IS 
BY THE WAYS WE 
the birds have not merely increased in 
numbers, but their habits have been 
much more closely observed. They are 
a species of brown pelican, very choice, 
and had been rapidly disappearing under 
the ravages of the plumage-hunters. 
Breton Island, off the coast of Louisiana, 
was the next to be reserved. Breton Is¬ 
land is the largest of seven islands con¬ 
stituting the Breton Reservation. Here 
laughing gulls, terns, white herons and 
shear waters breed, and here all these 
birds had been unmercifiully slaughtered 
for their beautiful feathers, until the hu¬ 
mane work of the Audubon Societies and 
the government wardens began. 
Since then reservations have been es¬ 
tablished upon the Huron Islands, five 
islands off the south shore of Lake Su¬ 
perior; four islands in Stump Lake, in 
Nelson County, North Dakota, in the 
Siskiwit Islands, south of Isle Royale in 
Lake Superior, and Passage Key and In¬ 
dian Key, at the mouth of Tampa Bay, 
in Florida. These latter reservations 
have as yet been very little observed, and 
they are so isolated that so far they have 
not been visited. One or two of the west¬ 
ern reservations are in little danger from 
hunteis, so that the wardens visit them 
only monthly or bi-monthly during the 
season, but on some of the islands for¬ 
merly ransacked by the hunters the 
wardens frequently face grave danger in 
attempting to enforce the protection of 
the birds. The islands are deserted and 
dreary, with a penetrating loneliness and 
forlornity about them, and the wardens 
have to be stout-hearted as well as brave 
fighters when they undertake the task of 
keeping oft - the determined marauders 
who persist in attacking the birds. 
Aside from Pelican Island, about 
which much has already been written, 
Breton Island is probably the most in¬ 
teresting of all the reservations. It is 
occupied almost entirely by royal terns, 
having a capacity for two hundred and 
fifty thousand any year. On April 28th or 
29th ol each year, Breton Island witnesses 
a remarkable sight. On that day thous¬ 
ands upon thousands of golden plover 
land upon the island, for food and 
drink, and to rest upon their travels. 
They always light on the same day of the 
year, unless delayed by storms. 
An interesting phase of the work at 
Stump Lake, the reservation in North 
Dakota, has been that in addition to the 
native birds which have nested there in 
safety, various other birds have dis¬ 
covered this haven of refuge when driven 
from their usual resorts, and have shown 
that they understand where to find pro¬ 
tection. 
The motive of the government in thus 
giving protection to its seemingly useless 
wild birds, is not simply the humane 
reason of preventing mercenary slaughter, 
but the scientific motive of preserving 
every species of native bird. While 
these birds are not game-birds, and many 
of them are non-plumage birds, it may 
be that some valuable use will yet be 
found for them. Meanwhile, they have 
found safety under the outstretched arm 
of the law. 
Vain Cock Robin Does Battle tfith Squirrel 
Mont Claire, N. J., July 30.—A fight 
between a robin and a red squirrel took 
place yesterday on the lawn in front of 
the first Methodist church here, in which 
the robin came oft' victorious. 
