148 



Bird -Lore 



THE AUDUBON SOCIETY OF THE STATE 

 OF WYOMING 



Pursuant to a call inihlislifil in the morii- 

 ino; and evening papers, (|uite a irowcl of 

 enthusiastic ladies and gentlemen assembled 

 in the parlors of the Inter Ocean hotel, 

 Cheyenne, April 29. Mr. Frank Bond was 

 called to the chair and hrieHy stated tiie 

 object of the meeting and the work which 

 had already been done in tlic direction of 

 securing pledges of support in the public 

 schools and elsewhere. It being agreed 

 that a society for the protection of birds and 

 the enforcement of the state law was desir- 

 able, the meeting decided that four officers 

 were necessary, viz.: A president, vice- 

 president, secretary and treasurer. Officers 

 to fill these positions were duly elected as 

 follows: President, Frank Bond ; vice- 

 president, Mrs. John A. Kiner; secretary, 

 Mrs. N. R. Davis; treasurer, Prof. J. O. 

 Churchhill. 



It was ordered that all cards of promise 

 to protect birds, their nests and eggs, after 

 being signed should be handed to the sec- 

 retary, Mrs. Davis, who will make a recortl 

 of the name, residence and date in a book 

 to be kept for that purpose. These cards 

 are to be returned to the signer, who will 

 also be supplied with an Audubon button 

 as soon as they arrive, or as soon thereafter 

 as possible. 



It was found that public sentiment was 

 overwhelmingly with the bird-protection 

 movement, and that the new Audubon 

 Society would soon embrace in its member- 

 ship more than a thousand persons, in fact, 

 two thousand members in Cheyenne, alone, 

 did not appear an extravagant figure to 

 those who met at the Inter Ocean hotel last 

 evening. Because of the showing made, 

 the treasurer was instructed to order the 

 printing of a second thousand of pledge 

 cards, the first thousand being already 

 nearly exhausted. I'he question of order- 

 ing another thousand buttons was also 

 favorably discussed and tiie matter left to 

 the officers of the Society, who will act 

 promptly as soon as it becomes evident tiie 

 buttons will be needed. 



Bird lovers, a term which will soon in- 

 clude all of tile farmers and atrriculturists 



of tiie country, if it does not do so already, 

 will be gratified to learn that the Audubon 

 Society started out with a membership of 

 900, the result of a few days' work only. 



ILLINOIS SOCIETY 



In ail work the thoughts of a secretary 

 or treasurer are apt to play around the dry 

 details of statistics and figures, and so it is 

 to be expected that in this report of the 

 work of the Illinois Audubon Society for its 

 fourth year they must form a part. 



The exact membership of the Society is 

 difficult to state, for members move away or 

 die and the secretary does not know it. 

 Without, therefore, claiming accuracy as to 

 tlie figures, our present membership counts 

 870 adults and 7,904 juniors — a total of 

 8,774. ^Ve have sent out during the year 

 nearly 5,000 leaflets; part being purchased 

 from other societies and part being our own 

 publications. 



In connection with our efficient game 

 commissioner, Mr. Loveday, we have 

 placed "Warnings" in every one of the 

 2,700 post offices in the state. These warn- 

 ings gave an outline of the laws regarding 

 birds and referred for information to the 

 game commissioner and the secretary of 

 the Audubon Society. 



Another joint work of the game com- 

 missioner and this Society is the practical 

 suppression of the sale of living wild birds 

 in the Chicago bird stores. Several test 

 cases have been brought and the decision 

 given in favor of the birds. This is a long 

 step in the right direction and leads us to 

 hope that the time may come when our law, 

 which forbids the sale and purchase of birds 

 alive or dead, may also be enforced as re- 

 gards the dead birds. 



During this last year we have adopted 

 the little paper By-the-Wayside, which is 

 the paper used by the Wisconsin Society in 

 ••s junior work, for the Illinois juniors also. 

 It has recently been moved from Milwaukee 

 to Madison and makes its monthly visits to 

 the children from that place. There has 

 been a large increase in the number of meet- 

 ings held In' Womens' Clubs, Teachers and 

 Farmers' Institutes, etc., and a promise of 

 Lrreater increase in the future. 



