El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-09-21

among rocks. Back ~ me Lighthouse
keepers dwelling is a stone wall, and
many of the petrels lay their eggs in
cracks between tie stones.
Muskrats in Oregon.
Malheur lake. il Oresol, s small
sheet of water surrounded ny extensive
marshes. 1t is :. :Sovernm;nI rcseIva-
ton, set apart f0r the protection of the
Canada goose, the white pelican and
various other wild birds which breed
there. A remarkable point about it is
the fact that there IS a colony of musk
rats there; for nowhere else in Oregon
are there any muskrats. But equally
curious, perhaps is the circumstance
that Stump lake, in North Dakota, is
the only place in the United States
where that beautiful bird, the white
winged scooter, breeds-the established
refuge there being a group of four
islets.
Five national military parks Chick
amauga. Antietam, Shiloh, Gettysburg
as many battlefields in Pennsylvania,
Maryland, Tennessee and Mississippi.
On these areas absolute protection is
given to wild life at all seasons, and
their location is such that, with other
military reservations (such as the GEM
eteries at Arlington, Fredericksburg.
etc), they from a chain of refugees for
migratory land birds in the line of their
nOrthward flight It is proposed to
create another chain OF refugees on
thus to contribute Importantly to the
safety of feathered creatures on their
travels.
The volcano already mentioned, I'm
Boring sea, not far from the north OF
the AIeutian chain. is BOgislof island,
which. together with adjacent rocks,
has recently been set aside as a refuge
for sea birds and sea lions. Though
small, it is probably the most persist
emily active volcano in the world. and
a, @E FTr1z = 4
stroyed a good many of the sea fowl
which frequent il for breeding pur-
poses One might suppose that they
would prefer cooler spot, and the
which haunt the shores of the isle. The
latter is so hot that men are able to
land upon it only a I occasional inter
walls.
Sea Lion ROokeries.
The sea lion is the largest Of all the
seals. It has no fur, but its skin has
been used for betting The full-grOwn
male has leOnine aspect, enhanced by
the rich, golden red of its coat of short
hair. Its expression is feTOciOus, and
that the followers of the explorer, Ber-
ing. should have viewed it with alarm,
on first encountering the animal, is not
surprising. Yet it is very timid, and at
the approach of single human being
an entire herd will scuttle into the wa
ter, the females actually deserving
their young.
This interesting marine mammal is in
no danger of determination. Its lack
of a valuable pelt is its best asset.
There is no money in killing it, and
several of its most important rookeries
are now protected by the government as
refugees for sea fowl The sea lion
rookery on the Farallones is the most
mum erously occupied south of Bering
sea Others are on Three-Arch Rocks
(off the Oregon COAST, Destruction
island. and the lighthouse reservations
at Point Reyes and AnO Nuevo.
There are also a good many sea lions
on the Pribylof islands, in Bering sea,
where in earlier days they were so nu-
merous as to drive away the fur seals
on which account the Russians killed
most of them, or induced them by per-
secution to depart. Near by, on Walrus
and Otter islands, which are now in
cluded in the Pribylof bird preserve.
are rookeries of sea Iions-though it is
not for their benefit, but for the pro-
lection of the INJURIES, horned puffins,
tufted puffins, guillemots, and cormor-
ants, which breed on those rocks, that
the law has drawn about the latter its
circle Of guardianship. Howeved lack
ing in value the animals may be to civ
flization, for commercial purposes, they
are very useful to the PribyIof island
ers, who utilize their skins for boats
their intestines for waterproof clothing
their sineWs for thread, and the tough
portions of hide over their fIippers
for boot soles. Rene 5Bache.