Monthly Bulletin 



REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS 



The Directors of the Massachusetts Audubon Society submit the fol- 

 lowing report of the activities of the Society during 1917. The increase in 

 membership for the year has been as follows: Life Members, thirty-eight; 

 Sustaining Members, five hundred and nine. In the Annual Report issued 

 in February last year a detailed account was given of what might be called 

 the general activities of the Society. These have all been continued, in 

 many cases extended, but can be only very briefly touched upon here. The 

 calls on the office for advice and assistance come not only from Massachu- 

 setts, but from every portion of the country. These have been invariably 

 responded to. While no record has been kept of the munber of visitors 

 to the office, it is believed that these have steadily increased. On Saturdays 

 and school holidays there is often a considerable attendance of school 

 children, either with or without their parents or teachers. The encourage- 

 ment to bird study and bird protection has been extended through the 

 traveling lectures, four of which have been in constant use by teachers and 

 students throughout the State. In the same way the four libraries of bird 

 books have had free circulation in the schools and libraries through the 

 Women's Education Association. Application for the free use of the lec- 

 tures should be made at the office; for the traveling libraries to Miss Alice 

 G. Chandler, Lancaster, Mass, 



Bird During the year the educational work of the Society's three Bird 

 Charts. Charts has been widely extended throughout the country. One 

 thousand nine hundred and seventy-eight have been sold. These 

 Charts have the highest recommendations from ornithologists and educa- 

 tors and their steadily increased use in schools and libraries is very grati- 

 fying. Not only do the Charts themselves perform an educational service, 

 but the income from their sale, applied to the general fund of the Society, 

 is used very largely for educational purposes. 



Audubon In the same way the Audubon Calendar has been received with 

 Calendar, marked appreciation and the sale both at the office and through 

 the mail has been successful. 



Bird The exhibition and sale of leaflets, of the best bird books, of bird 



Protection houses and other bird protection appliances have been greater 

 Material, than ever before. The cloth posters for posting land against 

 hunting and trespassing, both in English and Italian have had 

 wide distribution, some two thousand in all having been put up in the 

 State. 



Legislation. In legislation it is good to record that the better sportsmen 

 and sportsmen's associations have more than ever before 

 appreciated the need of protecting all forms of wild life and have often 

 joined with the Audubon Society in working for better laws and prevent- 

 ing the passing of bad bills. This co-operation has been effective in the 

 State and has helped materially in national legislation. During the year 

 the migratory bird treaty at Washington was advanced by the passing of 

 the Enabling Act through the Senate. Because of war conditions the bill 



