The Audubon Societies 



117 



HOSTS OF WATER-FOWL IN LOUISIANA 



Mr. E. A. Mcllhenny, who keeps well- 

 informed as to conditions about the bird- 

 refuges in southern Louisiana, and to whose 

 skill and generosity we owe the admirable 

 photograph accompanying this article, 

 reports, in a letter quoted below, that 

 water-fowl are extraordinarily plentiful 

 there. 



"The past summer was most favorable 

 for the growth of duck-feed, and the mar- 



Scaups and Redheads occupied the lakes 

 of this tract and the State Game Preserve. 

 On Marsh Island vast numbers of Gad- 

 walls, Baldpates, and Mallards were to 

 be found, and great numbers of Blue 

 Geese, with a few Snow Geese, occupied 

 Marsh Island throughout the entire au- 

 tumn. These Geese later moved to the 

 Grand Chenier tract in the vicinity of 

 Constances Bayou, where they congre- 



I- 



li 



%.-, 



l^^t^ f>' 







^7 



DUCKS IN WINTER ON A LOUISIANA REFUGE 



shes, ponds, and lakes were filled with all 

 kinds of the most attractive feed for Ducks 

 and Geese; and in the early fall the Ducks 

 and Geese came in enormous quantities. 

 The fall and early winter . . . were very 

 dry, and the birds congregated in amazing 

 numbers wherever there was water. The 

 principal centers for bird-population were: 

 for Pintails, Mallards, and Teal, on both 

 sides of the Grand Chenier Ridge; for 

 Mallards and Teals on the Ward-Mcll- 

 henny tract, between the camp and the 

 Gulf; and great quantities of Canvasbacks, 



gated in enormous numbers, and where 

 there are still a great number. At present 

 there are more Ducks on the Louisiana 

 State Preserve than I have ever known 

 there. On the lake near my camp I esti- 

 mate there are 40,000 Canvasbacks; and 

 on the Louisiana State Game Preserve and 

 Lake Fearman, and on the North and 

 South lakes, vast numbers of Canvasbacks, 

 Scaups, Baldpates and Gadwalls. Teal 

 are everywhere, and the present winter 

 has shown a greater wild-fowl population 

 on the Louisiana refuges than ever before." 



