454 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Oct. 12, 1912 
aroused widespread interest, but he did not suc¬ 
ceed in raising the money among the sports¬ 
men. The matter at length came to the knowl¬ 
edge of Hon. Robert W. De Forest, of New 
York, who represents the Sage Foundation. 
He brought it to Mrs. Sage’s attention, and 
Mrs. Sage, who has long been interested in 
bird protection and has contributed large sums 
to the work of the Audubon Society, received 
it favorably. 
Mr. De Forest wishing to know something 
about the island from an independent expert 
source, asked George Bird Grinnell to go to 
of Michigan, in the project, and since then 
these two men have done much for winter wild¬ 
fowl protection in this region. They pur¬ 
chased 13,000 acres of marsh land, which they 
presented to the State of Louisiana for a game 
preserve, and 50,000 or 60.000 acres, which they 
are holding themselves. Then, when it became 
evident that Marsh Island might be pur¬ 
chased, Messrs. Ward & Mcllhenny secured an 
option on it and advanced the money for the 
first payment. 
Mr. Mcllhenny’s experience had convinced 
him that the establishment of refuges here 
would mean not only temporary protection, but, 
in some cases, a great increase in the numbers 
of birds. As early as 1895 he began experi¬ 
ments in bird protection, and with most grati¬ 
fying results. That year he took from the nests 
six young snowy herons, and reared them at 
his home in a large cage placed at the edge of 
a small pond. These birds did well, became 
tame, and were finally set free at the edge of 
the pond. They went south in December, but 
the next spring two pairs returned to the pond 
and bred there, rearing six young. Si ice then 
these snowy herons have greatly increased in 
numbers, and other species of herons and 
waders have come to the pond to breed. The 
pond has been increased in area, so that it now 
includes about thirty-five acres, largely over¬ 
grown with small trees and water shrubs, in 
which many thousands of herons and egrets 
bred during the summer of 1911. In the late 
fall and early winter these herons go to South 
America, and the pond is filled with ducks of 
various species, which have come down from 
ihe North and here find a safe refuge, for no 
gun is ever fired on or near the pond. 
The game refuge given to the State by- 
Messrs. Ward and Mcllhenny has been ef¬ 
ficiently policed and is reported in winter fairly 
to swarm with ducks, geese and other birds. 
After the option on Marsh Island had been 
secured, Mr. Mcllhenny set out to raise the 
whole purchase price—$150,000—among the 
sportsmen of the United States in order that 
the refuge might be established. His efforts 
EGRET. 
YOUNG LEAVING THE NEST. 
Marsh Island and examine it. The chief ques¬ 
tions to be determined were whether the tract 
promised to make an ideal and important bird 
refuge, whether a good title could be obtained 
to it, and whether the tract could be permanent¬ 
ly protected and at what probable cost. Mr. 
Grinnell spent seme days at Marsh Island last 
March. 
His visit took place at a season very un¬ 
favorable for the observation of birds. The 
winter wildfowl had already gone North, while 
the spring birds from the South had not yet 
arrived. In order to learn what 'the natural 
conditions were—conditions on undisturbed 
territory—the investigator went through the 
State game preserve, which had been protected 
during the winter, in order to see what birds 
were there. Here only a few laggard ducks 
and one or two small flocks of blue geese were 
found, which made it clear that the migration 
of the winter residents had already taken 
place. 
Marsh Island is about eighteen miles long 
and in some places nine miles wide, and is be¬ 
lieved to include 75,000 acres of land or about 
117 square miles. It is said to have a shore 
line of sixty-five miles. It lies on the coast 
line of Louisiana, between Vermilion Bay and 
the Gulf of Mexico, and is separated from the 
State wildfowl refuge and the Ward-Mcllhenny 
wildfowl refuge by a swift narrow channel, 
known as Southwest Pass. The greatest length 
of the island is approximately east and west— 
the land being higher on the Gulf or southern 
side. 
Outside the island, on the Gulf side, is shoal 
water with a multitude of oyster reefs, said to 
extend out into the Gulf for four or five miles, 
and almost from end to end of the island. 
These reefs prevent approach from the open 
