96 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



subjects which formerly have ])een jrjven entirely or maiuly by lectures, 

 but in my opinion such a change is imperative in the course in geology. 



The press of class work during the fall and winter has made it im- 

 possible for the Department to do much work at farmers' institutes, 

 but in other ways we have aimed to do our part in the university exten- 

 sion work of the College. The distribution of cases of insects to high 

 schools throughout the State has been almost completed. An offer of 

 such a collection was made to every school on our list of ^'affiliated 

 schools." and each one which responded within a reasonable time was 

 supi)lied with a collection. Meanwhile, requests were received from 

 scores of good schools not on our affiliated list and the task of distrib- 

 uting the dozen cases remaining is a somewhat delicate one. Principles, 

 superintendents and teachers alike have shown their appreciation of 

 our efl'orts, and letters of thanks and commendation have been received 

 from every quarter. 



The demand for information on birds has been steadily and rapidly 

 increasing, and during the past year all possible time has been used to 

 complete the bulletin on Michigan Birds which has been in preparation 

 for several years. 



At my request the Board, as you are aware, authorized the employ- 

 ment of a stenographer for two or three hours a day during the spring 

 term, and with this additional help I have been able to gather much use- 

 ful material from correspondents in various parts of the State. Early 

 in July, 1903, I made a somewhat hurried trip through the eastern half 

 of the Upper Peninsula, following the south shore of Lake Superior 

 from Marquette to Grand Marais and spending a day or two at Chat- 

 ham and in the vicinity of Sault Ste. Marie. The bird notes collected 

 on this trip go far toward filling the most important gaps in our knowl- 

 edge of the bird-life of this region. It is hoped that a similar recon- 

 naisance of the western half of the Upper Peninsula may be made dur- 

 ing the coming summer. During the first week in the present month 

 the writer spent three days in bird work in Washtenaw and adjoining 

 counties and obtained many good field-notes besides inspecting two im- 

 portant bird collections. 



The Board also kindly increased the funds of the Department suflfi- 

 ^ifiently to allow the purchase of a camera and lenses suitable for pho- 

 tographing mounted birds, or birds in the field, as well as birds' nests, 

 and some of the pictures obtained will be reproduced for the bulletin. 

 We have secured the hearty co-operation of the members of the Michi- 

 gan Ornithological Club, as well as the assistance of every wide-awake 

 "bird-man" in the State, and the Division of Biological Survey of the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture has placed at our disposal the entire 

 series of migi'ation notes from Michigan observers for the past 20 years. 

 With this varied and valuable material at hand the only thing neces- 

 sary for the preparation of a good work on the birds of the State is a 

 few months of leisure in which to sift, arrange and condense the facts. 

 Much of this work can be done during the summer vacation and it is 

 believed the work can be made ready for the printer during the autumn. 



TUB GENERAL MUSEUM. 



There has been little change in the general museum during the past 

 year except in the way of small but valuable additions to its collections. 



