690 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Nov. 30, 1912 
r 
Our Hawaiian Bird Refuge. 
Some years ago Forest and Stream de¬ 
scribed at some length the interesting discoveries 
made by Dr. Walter K. Fisher at the Island of 
Laysan, that great bird colony constituting the 
extreme western extension of the Hawaiian 
archipelago. 
This island and those near it were set aside 
early in the year of 1909 as a bird refuge, to be 
known as the Hawaiian Island Reservation. The 
refuge consists of a dozen islands, reefs and 
shoals, stretching westward for more than 1,500 
miles toward Japan. Some of the islands are 
volcanic masses thrust up from the depths of 
the ocean, while others are mere sand pits, and 
others still large, low coral islands more or less 
covered with soil. 
In the spring of 1909 Japanese plumage hunt¬ 
ers were reported to have visited Laysan Islands 
and to have wrought immense damage among 
the bird rookeries. 
In 1911 the Iowa State University asked the 
co-operation of the Department of Agriculture 
for the purpose of securing for its museum rep¬ 
resentative groups of Laysan birds. The request 
was a welcome one, for such an expedition 
would enable the Department to secure an au¬ 
thentic report of present day conditions on these 
bird islands. A party made up of five persons— 
Prof. C. C. Nutting, Prof. Homer R. Dill, Prof. 
William A. Bryan, of the Oaha College, Hono¬ 
lulu, with two others—visited Laysan in 1911, 
reaching there April 24, arid remaining until 
June 5. Their observations and a list of the 
birds they found are printed in a recent bulletin 
of the Biological Survey. The report is in two 
parts, the first dealing with present conditions 
and the second giving a comparison of conditions 
in 1903 and 1911, and making recommendations 
for the future protection of the refuge. 
By far the most spectacular things to be seen 
on the island are the great bird colonies of the 
albatross, tern, man-o’-war bird and others; but 
perhaps quite as interesting as these rookeries, are 
the land birds that are so few, and whose exist¬ 
ence now seems so precarious. There are but 
three such birds, the honey eater, a finch and 
warbler, called the “Miller bird.’’ 
The introduction of the rabbits and guinea 
pigs is apparently resulting in the destruction of 
the vegetation of the island. If this vegetation 
is destroyed, the land birds will no longer have 
food, and will unquestionably pass into the list 
of extinct birds. The animals that are extermi¬ 
nating the vegetation ought to be destroyed. 
Aside from the land birds the Laysan teal, 
the flightless rail, and one of two of the wad¬ 
ing birds found here in small number are ex¬ 
tremely interesting. 
Formerly the island was covered with an 
enormous number of sea birds, which nested in 
colonies and in rotation, one group of birds leav¬ 
ing the island after it had reared its young and 
giving place to another species which might 
occupy the same ground. 
The visits of the foreign poachers to Laysan 
interfered with the breeding of the birds and 
with the condition of the breeding grounds. No¬ 
body of course can tell how many individual 
birds were killed, but with some species the 
former breeding area was tremendously reduced 
by the depredation of the poachers. 
On the first arrival of the investigators it 
was their impression that the poachers had strip¬ 
ped the place of bird life. An area of over 300 
acres was apparently abandoned. Great piles of 
bones lay here and there, and some shed con- 
the great whooping crane (Grus americana). 
taining thousands of wings left when the poach¬ 
ers were obliged to get away. Before the party 
had been long on the island, birds began to ar¬ 
rive, and it was found that notwithstanding the 
appalling destruction, there were still vast num¬ 
bers of birds there to breed. 
Terns, albatross, puffins, petrels, boobies and 
many other water birds were most abundant. 
The beautiful tropic bird is still found there. 
The investigators made a remarkably care¬ 
ful census of the island, and their conclusion 
was that it contained somewhat over 1,000.000 
birds. Of these one-third were sooty terns, 
180,000 Laysan albatross and less than one-half 
that number black-footed albatross. Of a cer¬ 
tain petrel only three were found and of the 
little Laysan teal but si c. 
It is earnestly to be hoped that adequate pro¬ 
tection will be granted to the bird colony on 
these islands. It is known that sea birds in 
many parts of the world are growing fewer in 
number. They serve a useful purpose and should 
be protected, not only by the revenue cutters, 
but also by people stationed on the island. It 
has been reported that the Audubon Society pur¬ 
poses to take up this work. 
Whooping Cranes. 
Saginaw, Mich., Nov. 11 .—Editor Forest 
and Stream: Oct. 25 you wrote for a photo¬ 
graph of a specimen of the wild turkey to illus¬ 
trate a story of the wild turkey gobbler. I have 
just had time to make a new one, and I am 
sending it herewith. [It will be used in a subse¬ 
quent issue.— Editor.] 
1 his is the finest specimen of a wild turkey 
that I have ever seen mounted anywhere. You 
will notice that the photograph shows the metal¬ 
lic luster of its feathers. The tail got a little 
mussed up, but when you think that it is nearly 
twenty-five years since this bird was killed, it 
is in excellent condition. 
I also inclose photograph of a great whoop¬ 
ing crane (Grus americana ). This bird from 
the crown of its head to the top of the board 
on which it is mounted, just as it stands, meas- 
uies 4 feet 5 inches. I wonder if this, too, has 
not become extinct or practically so. I haven’t 
seen one now in the wild state for about six 
years. At that time one evening over at Buffalo 
Lake, north of Moose Jaw, Sask., a flock of 
about a dozen of these birds passed. 
I have been going to North Dakota and into 
the Canadian Northwest now annually in Sep¬ 
tember and October for twenty-nine years. We 
used to see lots of them in North Dakota around 
Dawson, but maybe my travels of late have been 
out of the line of their regular flight, but I 
have made many inquiries and have had no 
definite information in relation to any in the 
last few years. Who knows about the great 
whooping crane? Is it gone? Many times have 
I watched the sandhill cranes go through their 
grotesque dances. It was certainly an amusing 
performance. W. B. Mershon. 
Big Turtles. 
From time to time great sea turtles are seen 
in the North Atlantic Ocean, and occasionally 
some are captured and brought into the port of 
New York. In the New York Aquarium there 
are now twelve green turtles of various sizes, 
the smallest weighing not more than ten pounds 
and the largest about 400. A loggerhead turtle 
received in the late summer of 1900 is still on 
exhibition and weighs about 450 pounds. 
The leatherback turtle, which is not very in¬ 
frequently seen in summer and is sometimes cap¬ 
tured, do not appear to endure captivity. They 
swim continually, take no food, and soon die. 
