﻿Reservations 



241 



there during the past season. The warden reports that he thinks more than 

 this number were raised, but that, owing to the dense growth on the island, 

 and his reluctance to disturb the breeding birds, it was impossible to make 

 a complete census. The young reported were seen off the island in com- 

 pany with the parents. The importance of reservations is not confined 

 entirely to the fact that they are protected refuges for breeding birds, but 

 also to the fact that the results obtained on the reservations are so widely and 

 favorably commented upon by the press, thus attracting the attention of the 

 public to this branch of Audubon endeavor. 



IVardens. — This important branch of Audubon work was successfully 



ARCTIC TERN 

 Photographed by H. K. Job, at Matinicus Rock, Maine 



continued during the past breeding season. Most of the wardens are employed 

 only at that time, while the birds are in colonies. After this period the 

 birds scatter or migrate, and there is no necessity for the services of guards. 

 There are a few exceptions, however, when the wardens are employed by 

 the year. One of nature's checks to over-production has been felt in 

 several places along the coast this year in storm tides which swept away 

 thousands of young birds or unhatched eggs, and on the Pelican Island 

 Reservation a disease attacked the young Pelicans and 700 of them died in a 

 few days. Such instances emphasize the necessity of guarding against the 

 unnatural checks which improvident and selfish men place on the birds. 



In Maine, thirteen wardens were employed, all of whom report a very 

 •successful season. Herring Gulls, Arctic and Common Terns and Black 

 Guillemots were raised in large numbers, and the birds are becoming sur- 

 prisingly tame and fearless. 



