The Audubon Societies 



257 



tinue three weeks, and courses are offered 

 in general bird-study, applied ornithology 

 and field photography. 



A moderate charge will be made, uni- 

 form for all, and students may take one 

 or all the courses, and be admitted without 

 further charge to all lectures. The Inn is 



simple and unpretentious, the rooms small, 

 but everything is fresh and neat, and the 

 food is good. A prospectus with full detail 

 will be furnished on application, either to 

 the Association at 1974 Broadway, New 

 York City, or to Mr. Job at West Haven, 

 Conn. 



STINKING LAKE A BIRD SANCTUARY 



The long fight to end the killing of wild 

 fowl on Stinking Lake, and thus make of 

 it a bird sanctuary, has been won ! Stink- 

 ing Lake is located in northern New 

 Mexico, and, for hundreds of miles in 

 every direction, probably no region exists 

 that harbors such a large number of breed- 

 ing wild fowl in spring, or offers such oppor- 

 tunities for gunners in autumn. 



Several years ago the United States 

 Bureau of Biological Survey sent a repre- 

 sentative there to study the bird-life, and 

 the question at that time was brought up 

 of making it a United States Federal Bird 

 Reservation under the care of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. This was found in- 

 expedient for the reason that the lake lay 

 within the boundaries of the Jicarilla- 

 Apache Indian Reservation, and therefore 

 was not a part of the free public domain 

 from which bird reservations have always 

 been carved. 



Last fall the matter was brought to a 

 head by the action of a company of sports- 

 men, centering in Colorado Springs, and 

 organized under the distinctly misleading 

 title of the "Jicarilla Wild Game Sanctuar}' 

 Association." This club took steps to 

 secure from the Indian Service the 

 exclusive shooting privileges on Stinking 

 Lake. In return for this favor they offered 

 to build a fence to keep the cattle away 

 from the breeding-grounds of the birds, 

 and employ a guard throughout the year. 

 They were to shoot a month in the autumn 

 (which meant the entire time of the fall 

 shooting season until the lake freezes 

 over), and they obligated themselves to 

 shoot only twenty-five Ducks a day, which, 

 we may add, is five more than the law of 

 New Mexico allows. 



The writer, after entering a protest with 

 the Interior Department and receiving 

 no satisfactory response, went to Washing- 

 ton and had a conference with Mr. 

 Alexander T. Vogelsang, Assistant Secre- 

 tary of the Interior, and the official who 

 has oversight of several branches of the 

 Interior Department work, including the 

 Indian Service. To him was submitted 

 a request that the lake be not leased, 

 and that, using his authority, he should 

 prohibit all shooting on the lake. It was 

 found, however, that he had been so 

 thoroughly convinced of the philanthropic 

 intentions of these Colorado sportsmen 

 that he had already given his consent for 

 the leasing of the lake to them. 



After an extended visit, during which 

 certain facts, with which he was more or 

 less unfamiliar, were drawn to his atten- 

 tion, he readily agreed to reopen the case. 

 Later, he stated that, upon reflection, he 

 had changed his former position in the 

 matter, and, as requested by the Audubon 

 Association, would in future allow no 

 one to shoot on this territory. He asked 

 the writer to make suggestions relative to 

 the season and bag-limit, which the 

 Indian Service could insert into regulations 

 regarding shooting on other small bodies 

 of water within the boundaries of this 

 Indian Reservation. This request was, 

 of course, promptly complied with. 



In the meantime, pressure continued 

 to be brought to bear on the Interior 

 Department from the West. The Jicarilla 

 Wild Game Sanctuary Association sent a 

 representative from Colorado on at least 

 two occasions to plead their cause. The 

 State Game Warden and another state 

 official from New Mexico visited Wash- 



