Sept. 28, 1912 
FOREST AND STREAM 
397 
tinued their flight south not by degrees, but ap¬ 
parently all at once. 
The cuts given in the article mentioned give 
the wild pigeon just as I remember it, and I 
cannot understand how anyone but a novice 
could mistake a dove for one of these hand¬ 
some birds. Ernest L. Ewbanic. 
Adirondack League Club Forestry. 
Albany, N. Y., Sept. 10. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: According to a statement made to the 
newspaper men by Gov. Dix to-day, he has in¬ 
duced the Adirondack League Club to try an 
experiment in practical forestry on its great 
preserve in Herkimer county. The Governor 
said that the club’s property contains many 
ripe trees on its 140 000 . acres, which adjoin 
some of his own holdings, and that it was 
proposed to have the lumbermen plant two 
trees for every one cut down and removed. 
This experiment will be of very great interest 
not only to practical foresters who wish to in¬ 
troduce the selective method of cutting on pri¬ 
vate preserves, but also to lumbermen who hope 
it will result in the application of this kind of 
forestry to the Adirondack wilderness. The 
Governor in his announcement said that the 
members of the club were for the most part 
men who have all along fought against lumber¬ 
ing the Adirondacks. 
In reply to the question: How will this 
affect the wild animals? the Governor said that 
it would not affect them at all. He asserted 
that since the Conservation Commission has 
adopted the plan of cutting marsh hay and 
feeding the deer in the winter, the food ques¬ 
tion is no longer involved. He also insisted 
that deer are not afraid of the lumbermen and 
often come about their cabins to seek for food. 
Besides this, he said that the cutting of the 
trees will of itself provide a greater food sup¬ 
ply, and that he did not believe the preserve 
would be injured in any way as a hunting 
ground by the proposed lumbering operations. 
It would be interesting to have the opin¬ 
ions of experienced sportsmen on these points 
of general importance. John D. Whish. 
Protect the Fox. 
Bloomington, Ill., Sept. 26 . —Editor Forest 
and Stream: A meeting will be called shortly 
at some central point in the State to organize 
the Illinois ’Coon and Fox Hunters’ Association. 
Dr. J. A. Wheeler, State Game Commissioner, 
and Fred O’Flynn, of Decatur, are the leading 
spirits in the movement. There are 10,000 ’coon 
and fox hunters in Illinois, and it is hoped to 
induce all of them to join. The association will 
favor legislation for the preservation of the fox, 
’coon, ’possum and other small game in this 
State, while the breeding of fox hounds will be 
encouraged. It is asserted that experts in the 
Department of Agriculture, who have studied the 
habits of the fox, have reached the surprising 
conclusion that reynard is a benefit rather than 
an injury to the farmers. These animals, accord¬ 
ing to the reports of the investigators, eat mice, 
snakes, bugs or rabbits in preference to chicken, 
lambs or pigs. A series of tests developed the 
remarkable fact that while there are a few foxes 
that are chicken eaters, the great majority will 
kill the enemies of the farmers’ crop instead. 
James Walker, a wealthy landowner of near 
Taylorville, has always prohibited the killing of 
foxes upon his land and has made it a rule never 
to destroy their dens. At the present time there 
are probably one hundred foxes upon his farm, 
and he finds that they never disturb his chicken 
coops. The foxes inhabit a haystack, and Dr. 
Walker states that there has never been a chicken 
taken to the den. E. E. Pierson. 
Bird Reservations. 
BY RALEIGH RAINES. 
It is good to have a home whether it be¬ 
longs to man or animal, and once you have that 
home it becomes “Home Sweet Home,” which is 
a doctrine that the Federal Government has in¬ 
delibly stamped in its laws. Homesteads are 
furnished to its citizens, homes are provided for 
its soldiers, refuges are created for the native 
game animals, and last, but not the least, reser¬ 
vations and homes have been set aside and 
created for the birds of the country by generous 
Uncle Sam. These reservations were created in 
response to the demand of ornithologists, natu¬ 
ralists and the various Audubon Societies for 
better protection of birds during their nesting 
season. As a result of the agitation, the first 
bird reservation was created by executive order 
of President Roosevelt, March 14, 1903, and con¬ 
sisted of five and a half acres on Pelican Island, 
Florida. This small area has since been extended 
and enlarged to include all contiguous territory 
of the island. These reservations now number 
fifty-three and are being administered under the 
direction of the Biological Survey of the De¬ 
partment of Agriculture. .Except where stated, 
the area in acres is unknown. The reservations 
were created and are located as follows: 
Name. 
Date created. 
Location. 
Pelican Island _March 14. 1903_East Florida Coast 
Breton Island .Oct. 4, 1904.S. E. Coast of La. 
Stump Lake .March 9, 1905.North Dakota 
(Area, 27.39 acres) 
Huron Islands.Oct. 10, 1905_Lake Superior, Mich 
Siskiwit Islands ...Oct. 10, 1905_Lake Superior, Mich. 
Passage Key .Oct. 10, 1905.Tampa Bay, Fla. 
(Area, 36.37 acres! 
Indian Key .Feb. 10, 1906.Tampa Bay. Fia. 
(Area, 90 acres) 
Tern Islands .Aug. 8 . 1907.. .Mouth of Miss. Rv., La. 
Shell Keys .Aug. 17, 1907.South La. Coast 
Three Arch Rocks. Oct. 14, 1907.West Oregon Coast 
Flattery Rocks ....Oct. 23, 1907.West Wash. Coast 
Ouillayute Needles. Oct. 23, 1907.West Wash. Coast 
Copalis Rock .Oct. 23, 1907.West Wash. Coast 
E. Timbalier Isl'd..Dec. 7, 1907.South La. Coast 
Mosquito Inlet -Feb. 24, 1908.East Florida Coast 
Tortugas Keys ....April 6 , 1908.Florida Keys, Fla. 
Klamath Lake -Aug. 8 , 1908_Oregon and California 
Key West .Aug. 8 . 1908.Florida Keys, Fla. 
Lake Malheur .Aug. 18, 1908.Oregon 
Chase Lake .Aug. 28, 1908.North Dakota 
Pine Island .Sept. 15, 1908.West Florida Coast 
Matlacha Pass .Sept. 26, 1908.West Florida Coast 
Palma Sola .Sept. 26, 1908.West Florida Coast 
Island Bay .Oct. 23, 1908.Florida 
Loch Katrine .Oct. 26, 1908.Wyoming 
Hawaiian Islands ..Feb. 3. 1909.Hawaii 
East Park .Feb. 25, 1909 California 
Cold Springs .Feb. 25. 1909 .Oregon 
Shoshone .Feb. 25, 1909 Wyoming 
Pathfinder .Feb. 25, 1909 Wyoming 
Bellefourche .Feb. 25, 1909 .South Dakota 
Strawberry Valley.. Feb. 25, 1909 .Utah 
Salt River .Feb. 25, 1909 Arizona 
Deer Flat .Feb. 25, 1909 Idaho 
Minidoka .Feb. 25, 1909 Idaho 
Willow Creek .Feb. 25, 1909 .Montana 
Carlbad .Feb. 25, 1909 .New Mexico 
Rio Grande .Feb. 25, 1909 .New Mexico 
Keechelus Lake ...Feb. 25, 1909 .Washington 
Kachess Lake .Feb. 25. 1909 
Clealum Lake .Feb. 25. 1909 
Bumping Lake -Feb. 25, 1909 
Conconullv .Feb. 25, 1909 
Behring Sea .Feb. 27, 1909 
Pribiloff .Feb. 27. 1909 
Tuxedni .Feb. 27, 1909 
Farallon .Feb. 27, 1909 
Culebra .Feb. 27, 1909 
.Washington 
.Washington 
.Washington 
.Washington 
.Alaska 
.Alaska 
.Alaska 
.Alaska 
.Porto Rico 
Yukon Delta .Feb. 27, 1909 .Alaska 
St. Lazaria .Feb. 27, 1909 .Alaska 
Rogoslof .March 2, 1909.Alaska 
Clear Lake .April 11, 1911.California 
Green Bay .Feb. 21, 1912.Hog Island, Wis. 
A number of these reservations lie within 
tracts which have been reserved or set aside for 
purposes other than the protection of birds, such 
as reclamation withdrawals and naval reserves, 
but in all such cases the administration of the 
bird reservation is made subject to the use of 
the reservation under the primary and more im¬ 
portant segregation. All of these bird reserves 
have been created through reference from the 
General Land Office of the Interior Department 
to the President of forms of executive orders 
providing and locating such reservations. When 
petitions and recommendations for the creation 
of bird reservations are sent in by local Audu¬ 
bon societies or other organizations or persons, 
these recommendations go to Frank Bond, chief 
clerk of the General Land Office, who is really 
the architect of the future bird homes, for it is 
he who locates and recommends action on all 
bird reservations, finally preparing the executive 
order for the signature of the President. Mr. 
Bond is a quiet, modest man, but to him more 
than to any other is due the actual locations of 
the bird homes provided by Uncle Sam. He has 
been a bird lover all of his life, a member of 
his local Audubon Society, the American Orni¬ 
thologists’ Union, and a naturalist of national 
reputation. Dr. T. S. Palmer, assistant chief of 
the U. S. Biological Survey, has also ably as¬ 
sisted in the creation of these national bird 
homes, and in these two gentlemen all bird life 
have the staunchest, most zealous and enthusias¬ 
tic friends. 1 hese bird reservations are re¬ 
garded as in all essential particulars reservations 
of public lands for public use or other purposes, 
for which there are numerous precedents. The 
first specific act of Congress providing for the 
protection of birds on reservations created by 
executive order was introduced by Hon. John 
F. Lacey, then a representative from the State 
of Iowa, and became a law on June 28, 1906. 
This act made it unlawful to kill birds, to take 
their eggs, or to willfully disturb birds upon the 
reservations, and it provides a fine not exceed¬ 
ing $500, or imprisonment not exceeding six 
months, or both fine and imprisonment for each 
conviction secured. This law was substantially 
re-enacted in the new penal code approved 
March 4, 1909. Occasionally arrests are made 
for violations of the law, but generally when it 
becomes known that the Federal law protects the 
birds on the reservations, most hunters resist. 
Only one assault has been made so far on a war¬ 
den of the reservations which occurred in Florida 
last winter, when one of the hunters took a shot 
at the Federal warden, inflicting little harm. 
Closely allied to these bird reservations is the 
question of Federal protection of migratory 
birds, as primarily the reservations are created 
in order that the birds may nest and raise their 
young unmolested. Now comes the question of 
protecting them while en route to these nesting 
and resting places. One cannot be complete with¬ 
out the other, and sooner or later the Federal 
Congress must realize that full protection can¬ 
not be given the birds by protecting them solely 
while on the reservations, but that the protection 
to be complete and perfect must extend to cover 
birds while en route to and from the breeding 
grounds on the national bird reservations. When 
this is done, then the protection of national bird 
life will be almost complete. To make it com¬ 
plete will necessitate each State setting aside one 
or more bird reservations and enacting laws for 
the protection of migratory birds. 
