The Donaldsonville chief., 1915-02-27
WATER FOWL SEEK HAVENs.
migratory Game and Non-eame Birds
Find Refuge in State Preserves
Splendid Results Accomplished
bv Conservation Policy.

strikingly borne out by the report
just made by Stanley Clisby Arthur,
ornithologist of the ConserVatloh
Commission, upon his return from a
three weeks tour of the rest-grounds
and state game preserves established
Gurins the past few years for the
! game and non-game birds that mi
crate to Louisiana during the WIN
ter months.
tThat the establishment Of these
wild game and water fowl preserves
has proved the greatest KIND of a
success my tour Of observation con-
cIusiyely proved" said Mr.. Arthur
upon his return to New Orleans
last week, land that the methods of
! conservation as they are being prac-
ticed by the present commission will
mean a return of the old-time abun-
dance Of game to this state | now
have not the slightest doubt.
while away / visited March Is
land, the state game preserve, the
! Ward McIlhenny tract and the re-
Gently acquired Rockefeller Founda-
| ton preserve on Grand Cheniere, and
| for fear of being accused Of drawing
the long bow will say that I saw
| wild geese there by the million when
| should say | saw them by the D1l-
! lion. And, best of all, / saw them
on the different preserves the state
has seen fit to provide for the birds,
which proves that these havens are
fulfilling in every way the good
/ they were expected to do.
s'On these preserves the geese and
ducks and various shore birds find
d safe haven from the guns OF the
| market hunter, and for that reason
can be described as being almost
tame. On Marsh Island | rode on
horseback within a couple of hundred
feet of flock OF greater and lesser
snow geese, blue geese and brant
and they arose in a cloud that dark
ened the marsh as they passed be-
tween me and the sun. On one day,
| between nine and eleven in the
morning, when our boat, the Louisi-
ana, was within three-quarters of a
mile of shore, / counted % different
and distinct flocks Of wild geese
mounting into the sky from the
marsh lands and settling again to
feed. On a most conservative basis
the smallest flock was 1900 in size
and the largest flock numbered 25,-
900. Watching this great flock
through the glasses was a sight |
never expect to see again, and /
stood on the deck of our boat, rock
ing on the gentle sWells of the Gulf,
with my eyes glued to the binoculars
and SO aWed was that / found it
difficult to breathe freely.
Our captain, who was born in the
Louisiana loWlands and who in his
youth had been in the plumage hunt
ing business that has had such a
disastrous effect on our game birds
today, claimed that Iii all his expe-
rience he had never seen d like num-
Der Of geese at one time. Not only
did we see geese IN these large
numbers, but the ducks were on wing
or feeding In the marshes by the
million. AT tines orr boat would
Esfartle flocks CD sise lesser scaup.
or dos girls, from their places I'M
the Gulf water and they would hur-
tie off with Wl1fr of wings that
could be heard great distance.
During the S00zodd miles We COW
erred on the trip we found con-
ditions the same. When we were
near the preserves we saw the wa
ter fowl in countless numbers, and
away from them we saw scattered
flocks or pairs and market-hunters
who complained Of the poor Hveli-
hood there was in market hunting
these days of conservation and good
will ii Louisiana toward ducks and
geese.
Not only are the hosts of wild
geese and ducks finding out what
the preserves mean, but many spe-
cies that are nearer to being called
extinct than merely rare are re
Pies will point this out. A single
species of the trumpeter swan Wis
tied the state preserve this winter
and was just finishing the third
week of his. stay when | babe him a
hearty welcome to his old Wading
ground. He {for he allowed the
warden and myself to get within rs
yards of him and I thus established
his sex) was sporting in the water
Of a lagoon just back of the warden's |
house with a couple of dozen Cana |
dian geese ard a flock of canvas
back ducks. am positive had the |
geese not taken wing we could have /
approached nearer to him. The Wis /
it Of a pair Of Whooping cranes to
the state preserve this winter was
another conservation achievement
that speaks volumes for the work
the present commission is doing. The
last wild birds OF this species seen
were observed by Ernest Thompson
Seaton. who saw five of them in
saskatchewan, in 1907. Two years
ater a single specimen was observed
by John #. Ferry in this same Cana
liam territory. Now a pair have
'ound the havens offered by Louisi-
ina and the Conservation Commits
'fon, and we may look for them in in
,reased numbers on our preserves as
he years go on"
Mr. Arthur also stated that while
N his trip he secured data relating
Q the nesting places in Louisiana
# number of bird species that
we're thought to have neared ex-
inction by the activities of the
lume hunters, and that during the +
i'm, ~, a.. 1,e ~ io;4