344 From Magazines, S-c. [,sf April 



Destruction of Pelicans. — Under the caption, " Pity the 

 PeHcan," the following article was published in the Adelaide 

 Evening Journal of gth February, 191 1 : — 



" When Pelicans were removed from the protected list the 

 Ornithologists' Association expressed its strong disapproval and 

 indignation that what amounted to the first step towards the 

 destruction of this quaint Australian bird should have been taken. 

 Led by Capt. S. A. White, every effort was made to induce the 

 authorities to reconsider their cruel decision. The effect of the 

 withdrawal from the protected list of the Pelican has now been 

 brought home with dastardly force. The reason given for per- 

 mission to destroy the bird was that it ate enormous quantities 

 of fish, to the detriment of fishermen's livelihood. Capt. White 

 informed a reporter on Thursday morning that, from what he had 

 heard from the Coorong, it appeared that blood-money was now 

 being paid for Pelicans, and that so much a head was given. 

 ' Some scoundrels,' he said, ' allowed the whole rookery on 

 Pelican Island to hatch, to the extent of 2,000 birds. The rookery 

 has now been swept away, because somebody has secured the 

 heads of the 2,000 fledglings. There are only two rookeries in 

 South Australia, and this means that if wholesale destructions like 

 the one so brutally perpetrated are repeated once or twice it 

 practically amounts to the extermination of this remarkable bird. 

 It is one of the most dastardly acts I have ever heard of, and the 

 Ornithologists' Association is going to take prompt action. The 

 Pelican is a very timid bird, and is easily destroyed. We can 

 prove that Pelicans do not consume the enormous quantities of 

 fish they are alleged to do. The same thing has been said about 

 Cormorants— that where they are fish decrease. It has been 

 found that where Cormorants have been destroyed fish have 

 diminished in number. In America they allowed the Pelicans to 

 be almost exterminated ; but about 3 or 4 years ago the authori- 

 ties awoke to the fact that these birds were not injurious to the 

 fishermen's trade, and the authorities set to work to re-establish 

 the birds. Only a few were found on an island on one of the 

 rivers. This was proclaimed a bird sanctuary, and latest reports 

 show they are multiplying most satisfactorily.' " 



Game Protection in the United States. — The United States 

 Department of Agriculture Bureau of Biological Survey has issued 

 a series of circulars dealing with game protection. Circular No. 72, 

 " Private Game Preserves and their Future in the United States," 

 is of special interest to Australian ornithologists, in view of the 

 number of landowners in the Commonwealth who have had their 

 estates declared sanctuaries for wild life. Of course, the private 

 game preserves in North America are formed primarily for owners' 

 exclusive enjoyment of the sport to be obtained within their 

 boundaries, and " opposition to them has frequently been mani- 



