^°!gf,'^] President's Address. 155 



Kellidie Bay (5 acres), were proclaimed bird sanctuaries upon 

 representation being made by the South Austrahan Ornithological 

 Association, on the recommendation of the Royal Australasian 

 Ornithologists' Union. On these islands sea-birds have a haven 

 of rest. Rock-Parrots {Neophema petrophila) breed on one or 

 two of the small rocky islets. The Casuarina Islands, off Kangaroo 

 Island, 10 acres in area, complete the list of reserves made under 

 the Birds Protection Act of 1900. 



The officers of the Commissioner for Crown Lands, assisted by 

 the police, see that the provisions of the Act are carried out in 

 reference to these reserves. The secretary to the Commissioner, 

 Mr. Thos. Dutfield, is a zealous officer, who is ever ready to place 

 before his chief the recommendations and particulars relative to 

 areas which should be reserved. 



Other Sanctuaries. 



The reserves mentioned are not the only areas protected, as 

 extensive tracts of country are either placed under the control 

 of local governing bodies or are supervised by other Government 

 departments, who rigidly protect the birds frequenting them. 

 The Commissioner for Crown Lands has leased all the islands in 

 the Coorong, situated between Woods's Well and Salt Creek, to 

 the South Australian Ornithological Association, with the object . 

 of saving the Pelicans. In former years vandals visited these 

 islands regularly and decapitated young Pelicans to secure the 

 one penny a head " blood money." After the islands had been 

 leased to the Association I visited the locality to take them over, 

 and erected notices warning trespassers off. I also arranged for 

 a local custodian ; and I am pleased to be able to say that several 

 hundred young Pelicans were hatched out last year. This year, 

 I am informed by the custodian, the birds are again starting to 

 nest. These islands are the only places now in South Australia 

 where Pelicans breed. In the early days they were found in 

 many other localities. 



It is hoped that in the near future these islands will become 

 the resort of birds of many species. 



In the past the waters of the Coorong teemed with bird-life. 

 Pelicans and Cormorants were present in countless thousands, and 

 fish were abundant. Now that the bird population has been 

 reduced to a minimum, the fish have all but disappeared. Soft 

 sand-crabs, which swarm in the waters, eat the fishes and their 

 spawn. The fishermen's nets also are destroyed by the crabs. 

 This is the result of kilhng the birds. 



Belair National Park. 



Another good reserve for the native fauna is that at Belair, 

 known as the National Park. In August, 1888, a paper was read 

 before the Field Naturalists' Section of the Royal Society by the 

 late Mr. Arthur F. Robin on the subject of "Native Fauna and 



