Report of Secretary 



387 



.eries were located, nineteen of which were protected by our agents and hired 

 wardens. While, for obvious reasons, it is deemed inadvisable to give publicity 

 to the exact location of these colonies, it would probably not be localizing 

 them too much to say that the most of them are in Florida, Georgia and South 

 Carolina, and one each in the states of North Carolina, Texas and Oregon. 



YOUNG CARACARA IN XEST, BIRD PROTECTED IN FLORIDA A! I>l 1;m\ kMoKKRY 

 Photographed by O. E. Baynard 



These colonies, by careful count, contained about 1,400 of the small Snowy 

 Egrets and 2,100 of the large Egrets. None of the colonies were raided by 

 plume-hunters, the one attempt in this direction being frustrated by the 

 warden in charge. The birds, therefore, enjoyed the peaceful occupation of 

 their rookeries to an extent unknown in recent years. Many thousands of 

 other birds, including some of the rarest species in America, also reared their 

 young in safety in the protected areas. 



In order to get a fair idea of the extent of some of these colonies, we may 

 mention that in one Audubon Society reserve, in Florida, the agent in charge 

 states that the past summer there nested there in security, the following 

 (each number given refers to a nesting pair of birds) : Wood Duck, i ; Glossy 

 Ibis, 9; Least Bittern, 38; Ward's Heron, i; Egret, 197; Snowy Egret, 254; 

 Black-crowned Night Heron, 136; King Rail, 7; Purple Gallinule, 90; Florida 

 Gallinule, 66; Black Vulture, 2; Green Heron, 270; Red-winged Blackbird, 

 300; Water-Turkey, 368. The above facts were gathered by actual count. 



