The Audubon Societies 



H5 



report from the War Department, with 

 accompanying copy of a notice in regard 

 to the killing of game on the Fort Niobrara 

 Military Reservation. 



Sincerely yours, 



Wm. Loeb, Jr., 

 Secretary to the President. 



War Department, Office of the Chief 

 Clerk, Washington. March 30, 1908. 

 My dear Mr. Loeb: — In connection with 

 previous correspondence concerning the 

 communication of Mr. William Dutcher, 

 President of the National Association of 

 Audubon Societies for the Protection of 

 Wild Birds and Animals, in regard to the 

 preservation of game on the Fort Niobrara 

 Military Reservation, I transmit, here- 

 with, copy of public notice prohibiting 

 the shooting, trapping, or catching of 

 wild game, etc., on said reservation, with 

 the information that copies of the same 

 have been posted at various places on and 

 around the reservation. 



Very respectfully, 



John C. Scofield, 



Chief Clerk. 

 Hon. William Loeb, Jr., 



Secretary to the President. 



Bird Refuges 



The importance of bird refuges and 

 reservations is so great that every oppor- 

 tunity is taken to secure them, and, to that 

 end, a five years' lease has just been taken 

 of an island, containing thirty-six acres, in 

 the Connecticut river, near Portland. 

 In a future number of Bird-Lore we 

 hope to present a good photographic view 

 of this new bird refuge and a short ac- 

 count of it from Mr. John H. Sage, one of 

 our members. 



Negotiations are now pending, looking 

 to the purchase of a marsh island con- 

 taining some five hundred acres, on the 

 New Jersey coast. This marsh contains 

 the only colony of Laughing Gulls left in 

 that state. If negotiations are successfully 

 concluded, a diagram and account of the 

 purchase will be furnished. Funds are be- 

 ing raised by school children. 



Field Work 



Our field agent, Mr. H. H. Kopman, 

 is now conducting a bird survey along the 

 west coast of Florida. He started from 

 Pensacola late in April, and will make a 

 critical examination of the Florida coast 

 as far south as the mouth of the Caloosa- 

 hatchee river, for the purpose of locating 

 all of the bird colonies in the territory 

 covered. It is hoped that this survey will 

 enable us to make application for several 

 more bird reservations. 



Our Northwest field agent, Mr. William 

 L. Finley, accompanied by Mr. H. T. 

 Bohlman, photographer, is now conduct- 

 ing a bird survey through northern Cali- 

 fornia and southern Oregon, which will 

 extend as far east as Klamath Lake, in 

 order to discover whether there are any 

 large colonies of birds that need special 

 protection. It is hoped that some new 

 reservations may be established in this 

 territory, based on the results of the ex- 

 pedition now going on. If the survey is 

 concluded in time, Messrs. Finley and 

 Bohlman will re-visit the Three Arch 

 Rocks Reservation on the Oregon coast, 

 to compare the present condition of the 

 colonies of birds there with the numbers 

 found when they visited the islands in 

 the summer of 1904, since which date 

 this reservation has received special 

 warden protection. 



Mr. Herbert K. Job will make a visit,, 

 extending over a period of three weeks,, 

 to the Breton Island Reservation and the 

 Louisiana Audubon Islands, and, possibly, 

 to the Tern Islands Reservation, about the 

 first of June. His trip will be made on the 

 patrol boat, 'Royal Tern,' in charge of 

 Captain Sprinkle and his assistant. 



In a future number of Bird-Lore we 

 expect to have a comprehensive report 

 of the condition of the bird colonies at the 

 several places visited, together with some 

 good photographs of the birds. 



Reservation News 



Warden Kroegel, at Pelican Island, 

 Florida, reports that the Pelicans have had 

 a good season so far; about 1,500 young 



