384 Bird -Lore 



We have, therefore, during the past year witnessed a success of what may 

 be the last large legislative battle it is necessary to wage in the United States 

 against the illegal traffic in the feathers of wild birds, a fight which began when 

 in 1885 and 1886, Dr. J. A. Allen and Dr. George Bird Grinnell first began to 

 call the attention of the public to the great slaughter of wild birds for the 

 feather trade. As a matter of fact, the Audubon Society was originally organ- 

 ized as a protest against the killing of our native birds for millinery adorn- 

 ments, and one of our chief activities throughout the years has been to exert 

 a steady pressure on the feather trade. 



The reports of the Association the past eighteen years usually have con- 

 tained considerable space devoted to the progress made in the campaign 

 which now, after the passing of many years, has reached a most successful 

 issue. It is but reasonable to expect that there will continue to be a limited 

 amount of smuggling and surreptitious handling of Paradise plumes, just as 

 these illegal practices are still carried on in dealing with aigrettes. Men in 

 the southern swamps will continue to kill Egrets and sell their feathers quietly 

 to northern tourists who go to Florida winter resorts, and it will be necessary 

 for the Association to continue strenuous activities in protecting the Egret 

 colonies in the Southland. However, the enormous nation-wide slaughter 

 of birds for their feathers no longer exists, and the Audubon Society, whose 

 workers first started the agitation for the protection of birds of plumage and 

 by whose contributions and labors one battle after another has been suc- 

 cessfully waged, may well congratulate itself on its achievements in this 

 important field of endeavor. 



GENERAL NOTES 



The past year, as usual, a very large correspondence has been conducted 

 from the home office, and the field agents also report a steadily increasing 

 volume of demands for information. In addition to the usual office duties, 

 your President has delivered about forty public addresses, many of these 

 before affiliated Audubon Societies and Bird Clubs. If time permitted he 

 would like very much to visit every such organization in the country, for he 

 always finds it extremely stimulating to thus come personally in contact 

 with these workers in the Audubon Movement. 



In the late spring he was privileged to make some study of bird-protective 

 conditions in France, Holland, and England, and on June 20 took part in 

 a conference in London where representatives from all these countries were 

 present and at which plans were laid for the formation of a world committee 

 for the protection of birds. 



Recently the Board of Directors amended the by-laws of the Association 

 to provide for an associate membership with an annual fee of $1, to be open 

 to members of such allied organizations as may be accepted by the Board 

 for such purpose from time to time. It was voted that this form of member- 



