THE AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION 



157 



A Recently Enrolled Chapter. 



The officers of the recently enrolled 

 Maryland Avenue Chapter of The 

 Agassiz Association, of Baltimore, 

 Maryland, are as follows: President 

 U. L. Amoss ; Vice-President, Y. Wil- 

 son Knighton ; Recording" Secretary, 

 John Kormann ; Corresponding Secre- 

 tary, Forrest Barnett ; Treasurer, Saul 

 Rudo. The Chapter now numbers six- 

 teen members, and the President 

 writes, "Many more are expected to 

 join shortly." 



First Report of a New Corresponding 

 Member, Harold E. Jones, New 

 Canaan, Connecticut. 



The doctrine of nature study has 

 been preached long and earnestly, but 

 its devotees are still comparatively 

 few. Moving picture shows, dance 

 halls, bowling alleys, pool rooms, and 

 other places of artificial amusement 

 are alarmingly common, not only in the 

 cities but also in villages where more 

 normal recreations were formerly cus- 

 tomary. There are also the widely- 

 prevalent outdoor sports, which, while 

 valuable to those actively engaged, en- 

 gender a class of passive onlookers who 

 can derive but slight benefit from 

 "watching the game." If people would 

 refrain from such inane recreations, 

 and turn more to the study and con- 

 templation of nature, I believe they 

 would find their time better spent. 



The creed of the nature lover is "pro- 

 tection :" protection of the birds, pro- 

 tection of the trees. Between these 

 exists a sort of symbiosis or interde- 

 pendence. Without birds trees cannot 

 exist, and vice-versa. The modern ten- 

 dency is to destroy — to kill the birds 

 and waste the forests. It is this de- 

 structive tendency which such men as 

 Gifford Pinchot and Theodore Roose- 

 velt are endeavoring to combat, and in 

 their fight they need and should have 

 the support of every intelligent Amer- 

 ican. The Audubon societies are 

 spending thousands of dollars to pre- 

 serve bird-life, but their efforts must be 

 in large measure unsuccessful so long 

 as the public remains indifferent to 

 their work. Public interest can onlv 

 be aroused by the efforts of nature- 



lovers in various parts of the country, 

 acting in co-operation with the local 

 press. The people must be shown how 

 valuable are their natural possessions, 

 must be taught to love and conserve 

 them. And there must be more nat- 

 uralists to aid in this work of instruc- 

 tion. 



The first of May, 1909, marked a new 

 epoch in my life. John Burroughs' 

 "Wake Robin" had providentially fal- 

 len into my hands, and this second 

 "Book of Revelations" provoked such 

 an interest that I forthwith seized an 

 opera glass and repaired to the nearest 

 strip of woodland. What joy there was 

 in identifying my first downy wood- 

 pecker ! And this thrill was repeated 

 daily as I made the acquaintance of 

 each new feathered neighbor. Within 

 a year I had observed most of our com- 

 mon birds, and many of the rarer ones, 

 growing more enthusiastic with each 

 acquisition to my list. I then turned 

 my attention to nest-hunting, obser- 

 vations of food habits, and the more 

 complicated phases of field ornithology. 

 One of the chief inducements to bird 

 study is the fact that it inevitably leads 

 to other and more comprehensive in- 

 terests. The bird lover will soon add to 

 his nature-knowledge by becoming a 

 tree-student, an amateur botanist, and 

 finally a dabbler in that still more fas- 

 cinating science, entomology. 



My two years work afield may be 

 considered merely as a foundation. 

 Everything is now ready for the sur- 

 mounting structure, character, know- 

 ledge, understanding. Whether this 

 shall be composed of cardboard, or of 

 granite, remains to be seen. 



Exchange for Members. 



Exchange notices will be inserted in 

 this department for members only at 

 twenty-five cents per issue. All others 

 are referred to the advertising Personal 

 Department at fifty cents a month — 

 twenty-five words or less. 



I have six hundred United States and 

 foreign stamps collected prior to 1900, two 

 Battenburg patterns fifteen inch and twenty- 

 seven inch sizes, and two wheels for making 

 Teneriffe lace, which I wish to exchange for 

 Lepidoptera or Coleoptera. — Mrs. Ina Milde, 

 Lewiston, Minnesota. 



