The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-04-25
NEW "REFUGES" FOR FEATH-
Erred CREATURES ARE AC-
COMPLISHING MARVELS


it is q mistake to suppose that the. 4
really care-the fact being that the.
arc utterly Indifferent to all such con
sidcretions. To ornament their person
is to them more important by far tbH' Y
all the bird life in tho world.
DR.. Palmer of the government bio
logical survey mentions one contrac
made by two gunners, at Tampa, Fla
to deliver The skins of 1000 terms in
single season. An inspection of the re
gion about lamps bay, not very lon;
ago, showed that not a tern of any spe
cies WAS breeding, where counties
/ numbers had assembled a few yea1
earlier. Says the naturalist Chapman
81 heard one plume hunter boast o
| killing 800 berons ON rookery in on
| be and his companion had killed 130,
600 birds-herons, egrets and terns-ii
one winter.
Nature. in providing for the perpet
/ uation Of feathercd species. is accus
toned 20 make liberal allowance fo 4
those accidental losses of life, b,
! voidably destroy great many birds
| But, 10 make such losses good and
maintain the numbers Of the birds
( their breeding must NOS be interferef
with Such interference during a sin
! gle season Will importantly weaken
species. II it. is continued for serie;
of seasons the species will be spoedil5
! cxterminated,
This is exactly what has Happened e
the blrds of the United States; and. II
view of the conditions described, it il
not surprising that % per cent of the
bird life of this country should havs
been wiped out in a period OF ffteer
years. Indeed, We should have prac
tically no wild birds left few yeart
from now. but for the efforts OF the
Audubon societies, whose parsua sion il
was that induced the federal govern
ment TO set aside certain breeding
grounds as permanent ''rcfuGes.''
Happily. the establishment of these
refugees and Of manT additional
ones under the immediate maIagemenf
Of the Audubon societies, is already'
bringing about a marked improvement'
IN the state of affairs The birds on
the protected rookerics arc increasing
IN numbers with gratifying rapidity-
Wherever an island or other locality is
found 10 he resort of wild fowl for
breeding purposes II is promptly Sc
cured by purchase, If possible. Ordi-
narily there is no trouble. because such
localiticS-usually rocky islets OF
|
farming or any other purpose
In this way Cobb's island, Tirginia,
formerly favoritc Strengthening
ground for terms and other sea birds
has been taken under the wing of the
Audubon societies. Likewise Roval
Shoal and Legged Lump-where great
colonies of terms relocated in the breed-
ing season. Similar protection has been
extended TO Bird Kew IN the Dry Tor
tugas, which hats population of 20.-
600 ''sooty' terms and 1000 ''uoddy7
terms; to Baitlcdorc island Louisiana.
which has colony of royal aud other
terms, and TO No Man IS Land island, of
tho coast OF Maine, where there is the
greatest colony of herring gulls in the
United States.
Among the "rcfugeS' established
bv tho federal government are two
islands in Lake Superior. for gulls and
| merganSers; three ISletS II the Gulf OF
Mexico, off the Louisiana coast, for
policans and wild ducks; two keys at
tho mouth of Tampa bay, for cormor-
anita, herons and terms, and q number
OF small islands In Mosquito inlet, Fla.
near the mouths of the Halifax and
| HillSboro rivers, for white ibisies.
egrets, grebc5 and various species of
| hcronS. ~
On the breeding grounds thus pro-
tected by federal aud state outboritv
the birds arc becoming excecdingly
tame-in some Instances as much so as
domestic chickens. They even come to
be fed with corn Visitors are not ex-
cluded, so long as they come with no
hostile intent, and it is noticeable that
the reservations are becoming objects
Of much popular. interest, tourists
doclling TO see them. 1t is beginning
to be realized, by many people at all
events, that colonies Of wild fowl arc
very attractive, and well worth pre-
serving, II only because they are SO
interesting. All of this helps the up-
growth OF sentiment in behalf of these
luckleSs feathcred creatures-a senti-
ment which may vet lead TO deter
mination on the part of the public at
large that it is better to keep them
fY Fun" SO or ~ to gFatify the the VANITY Wspiiy i Of
| thouohtlcss women