66 



Bird - Lore 



was purchased on July 22, 191 2, by Mrs. 

 Russell Sage, the matter having been 

 brought to her attention by Mr. Mcll- 

 henny. The object of these later pur- 

 chases was, of course, to enlarge the region 

 wherein the wild life of the country might 

 be safe from human destroyers. But Mr. 

 Mcllhenn}'- was not yet satisfied, and on 

 April 29, 1914, he induced the Rockefeller 

 Foundation to purchase a tract of 86,000 

 acres adjoining the other refuges. Thus 

 there has been created a vast bird-reserve 

 of about 234,000 acres of Louisiana 

 marshes, the importance of which, espe- 

 cially from the standpoint of preservation 

 of wildfowl, can hardly be over-estimated. 

 Mr. Mcllhenny feels that what has been 

 done should be considered only the begin- 

 ning of a series of reservations for migra- 

 tory birds, that should extend northward 

 through the Mississippi Basin and onward 

 to northwestern Canada. The project 

 is a big one, but one that is well worth 

 while. There should likewise be a string 

 of refuges along the Atlantic seaboard and 

 on the Pacific Coast, where protection 

 from gunners may be had for the flocks of 

 Ducks and Geese, as well as for the dimin- 



ishing shore-birds that annually sweep up 

 and down the coast. If one should doubt 

 whether such an effort is worth while, one 

 need only visit the Louisiana refuges, 

 and witness the evidences of the abun- 

 dance of wild life to be found there. 



In company with Senator George P. 

 McLean, Mr. Mcllhenny, Mr. Job, and 

 Messrs. Alexander and Arthur of the 

 Louisiana Conservation Commission, the 

 writer traversed this region in December, 

 1915. From an observation-blind we 

 saw at least five thousand Ducks feeding 

 within gun-shot of us, and often would see 

 fully twice this number in the air at one 

 time. We witnessed, one morning on 

 Marsh Island, a flight of probably twenty 

 thousand Blue Geese and Snow Geese. 

 Wilson's Snipe we found in greater num- 

 bers than I have ever seen before. Coots 

 were also very abundant. Several war- 

 dens provided with power-boats are 

 employed to see that market-hunters, 

 tempted by these sights, do not rig out 

 their decoys and begin the work of 

 slaughter, as they used to do when no 

 protection for the wild-fowl hindered 

 their activity. 



THE YOUNG NEBRASKA ROBIN AFTER ITS BATH 



