THE AMJ'JIUCAN ORMTIloLOdlSTS' LMON 



481 



The Ixfluexce 

 of the a. o. u. 



ox Biiii) l*i;o- 

 Ti'crioN 



_N'ui less im- 

 portant than the 

 scioiitilic and eco- 

 nomic work wliich 

 was taken over bv 

 the Department of 

 A^irienlture is that 

 relating to tlie 

 ]iroteetion of birds. 

 A I the Secoml 

 ('oni>-re.ss in 1881. 

 a committee on 

 bird protection was 

 appointed and at 

 once entered upon 

 an active cam- 

 paign. Wholesale 

 bird slanghter was 

 then at its height 

 due to the enor- 

 mous demand for plumage by the mil- 

 linery trade and the traffic in birds' 

 eggs and skins which was fostered by 

 dealei's and taxidermists. A compre- 

 hensive law for the protection of birds, 

 now known as the "Model Law," was 

 prepared by the committee and was 

 adopted by N'ew York in 1886, and later 

 in modified form by nearly three 

 fourths of the states. This law differed 

 from similar statutes then in force by 

 dividing all birds into three groups, 

 protecting at all seasons nf)ngame birds, 

 for example, thrushes; allowing a sea- 

 son for hunting game birds, such as the 

 (piail : ami withdrawing protection from 

 such iiijiii-ious species as the English 

 sparrow. Ample provision was made 

 for scientific work under a s^'stem of 

 permits. .Simultaneously M-ith the new 

 law, the first Audubon movcmont was 

 launched in 1886, but aftm- a lew ycai's 

 began to languish. Ten years later it 

 was again started on a different and 

 more permanent basis and soon devel- 

 oped to large proportions. 



Mrs. Florence Merriam Bailey was the first 

 and for two years the only woman member of the 

 American Ornithologists' Union, which now num- 

 bers 140 women on its rolls. Among her publi- 

 cations on ornithology are : Birds Through an 

 Opera Glass, Handbook of the Birds of the 

 Wester7i United .Stati-s, and many pajiors on 

 western bird life 



111 the decade 

 Irom 18!)6 to l\U)n 

 rapid progress in 

 hird ])rotcctioii 

 \\a> made uiidci' 

 the enthusiastic 

 Icadcrslii]) of Mr. 

 William Diitchci'. 

 In 18!Mi commer- 

 cial destruction of 

 sea turds' eggs on 

 tlie Farallon Isl- 

 amls in California 

 was stopped. In 

 1 !)()() the first 

 practical work of 

 guarding breeding 

 colonies of sea 

 birds along the 

 Atlantic Coast was 

 made possible by 

 means of the 

 Thayer Fund, the 

 first steps were 

 taken in the or- 

 ganization of the National Commit- 

 tee of x4.udubon Societies, and the first 

 Federal game law, the Lacey Act, was 

 passed by Congress. The year 1903 was 

 marked by the establishment of the first 

 Federal bird refuge on Pelican Island, 

 Florida, and an agreement with the 

 millinery trade to check the traffic in 

 plumage of native birds. In 1905 the 

 Xational Association of Audubon So- 

 cieties was incorporated, and the narra- 

 tion of subsequent events belongs more 

 properly to the history of that organiza- 

 tion. 



Reference, however, may be made 

 to several matters in order to complete 

 this sketcli of American bird protection. 

 In 1906 the National Association of 

 Audulion Societies received an endow- 

 ment ami this fund, gradually increas- 

 ing. pro\i(les a pennanont and assured 

 income I'ny cai-i-yiiig on its work of 

 pi'actical hi I'd >tudy and protection. It 

 may he noted incidentally that the of- 

 ficers of the National Association are 

 all iiieiiihers of tlie T^iiion. In ][)]?> 



