HO Notes and News. |~* uk 



LJan- 



chosen from the several State societies, with, in all probability, Mr. 

 Dutcher as the active head of the new organization, as it is through his 

 energy and zeal as Chairman, both of the National Committee and of the 

 A. O. U. Committee for the Protection of Birds, that the work of bird 

 protection has been for years past so effectively and successfully 

 advanced. It is the purpose of the new organization to secure funds, 

 not only for present use, but for permanent endowment, so that the work 

 may be established on a secure foundation for many years to come; for all 

 who are in touch with this great and beneficent enterprise must know 

 that the fight for the protection of birds and other useful animals must 

 be a perpetual strife against unwise legislation and selfish and short- 

 sighted interests. The management of the new organization, has already 

 secured the services of Mr. T. Gilbert Pearson, of Greensboro, N. C, 

 to take the field as a propagandist in the cause of bird protection, to 

 awaken public interest and secure financial assistance for the National 

 Association, for which special work he is eminently fitted by his energy 

 and earnestness, and his well-known effectiveness as a public speaker. 



The work of the A. O. U. Committee for the Protection of North 

 American Birds has not only been very aggressive during the past year 

 but the results achieved have been extremely important and gratifying, 

 as shown by the following summary, kindly prepared by the Chairman, 

 Mr. William Dutcher, for publication in the present connection. 



As usual the Committee has directed its efforts along three lines, the 

 first of which, Warden work, has been continued with funds procured 

 through Mr. Abbott H. Thayer ; without such financial support this 

 branch of the work could not be carried on at all, as it is impossible to 

 secure the services of wardens unless they are paid a small salary during 

 the time they are actually guarding the birds in the breeding season. 



In Maine the colonies of Herring Gulls, Terns, Black Guillemots, 

 and Puffins are rapidly increasing. All of the reports received, not only 

 from the wardens themselves but from interested outsiders, show that the 

 protected birds are becoming uncommonly fearless of man. While it is 

 true that the conditions for bird protection on the Maine coast are 

 extremelv favorable, the large increase in their numbers is entirely due 

 to the care" given to the breeding birds by this Committee. 



In Massachusetts the results are practically the same ; the Terns on 

 Penekese, Muskeget and the Weepecket Islands are doing finely, as are 

 also those in the two colonies on Gardiner's Island, in New York State. 



In New Jersey the colonies of Laughing Gulls and Terns made a small 

 increase, but the conditions there are unfavorable, for the reason that the 

 coast is becoming more densely populated every year, especially during 

 the summer months, and the shores are being taken up for resident pur- 

 poses, thus contracting annually the area occupied by the birds. The 

 New Jersey colonies were very small when the Committee commenced 

 to protect them and it is very doubtful whether they can be continued ; it 



