secretary's report, woman's auxiliary. 87 



in daily attendance ready to answer questions and explain every- 

 thing that proved of interest. Wie hope by a word here and there 

 to start a train of thought that will lead to action when the visitors 

 have reached their homes. Apparently no impression may be made 

 at the time; but the word has been received and a nucleus formed 

 around which future ideas may center. 



The "bird's nest exhibit" does not seem to lose in interest. This 

 is presented as an object lesson to acquaint the visitors to the State 

 Fair Grounds, more especially children, with the special character- 

 istics of the birds in their immediate neighborhood and to enable 

 them to distinguish between friends and foes. It is quite enter- 

 taining to watch the children as they hover around the tables, and 

 to hear them relate their own experiences in bird-study It is a 

 revelation to many children and to not a few adults to know that 

 each bird has its characteristic nest, that a quail cannot build an 

 oriole's nest and that the nest of a quail would be useless to an 

 oriole. The careful arrangement of twig, bark, fibre, hair, etc., in 

 some of the nests seems almost too intricate for bird-intelligence; 

 but painstaking watchfulness shows that a swallow will build a 

 swallow's nest, and a humming bird a humming bird's nest. We 

 are very fortunate in having Mrs. A. G. Hudson in charge of this 

 department. It is simply a labor of love on her part, and has re- 

 quired many hours of study and tramping through the woods to 

 secure the information and specimens for the exhibit. So far the 

 nests have been entirely from the vicinity of Lake Pepin. We 

 would be pleased to receive specimens from other parts of the 

 state; and if any have specimens that would be valuable for this 

 exhibit, they could write to Mrs. Hudson and give her the required 

 information as to species, etc. 



Above all we are desirous of securing the preservation of our 

 song-birds. It is altogether through ignorance that in some local- 

 ities they are unknown. Many adults, out of doors most of the 

 time, know not the names of our most common songsters. Last 

 summer the writer overheard a chance conversation on the lawn 

 between two men. A cat-bird, disturbed by their too close prox- 

 imity, had given its well-known warning cry. One man said to the 

 other, "Did you hear that bird ? That is a beautiful song bird ; one 

 of the members of the Audubon Society says so, and I suppose it 

 must be so; but for my part I don't call that singing!" The man 

 evidently did not know that this was the bird that gave the beauti- 

 ful songs coming from the bushes and trees. He was simply ignor- 

 ant of the fact that the sweet songster could give vent to such a 



