Cfje Hububon Societies! 



SCHOOL DEPARTMENT 



Edited by ALICE HALL "WALTER 



Address all communications relative to the work of this depart- 

 ment to the Editor, 67 Oriole Avenue, Providence, R. I. 



A CHRISTMAS GREETING 



"Thoughts of peace and not of evil." — Jer. 29:11 

 ". . . Joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace." 



• — Zach. 8:19. 



MAKING THE WORLD SAFE 



Everywhere the word has gone forth that the world must be made a safer 

 place to live in. This dictum is just as applicable to bird-life as to human life, 

 if one stops to consider the consequences of existence in an unsafe world. How 

 extremely dangerous a place for birds this country of ours has been for many 

 years is indicated by the enormous annual toll wantonly taken of bird-life. 

 Conditions have been quite as bad, and worse, in most other countries. Let 

 us be awake now to the possibilities of educating public sentiment to a realiza- 

 tion of what general good may accrue to all by safeguarding our birds. 



It is earnestly hoped that Audubon Societies will make a particular effort 

 to do three things now in order to advance, rather than retard, such wise 

 measures of legislation as have already been passed in the interest of conserv- 

 ing bird- life and other resources : 



1. Arrange some form of instruction whereby not only citizens but also 

 students of every grade may be made acquainted with the general aim of the 

 game-laws of the states in which they reside, emphasizing the basis of such 

 laws and calling attention particularly to those species of birds which are in 

 greatest danger of extermination. 



2. Set about a quiet but convincing campaign to bring women to under- 

 stand that the use of prohibited plumage on hats is just as criminal as many 

 offenses which they would not hesitate to condemn. That wings, aigrettes, 

 and even entire birds are still too frequently seen on women's hats is sufficient 

 reason for undertaking such a campaign. In the October, 191 7, number of the 

 American Museum Journal, a most instructive article on Ostrich farming 

 explains the situation of legitimate feather industry clearly and without pre- 

 judice. A wider distribution of this article is much to be desired. 



3. Take up lines of work which will correlate food-conservation with bird- 

 and nature-study. It is not well to sit back with folded hands and free con- 

 science, thinking that everyone is informed about food-conservation. People 

 need constant assistance and instruction in this matter. At the moment of 

 writing, sugar is scarcely to be had, and many people are not only inconve- 



(346) 



