BY THE WAYSIDE 
27 
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What About the Sea Gulls' New Year? 
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Through, the courtesy of Collier’s 
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Weekly we take pleasure in presenting 
i ! to our readers a model of the monu- 
i 
ment erected in honor of the Califor- 
i nia Gulls who saved the first crops, 
1848, of the Mormons from the devast¬ 
ating black crickets as referred to by 
the editor in the issue of Dec., 1911. 
Mr. Brann’s article in Jan., 1912, on 
the habits of the Herring Gull about 
its breeding grounds on Gravel Island, 
made a Federal Reserve by Pres. 
!; 
f Taft’s signature to an Executive Or- 
! der, Jan. 9, 1913, and my own "Plea” 
| published in the Feb., 1912 issue has 
| sufficiently introduced readers of By 
the Wayside to this most common 
; white sea-gull of Wisconsin. Now 
1 that more than three islands are now 
under Federal protection as gull rook- 
| cries in this State, it is time to sound 
| the alarm that these useful scavenger, 
! insectivorous and rodent-catching birds 
are in danger of starvation every win¬ 
ter, when the cold becomes so intense 
ns to freeze over large stretches of 
i Lake Michigan. 
Already private enterprise has taken 
I a hand in feeding these birds at many 
| of our lake ports. We wish to call up- 
I on more of our Audubon members to 
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\ interest their town and citv mayors 
( along the Great Lakes and Rivers in 
j the wisdom of pi a cine* garbage on the 
r me or along shore with the beginning 
( of zero weather. Thev are easily sat- 
1 'icfied : not since the Irishman’s little 
bPr-k nig has a more accommodating 
disnosal nlant been nlaced at 
‘the disposition of mankind. Get your 
'nolice advised of their duties to stop 
nil shooting of these birds within town 
limits. That is their ioh not the Game 
i Warden’s. 
A. C. Bur rill 
