﻿State Reports 259 



perceptible interest has been aroused in the general public in the question of 

 bird preservation. The fact of the matter is, before that time there was no 

 interest whatever, but, thanks to the help of the editors of the daily news- 

 papers, who have given us considerable space, the economic as well as the 

 humanitarian aspects of the question have been so repeatedly brought to the 

 notice of the public that a sentiment has been engendered which speaks 

 well for the ultimate outcome. 



" Just how far or to what lengths the movements for bird protection will 

 go we do not know. One thing, however, stands out prominently, and 

 that is, that the former conditions of indiscriminate bird slaughter will never 

 again be tolerated. After we broke up the business of trapping and shipping 

 Mockingbirds and Cardinals out of our state, as well as all species of game- 

 birds, our greater activities have taken the form of planning and carry- 

 ing out the possibilities of bird-breeding on our great reservation in the Gulf 

 of Mexico. With our own eighteen islands, comprising the Audubon 

 Reservation, and the seven adjacent islands of the Breton Island Reservation, 

 belonging to the federal government, we control an area of upwards of 700 

 square miles of land and water devoted exclusively to the nesting birds. 



"The National Association aids us in this work by paying the wages of 

 two wardens and, in consequence, these islands are rapidly becoming a mar- 

 vel in bird-breeding. If all goes well, in a few years they will become the 

 most wonderful spectacle of wild sea-bird life in this country or probably in 

 any other country. Thousands upon thousands of Terns and Gulls were 

 raised there during the present year, and the work has only begun. Our 

 state legislature reenacted the A. O. U. law, with numerous additions, and 

 now it is as nearly perfect as the present conditions will warrant. 



" Unfortunately, we have to lament one backward step, due principally to 

 the sudden stoppage of immemorial custom. Our legislators very weakly 

 met the proposals of some misguided ignorant persons to take Robins and 

 Cedar Waxwings out of the non-game class and placed them in the game- 

 bird class, permitting their killing during certain seasons. We have accepted 

 the situation, however, and will attempt to meet it by having the economic 

 value of these birds determined by the experts of the Department of Agri- 

 culture, and we feel sure that their reports will end this foolishness for all 

 time to come. 



Our peerless songster, the Mockingbird , is increasing in numbers all over 

 the state and is holding his own against the assaults of that pestiferous 

 foreigner Passer domesticus. Laughing Gulls and Forster's Terns are appear- 

 ing on the waters adjacent to the city of New Orleans, where their absence 

 has been noted for many years. 



" We have tried to teach the people of our state the tremendous eco- 

 nomic importance of bird life to the welfare of mankind, and we can frankly 

 and truthfully report that our words have been and are being heeded. Our 



