178 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 101 



after Mrs. with his auto, and they made a trip to the 



scene of destruction. Great willows, which had been allowed 

 the freedom of plenty of space for years, were being chopped 

 off for the piteous bit of wood they would make. When arrived 



at the place, Mrs. made at once for the chopper, and 



discovered that he was an old schoolmate of hers. But that 

 made no difference. If they had not agreed in school, at 

 least, there was a possibility that they could now. So she 

 asked him whose authority he had for cutting the willows. 

 He replied that the owner had given him permission to cut 

 all the trees for the wood. Then she pleaded for the preser- 

 vation of the trees, which of course meant the preservation 

 of the Pond as well, and he became interested enough to stop 

 work, to listen. " It is perfectly alive with birds at certain 

 seasons of the year, and if the trees were cut, the Pond would 

 dry up, the birds would forsake it, and we would only have 

 a weed patch where we now have a Natural Bird Sanctuary. 

 I am a member of the local Naturalist Club, and in the name 

 of that organization which stands for the protection of Nat- 

 ural Beauty spots, and our wild life, I ask you to cease your 

 cutting, until we can confer with the owner." 



The owner was found to be a Mr. Smith, living at Monona, 

 Iowa. So the chopper was finally prevailed upon to cease 

 his action, for the present, and after making her way back 

 to the car, dripping wet from the thickly falling flakes, she 

 went home and wrote a letter at once to the owner. After 

 this action, of which I knew nothing until it was all over, 

 she felt that a big step was taken toward the preservation of 

 a spot which deserved to be preserved, not alone from its 

 natural beauty, for it had been used by many persons, uncon- 

 scious of the beauty which was lurking near, as a dumping 

 ground, but because of the many birds which visited the spot 

 every spring and fall during the migration season. 



It is no wonder that her enthusiasm was so great for the 

 preservation of the spot, and that her indignation was well 

 aroused, for the Pond, although small, had a slough on one 

 side, a meadow on the other through which a creek made 



