The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-04-25

Slowly. but surely, the wild birds Of
his country arc gaining on their enc
mics. What enc~,ies? Why, the WON
en-, to be sure. Undcniably, they are
mainly responsible for the wiping out
Of bird life in the United states. when
i'm fifteen wears dating back from the
wear 1909 was reduced by 10 per cent,
Everybody knows how they did II. But
The important point is that since l9O3
(wheu the first "bird refuge was
cstablishcd). the scale has been turned,
and the "lcsser ichildren Cas- sym,
pathetic man has called those winged
friends Of ours) have increased rapidly
in numbers.
The government has interfercd at last
10 protect the birds. Aud twas high
time; for. if such action had not been
taken. in few wears more scarcely |
ANY that were worth having would haVe
remained alive. Since the date above !
mentioned. fortyslX 'TcfugcS' for sea-
fowIsand feathcred creatures have been |
Established by executive proclamation.
Rv these, proclamatiops, and the rlgld |
enforcement of their proyislo1s-forbld- |
ding the killing Of birds or the gather /
ing Of their eggs within the limits or
the areas rcSerycd-a very remaHkahle |
change has been brought about, In,
hitherto, the feajhcrcd occupants of
such reserved areas are now protected
hv governments authority against at,
tack, and are encouraged by every pos |
sibje means TO increase aud multiply |
The consequence Is hat many valuable
sperics, which had been driven nearly
TO extinction. are rapidly increasing IN
plumbers; and if The policy adopted by
the government Is maintained. there is |.
excellent prospect that eventually they
NAV rep0pulste al least some of their
preseut breeding 3reas 20 an extent ap
proaching their original numbers. But,
Of course. this cannot como to pass for
y long tlme.
Meanwhile. many species have been
wiped out finally and forever. Only
God Almighty could restore them to the
planet from which the greed and
thoughtlessness Of man has driven them.
Think, far example. of The great
aux, - which formerly nested in count
less numbers on Funk island. oft the
coast of Newfoundland, and elsewhere
in that region. II IS gone. one may buy
the skeleton of D specimen today for
$500. on an egg for $3.50; but there
Because they were fat, campers killed
laem for fuel in former days. and ships
boatloads of them by the SIM
pic process of placing d plank between
Tho boat and the shore and driving the
helpless crca lures over it,
The faie of The great auks was be
ing swiftly meted out TO tho brown pcli-
cans. when in 1908. the government
n refuge for these birds
on Pelican island-a mud flat. with an
area of about four acres in Mosquito
] nlet, Florida. This spot had been for
many centuries favorite breeding
ground for pelicans. But egg-huuters
robbed the nests Of the eggs wholesale.
and tourists delighted 10 murder the
fowls-great sport being
big that even the poorest shot could
not miss them, and being attacked on
their breeding grounds. IT was practi-
cally impossible for them 10 get away.
Only 4 very fow breeding colonies Of
policsns are now left III Florida and
along the gulf coast. but these arc be
ing carefully protected. While, at yari
"refuges' for seafowl of
this kind and other species, the Audu
bon societies, acting under authority of
I he States, have obtained similar pro
lection for d large number of rocky
islands. keys, and other localities used
by Wild birds for breeding purposes, all
the Nay from Maine TO Florida, along
iho ShoreS or the gun, ana even Jew
scattering ones off the Pacific coast.
Wardens are placed in charge of these
breeding colonies, whose duty it is TO
keep off, or to arrest If necessary, tres
passers and poachers. Usually there is
no difficulty, though along the gulf
coast incessant vigilance is required to
keep off the egg-hunters, who are ready
TO seize any opportunity to make raids
upon the rookeries. Hitherto the
hunting for sea-bird S eggs has been
very popular amusement in that re-
gion, great number of persons taking
it up in the laying season as a form
Of sport, with the inevitable result of
wiping out the breeding colonies.
Incidentally, it has always been Gus
tomary to regard such bird colonies,
wherever found, as affording delightful
opportunities for wholesale slaughter.
The feathered occupants, being engaged |
ia performing their annual duty of pro-
ducing their species, could not possibly |