CONSERVATION OF BIRDS 



377 



owing to the work of the Audubon Society and of Dr. Hornaday 

 and other leaders, we have awakened to the fact that our birds 

 are valuable assets. Now it is against the law to kill either game 

 birds during the breeding season or most wild birds at any time. 



rx. 



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I 



Bobolink, male, in spring. 



The bobolink summers and breeds in the north, where its diet is largely insects. 

 It spends the winter far south of central South America. Eastern and western 

 limits of the migration routes are shown by dashed lines in the map. On its way 

 south the bobolink does great damage to the rice crop. 



Other Means of Conservation. — Fortunately for the average 

 citizen, some public-spirited people who have money are willing 

 to spend it for the common good. Not only are there many pri- 

 vate game preserves in various parts of the country, but also sev- 

 eral bird sanctuaries have been established, notably Marsh Island 

 and Avery Island, both in Louisiana. Private game and bird 

 refuges and preserves are estimated to contain nearly 800,000 acres 

 in this country and over 150,000 acres in Canada. In addition to 

 this, the United Sta.tes Government has created a total of nearly 

 sixty bird refuges (map, page 378). 



Conservation of Mammals. — It was not so many years ago that 

 the people of this country thought the vast herds of buffalo that 

 covered the Western plains were inexhaustible ; but ten years of 

 systematic killing nearly exterminated them. To-day a few thou- 



