BIRD PROTECTION IN CANADA 157 



for their fish rather than settle on dead things as the gulls do. I 

 believe there is only one breeding place in Eastern Canada where the 

 Caspian tern exists in dny numbers and that is an island near Parry 

 Sound. There are one or two breeding grounds in Michigan and 

 these are all that are known in the Great Lakes district. It formerly 

 nested in the gulf of St. Lawrence and Taverner tells me it is still there 

 in small numbers; but so far as he learned there is no large breeding 

 ground of the bird in that district. So all we need practically to 

 exterminate the Caspian tern in Eastern Canada is to have a band of 

 fishermen, for instance, settle on a Parry Sound island beside the breed- 

 ing ground, or perhaps on that island itself, and feed on the eggs for 

 one summer. If there is no natural increase that summer, they will 

 return possibly one-third of their former number, perhaps go to 

 some other island and they are well on the way to extinction the 

 moment they begin to move around and leave their ancestral domain. 

 Of course, that tern is of no very great value to man so far as we 

 know. We have other terns and other gulls, but I am sure I do not 

 need to argue with the members of the Commission and the ladies and 

 gentlemen present as to the desirability of preserving every form of 

 wild life we have. We cannot afford, for many considerations, to 

 allow any of them to become extinct. 



Value of Bird Sanctuaries 



Not only small, but large birds should be encouraged and we should 

 endeavour to increase their number by means of reserves and sanc- 

 tuaries. Remember, for instance, the little bird sanctuary I referred 

 to in the Rideau lakes, where in five years there was an increase from 

 five pairs of birds to thirty^hree pairs, from a summer population of 

 ten to sixty-six. That shows the possibilities. All over this country 

 are such islands, particularly in the West. There, ducks are such a 

 prominent feature in the landscape and such an important article of 

 food that the islands in the various lakes should be reserved. I think 

 the Committee could not use its influence to better advantage than in 

 endeavouring to back up the efforts of those of us who have been 

 trying to get such areas set aside as bird sanctuaries, and I am sure 

 that a word from the Committee would be of more influence than a 

 long letter from a private citizen. I have tried these long letters and, 

 so far as I know, they have had no influence. I am one of many who 

 have tried to effect changes in existing conditions and am accustomed 

 to disappointment and defeat, but if, backed by his own conscience, 

 each one sticks to his guns, eventually perhaps he will win out. 



