276 



Bird- Lore 



THE GEORGIA PREACHER AND THE JAY 



The Tampa Tribune for June 10, 19 19, 

 contained the following item from Sanders- 

 ville, Ga. : 



"W. W. Wray, pastor of the Baptist 

 Church here, created a mild sensation at 

 his morning services yesterday when he 

 stopped in the midst of his sermon, ob- 

 tained a shotgun, and killed a Jaybird that 

 had been flying around the auditorium and 

 singing while the services were in progress. 



"Mr. Wray announced, before the con- 

 gregation sang a hymn, that he would kill 

 the bird if it sang again. The moment the 



congregation stopped singing, the Jay 

 began. The preacher immediately stopped 

 the services, went to his home near the 

 church, got his gun, returned to the 

 church, and took his stand in the center of 

 the building. He fired once, the bird 

 tumbled to the floor, and services were 

 resumed after the powder and smoke had 

 cleared away." 



It may be noted in this article there is 

 no word of condemnation of the action of 

 this Georgia minister of the Gospel in 

 shooting a wild bird. 



BIRD-BOX CONTEST IN NEW ORLEANS 



New Orleans has had its first bird-box 

 building contest. It was brought about 

 largely through the efforts of the New 

 Orleans Item, one of the city's daily papers. 

 Hundreds of boxes were submitted and 

 later were erected on private grounds and 

 in the city parks. 



M. L. Alexander, head of the State 

 Department of Conservation, has written 

 most enthusiastically regarding the great 

 amount of interest which the contest 

 aroused. He feels that work of this char- 



acter will bear much fruit in the way of 

 Louisiana bird-protection. 



Prizes were awarded for the "best gen- 

 eral construction," "best Martin-house," 

 "best single-room house," "best Wren- 

 house " "most originality " "best rustic 

 house," "best economy house," "best pole- 

 box house," "best bark house," "best cool 

 house," "best Pigeon-house," "best three- 

 story house," "best bird-cottage " "best 

 Chickadee-house," and "best bird-house 

 built by a girl." 



INTERFERENCE WITH FEDERAL COOPERATION 



A new Federal law went into effect 

 July I, 1919, by the terms of which no 

 Federal employee receiving salary from 

 the Government may accept any addi- 

 tional compensation from individuals or 

 corporations. This puts an end to the co- 

 operation between the National Associa- 

 tion and the Biological Survey, in reference 

 to the joint employment of wardens on 

 Government bird-reservations. 



The Association has always taken great 

 interest in these Government bird sanc- 

 tuaries, and, in fact, the officers and 

 directors of the Association were largely, 

 if not wholly, responsible for the estab- 

 lishment of the Government bird-reserva- 

 tion system which is in operation today. 



From the day the first reservation was 



established, March 14, 1903, the Audubon 

 Societies have provided some wardens for 

 their protection. For the first six years all 

 wardens guarding the reservations were 

 employed by the Audubon Societies. At 

 the end of that time Government appro- 

 pi:iations began to be available for the 

 purpose. These funds, though totally in- 

 adequate, have been increased through the 

 years, with the result that the proportion 

 of the expense which the Association has 

 borne has become much less than formerly. 

 On the first of July the Association 

 ceased paying any of these wardens, and 

 the three patrol boats which we have here- 

 tofore maintained have been turned over 

 to the Biological Survey. Audubon War- 

 dens of course continue to serve. 



