422 Bird -Lore 



of new owners, and, while fearing danger would come to the colony, the Asso- 

 ciation was unable to get possession of the island although we made every 

 reasonable effort to buy it. In the end the son of the owner was appointed war- 

 den. Later, reports came that the birds were being interfered with, and 

 Arthur H. Norton, our agent in Maine, was asked personally to investigate the 

 situation. He reported there was much evidence to show that the Gulls had 

 been continually robbed of their eggs, and also that foxes had been liberated 

 on the island. He found the colony broken up and the birds all gone. The 

 faithless warden was called to account, and his resignation was accepted. Mr. 

 Norton reported that many of the Gulls had resorted to a neighboring island, 

 where we hope to insure them protection hereafter. 



The Association has recently arranged for the purchase of a new patrol- 

 boat for Klamath Lake, in southern Oregon, as our old boat, 'Grebe,' after 

 being on duty for many years, at last, in the terminology of one of our western 

 friends, passed over the Great Divide. This new boat was purchased from the 

 income of the Mary Dutcher Memorial Fund. 



An unusual number of violations of the bird-and-game protective laws 

 have been reported during the past year by members in various states, and 

 these have been given attention. More than thirty arrests have been made in 

 New York City for the illegal selling of aigrettes as a result of a 'clean-up cam- 

 paign' undertaken by the State Conservation Commission at our request. 

 We provided two agents who secured the evidence in a number of these cases. 



In the interests of the Association's work, and with the cooperation of the 

 Biological Survey, the Secretary inspected during the year a number of the 

 United States bird-reservations. Visits were made to Breton Island Reserva- 

 tion, Louisiana; Walker Lake and Big Lake Reservations in Arkansas; Stump 

 Lake and Chase Lake, North Dakota; Cle Elum, Kachlees, Keechelus, 

 Bumping Lakes, Ediz Hook, Dungeness Spit, and Smith Island, Washington; 

 Three Arch Rocks, Malheur Lake, and Cold Spring Reservoir, Oregon; and 

 Deer Flat and Minnedoka Reservations in Idaho. 



While in Oregon discovery was made that a land company was quietly 

 working to get the State Land Board to obtain from the Department of 

 the Interior title to Malheur Lake. If the efforts to secure state control of this 

 territory are successful, these land speculators contemplate getting title to it 

 under a recent Oregon law, and then will drain the lake. To my mind this is 

 the most important bird-reservation in the United States. Something of its 

 vast bird-life is well known to bird-students through the writings and photo- 

 graphs of William L. Finley and Herman T. Bohlman. Their early explora- 

 tions into the Malheur country supplied President William Dutcher with the 

 necessary data to use in making application to have the lake made a Federal' 

 bird-reservation. 



Upon learning of the present alarming situation the Association at once 

 started a campaign of publicity to draw the public's attention to the threatened 



