Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-22
= HREE million recognized hunt
ers bag 60.OOO,OOO game birds
in the United States every year.
With this wholesale depletion

| With this wholesale depletion
| Of game, both state and federal
authorities have cast about them for some
| method Of counteracting what soon prom
ises to do away with the birds Of the
field and wood. Congress is 10th tt
make appropriations for game farms. The
old system of paying game warden a
percentage Of fines in cases Of conviction
has been found unsatisfactory, and &C.
cording to the officials Of the bureau fol-
| federal game preservation, many states
have turned in their extremity to the state
| license system.
| In this the state Of Illinois is found well
in the lead, having well-stocked game
farm, cared for by funds obtained through
| the license system.
The important experiment of Dr. John
| A. Wheeler. state game commissioner OF
| Illinois. was inaugurated in 1906. One
hundred and sixty acres Of land were
lease twentythree miles south of Spring.
field, where large numbers of pheasants
quail and other birds are raised for liberia
ton In the game covers. In July, 1906
| the Commissioners reported that 5000
healthy pheasant chicks were Matched
from consignment of 500 eggs imported
from Liverpool. England. and that there
were then on the farm about 5000 young
English and ring-necked pheasants and a
number of blue quail few Wild turkey
and prairie chickens.
The game warden of Kansas liberated
| more than 200 English pheasants last
year, and one by one the states have
fallen in line with this policy regarding
their game resources, until nine states
have by the license method placed their
game warden department on a self-sus-
tanning basis.
-, These records. coupled with the fact
that the government since 1900 has
decided eight tracts of land, with the titles
vested in the birds thereon. STRENGTHENS
the belief that the slaughter Of 6OOOOO 90
BIRDS every year may not be looked upon
as an irreparable depletion Of the coun-
tryS game resources.
Early Reservations.
Previous to 1900 the general government
had set aside only three reservations for
the protection of animals and birds-the
Yellowstone Park in Wyoming In 1872,
the National Geological Park in the Dis
trict of Columbia in 1890, and Afoenak
Island, on the southern coast of Alaska,
In 1892 The first two were national
parks established by acts Of Congress,
and Afognak Island, intended as a pre-
serve for the sea otter, was set aside by
executive proclamation and placed under
the Jurisdiction of the bureau of fisheries.
Other government reservations, such as
the Gen. Grant, Sequoia and Yosemite
national parks In California the Mount
Rainier National Park in Wyoming. the
naval stations on the Dry Tortugas. Flor
ida, and on Midway Island in the Pa
cific; the lighthouse reservations on the
Farallone Islands. California: on Sand
Key, near Key West. Florida and at vari-
Gus points along the Atlantic coast, con-
stitute important breeding grounds wher,
various native species are protected: but
they were not set apart especially as pre-
serves for birds and game. and conse-
quently they are merely mentioned in this
connection.
Since 1900 eight additional preserves
have been established-two in Florida,
two In Michigan. and one each in Louis
lana, North Dakota, Oklahoma and
Alaska All except those in Oklahoma
and Alaska comprise small islands of lit
tie or no agricultural value. but occupied
as breeding grounds by large colonies OF
birds. and hence of far greater value than
might appear from their acreage.
Brown Pelicans at Home.
The best known of these reservations is
Pelican Island not far from Sebastian in
Indian river. 1t is little more than a
mud fiat of some ten acres in extent COW
cred by tufts of grass and few cabbage
palms. For many years it has been the
home and breeding ground of a large COL
ony of brown pelicans and the only habi-
tat thus far known of this species on the
east coast of Florida
The second reservation in Florida, Pas
sage Key, was not established until Oc-
tober, 1905. but this already bids fair to
become important refuge for both land
and sea birds. Within three months after
its establishment more than fifty species
of birds were found on the island. includ-