148 



THE OOLOGIST 



SAVE THE FLAMINGOES 



Editor Oologist: 



You will see by the enclosed that I 

 have interested the authorities at 

 Nassau, the capital of the Bahama 

 Islands, lin the preservation of the 

 Flamingo, and the White Crovfned 

 Pigeon. Our American Consul there, 

 writes me. 



"I have taken the matter up with 

 the Governor and other officials and 

 all are much interested." So we can 

 hope for the best. Mr. La'throp, our 

 Consul there, and his wife are much 

 interested in birds, and I found him 

 most courteous in his efforts to assist 

 me in every possible way, when on the 

 Islands collecting. There is a great 

 deal of work yet to be done by 

 Naturalists (Note I do not use the 

 word Ornithologists), on the Islands, 

 and one's first trip only leaves the de- 

 sire to return for a more lengthy stay, 

 especially during the breeding season 

 of the birds. All of which goes to 

 show that collectors are not bent on 

 exterminating the breed, as some 

 would have us. 



Harold H Bailey, 

 Miami Beach, Florida. 



Extract from a letter dated July 26, 

 1921, addressed to the American Con- 

 sul at Nassau, by Harold H. Bailey, 

 director of the Miami Beach Zoologi- 

 cal Park and Museum of Natural Hist- 

 ory. Mr. Bailey is an ornithologist of 

 repute whose book on the bird life of 

 the state of Virginia is a standard. 



"The Islands are more than attractive 

 to the ornithologists, and as many of 

 the Bahama forms are taken sparing- 

 ly on the Florida Keys, generally 

 blown across during stormy weather, 

 specimens are necessary to the U. S. 

 collections for comparison, etc. I do 

 hope that some time in the near future 

 r shall be able to return and do more 

 work there, especially in the interior 

 of Andros, which is little known and 

 explored as yet. 



It seems a pity the Bahamas govern- 

 ment cannot afford to appoint a regular 

 warden for each one of the Flamingo 

 breeding colonies, four all told, and 

 pay such wardens for six months ' 

 each year — which would allow the 

 eggs to be laid, the young reared; and 

 old birds to moult, in perfact safety. 

 As it now stands, I was informed that 

 while the government puts a heavy 

 fine on one molesting them, there is 

 no one appointed to protect them, and 

 it is therefore impossible to stop the 

 taking of eggs and young, and old 

 birds when moulting, by the local in- 

 habitants, and spongers as well. A 

 warden should camp near the breed- 

 ing grounds to make it successful. At 

 present there are many families living 

 near these nesting grounds, and spon- 

 gers systematically taking eggs, young 

 and old birds, covering a' period of 

 five months or even longer, for by 

 robbing the colonies, the breeding sea- 

 son is prolonged owing to many birds 

 laying a second or third time after be- 

 ing robbed of eggs or young. As you 

 probably know, this is a different 

 specie of Flamingo than one found 

 down in Egypt and so commonly seen 

 at Cairo and along the canal, and so 

 much commented on by tourists when 

 visiting that section. It is more than 

 probable that unless their breeding 

 colonies are protected in the Bahamas, 

 our native bird will soon become ex- 

 tinct. As Nassau becomes the harbor 

 for yachting parties in large numbers 

 after the completion of their new har- 

 bor basin, these birds if they could be 

 incessant, or even made to hold their 

 own, would offer great inducements 

 to the tourist to spend both time and 

 money in the Islands. I believe your 

 British government could establish a 

 small breeding colony of penned up 

 birds, say twenty-five pair, in a fenced 

 enclosure on most any of the islands, 

 and not only save these birds from ex- 

 tinction but make it pay from many 



