The Audubon Societies 



321 



of naturalists visited me for study. Prof. 

 Alvin Cahn and two assistants came on 

 June 3, and stayed about ten days, during 

 which they studied the life habits of Egrets 

 and Herons, and took about 250 photographs 

 of them. Mr. and Mrs. G. Finlay Simmons, 

 the former being an instructor in biology at 

 the University of Texas at Austin, came 

 about the middle of June, and worked among 

 the birds and fish of the surrounding district 

 for two weeks. Prof. B. C. Tharp, botanist 



by camping on land, which camp would have 

 to be built during the heat of nesting, I used 

 the houseboat. I am convinced the proper 

 way to handle the Island is to put up a small 

 permanent wooden shack, say 12 by 16 feet, 

 with a porch across one side, building this 

 in the fall or winter. Such a building could 

 be used for a great many years and would 

 not, in my judgment, bother the birds. The 

 first cost of a structure of this sort should 

 not be over $250. It would be the ba,se of 



BIRD RESERVATION 



ONE OF THE SIGNS RECENTLY ERECTED ON GREEN ISLAND, TEXAS, BY R. D. CAMP 

 REPRESENTING THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF AUDUBON SOCIETIES 



of the University of Texas, spent six days, 

 from June 23, studying and collecting the 

 flora of Green Island. Mr. Jack Specht, 

 field man for the Fox Film Service, arrived 

 on June 27 and took about 550 feet of film 

 for educational screen work. Also a number 

 of local fishermen parties visited the camp 

 for a few hours each. On only two occasions 

 did I have to correct trespassers who at- 

 tempted to land on the Island with guns; 

 each time these parties waded over from 

 Moro Island. 



"Conditions on Green Island, the territory 

 principally watched, were far more satis- 

 factory this year than formerly. Due to my 

 fear of the possibility of disturbing the birds 



action for all the territory from Point Isabel 1 

 to Topo Bay. 



The Grackle Menace 



"By far the greatest menace to the rookery 

 at Green Island is the destroying of 

 the fresh eggs of the Herons and Egrets by 

 the Great-tailed Crackles. This destruction, 

 however, was greatly overcome this year, 

 but not to the extent possible, as I clearly 

 determined by conditions observed while on 

 the ground. Last year, by a careful census 

 and estimate, there were over 5,000 shells of 

 devoured fresh eggs, mostly Reddish Egret 

 and Louisiana Heron, on the ground at one 

 time. This was so greatly reduced the present 



