6o Report of Committee on Bird Protection. f£jj 



eyes aglow he exclaimed, ' I declare it was delightful to watch that 

 little bird build.' I felt the child had given me the answer to the 

 bad boy problem. Prove to him that the live bird is more interest- 

 ing than the dead one, or rather enable him to prove it to himself." 



It is on the educational side of the question that the members 

 of the Committee have exerted themselves especially during the 

 past year, and the results are very encouraging. Several new 

 Audubon Societies have been established in 1898 and there are 

 now 14 States societies, with a combined membership of over 

 16,000, while some 90,000 leaflets, pamphlets, etc., have been 

 distributed through, their agency. 



Lectures and bird talks have been given in greater numbers 

 than ever before, under the auspices of schools, women's clubs 

 and literary societies ; and the observation of bird day in schools, 

 although not authorized by law to the extent that it should be, is 

 being more generally considered as the teachers become aware of 

 its importance. And the most admirable plan of joining its obser- 

 vation with that of Arbor Day is meeting with much favor. 



The status of bird millinery remains practically as it has been, 

 no arguments being able to prevail against the fashion leaders of 

 to-day, and the increase and decrease of birds for ornament seems 

 mainly a question of variation in fashion and of the character of 

 material available for use. Though the traffic in American birds 

 is reduced to a minimum, the use of imported species goes on 

 practically unabated. 



The milliners in many of our large cities have joined gladly 

 with the Audubon Societies in exhibiting ' birdless hats,' and some, 

 notably Gimbel Bros, of Milwaukee and Philadelphia, have advo- 

 cated in circulars and advertisements the abandonment of wild 

 birds, while they made a special department of Audubon millinery 

 in their stores ; but the present generation of fashionable women, 

 as a class, seems not to be open to argument on this subject. 

 The only possible way to reach them will be by the passage of 

 Senator Hoar's bill. The effect of the widespread appeal for the 

 birds cannot, however, fail to be felt, and it will become more and 

 more apparent as years go by and the younger generation, 

 brought up under its teaching, begins to exert an influence in the 

 community. 



