4o6 Bird -Lore 



any enemy of the birds — not even a Fish Crow, that scourge of southern 

 heronries. 



In early July, other members of the Cornell party saw four American 

 Egrets at Billy's Island, and several Yellow-crowned Night Herons at Billy's 

 Lake. 



I learned from various sources that plume-hunting was formerly carried 

 on in Okefenoke Swamp and thereabouts, but during the past few years, 

 since the enactment of the state law protecting the Egrets, it had become so 

 difficult to dispose of the feathers that the birds were very little molested. 

 I was told that occasionally a hunter evaded the law by shipping a few 

 aigrettes to market in the double bottom of a barrel of alligator skins. A rumor 

 was also being spread at the time of my visit, to the effect that the feather- 

 dealers were now offering Si. 50 for the pliunes of small Blue Herons (proba- 

 bly Florida carulea). This rumor excited some interest among the alligator 

 hunters, who seemed to be under the erroneous impression that the law left 

 Herons, other than Egrets, without protection. Furthermore, it is a lamen- 

 table, though not surprising, fact that here, as in most other remote regions, 

 game laws are accorded the scantiest sort of respect. 



Okefenoke, as one of the great natural features of the eastern United 

 States, with no exact counterpart anywhere in the world, and as a refuge 

 for rare and interesting forms of animal life, should be saved for the admira- 

 tion and enjoyment of posterity. Its exquisitely beautiful cypress bays, 

 vast bonnet-strewn prairies, luxuriant hammocks, and magnificent pine lands 

 — all in their pristine glory — are infinitely more valuable to lovers of nature 

 than are many milHons of feet of lumber. JMoreover, from a scientific, as well 

 as from an esthetic point of view, the swamp is surpassingly rich. Here, over 

 a vast area, are primeval conditions such as delight the heart of the ecologist, 

 and such as are vanishing in our country at a most alarming rate. The loss 

 to science, therefore, in the destruction of Okefenoke would be incalculable 

 and irreparable. 



During the past several years an ever-widening gash has been cut in the 

 stand of cypress on the northwestern side of the swamp, to feed one of the 

 largest lumber-mills in the South. The c^-press is not expected to replace 

 itself to any extent, and at the contemplated rate of destruction the next 

 generation will never look upon the real Okefenoke. Another source of danger 

 lies in the present craze for draining and 'reclaiming' swamp lands that 

 never can be made suitable for agricultural purposes except at altogether 

 prohibitive expense. 



The establishment of a state or national preserve would be the ideal means 

 for sa\ing Okefenoke. It has also been demonstrated in South Carolina and 

 elsewhere that a well-conducted gun club is one of the best agencies — para- 

 doxical as it may seem — for conserving the fauna of a given region; for not 

 only are the game-birds and animals carefully guarded from decrease, but 



