THE AUDUBON Bl'LLKTIN 29 



no means of getting the funds to do this. He declares that his present 

 efforts to establish a hunting club in the region was his second choice 

 and that he has been doing this in order that the wild fowl which came 

 there so abundantly in winter might have a measure of protection which 

 private game preserves usuallv afford. 



"This being the case," continued Mr. Pearson, "there appears to 

 be no logical reason why he and his associates should not be willing to 

 sell the territory for reservation purposes. I know of one gentleman 

 who tentatively approached Mr. Mcllhennv on the subject some months 

 ago and offered personally to be responsible for a sum of not less than 

 550,000 toward the purchase price. This partv has recentlv indicated 

 to me his willingness to 'take off his coat and work for raising a fund to 

 buy the land if it can be purchased at a reasonable price,' and there are 

 others interested." 



Mr. Pearson, who has personally examined much of the territory in 

 this part of Louisiana, states, "I have reason to believe that a consider- 

 able portion of this proposed club property is at present unsuitable for 

 ducks, but could doubtless be made a great haven for them bv certain 

 dredging and diking operations. On other parts of the territorv wild 

 fowl occur in myriads. 



"Here and there in the marsh are ridges where cattle are run and 

 where the soil is cultivated. If the land should be purchased and pre- 

 sented to the State of Louisiana as a wild life reservation I think the 

 state would be glad to accept it. Furthermore, it is possible that an in- 

 come might be derived by grazing and farming privileges on the ridges 

 that would be quite sufficient to pay the running expenses of guarding 

 the territory. 



"If the people in this country can be made sufficientlv interested to 

 purchase this, and one other smaller tract of land, we will have a con- 

 tinuous wild fowl sanctuary of far greater extent than exists anvwhere on 

 this continent. It is the natural winter home of vast numbers of those 

 waterfowl that annually swarm down the Mississippi Valley from Can- 

 ada upon the approach of cold weather, and a reservation of this extent 

 would be one of the most valuable moves that could be made toward 

 preserving in numbers manv species of our persecuted wild waterfowl." 



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