, including the waters and 

 marshlands of Malheur and Harney Lakes, and 



