The Cayuga Bird Club 



365^ 



Assuming control of this woodland, the club has endeavored, so far as its 

 limited funds have allowed, to make it more available to nature-lovers by the 

 construction of paths and a rustic bridge over one of the arms of the creek. An 

 annual field-day, celebrating Arbor-day and Bird-day, has been inaugurated, 

 to which all the people of the city are invited. This year, nearly a thousand 

 children and adults attended. The number was obviously too large to handle 

 en masse, so they were divided into companies which, after a preliminary 

 address by President Fuertes, were further subdivided into squads, with the 

 declared purpose of accomplishing as much work as possible. Each brigade 

 was under a competent leader and had special work to do. There were 'forestry 



CARRYING GRAIN TO THE DUCKS ON CAYUGA LAKE 



brigades,' armed with jack-knives, to do some much needed pruning; 'fire- 

 ranger brigades,' to gather up and burn the loose brush, not needed for bird 

 shelters; 'gardener brigades,' to do some attractive planting about the rustic 

 bridge and along the lagoon; and 'bird-scout brigades,' to put up the nesting- 

 boxes which they had previously built. The day was an undoubted success 

 from all standpoints, not only in the amount of work accomphshed, but also 

 in putting before the city a concrete expression of the conservation movement, 

 and inculcating the value of this woodland in its natural state into the minds 

 of the rising generation. 



Now just a word about the other work of the club. With regard to pro- 

 tection of birds from their enemies, two Sparrow-traps have been constructed 

 ^nd operated with fair results, and articles have been pubhshed in the local 



