A CONSERVATION SKETCH 291 



travel about the State equipped with interesting 

 films and slides which explain better than words 

 what is being done. Their views on conservation 

 are also got to the public through articles printed 

 in local newspapers or in pamphlet form ; and some 

 States issue regular monthly magazines setting 

 forth the doctrines of conservation. The educa- 

 tional results of this work have proved far be- 

 yond what was hoped or expected. 



Again, much of the teaching has been under- 

 taken by the National Association of Audubon 

 Societies and similar organizations. Small Audu- 

 bon societies are scattered thickly all over the 

 country wherever there happen to be a number of 

 bird lovers living in one community. The ob- 

 ject of these societies is not only to study birds, 

 but locally and nationally to arouse public inter- 

 est in them, to wage war against the human ene- 

 mies of birds, and to seek legislation for their 

 benefit. The national association maintains a 

 staff of lecturers, as well as a large number of 

 special game-wardens for bird refuges. 



National bird refuges thus far established have 

 been mainly for water-birds or as resting-places 

 for migratory species on their way north and 

 south. The land set apart has with few excep- 

 tions consisted of rocky islands or ledges, or tracts 

 of marsh of no agricultural value, which would 

 always have been waste land. These reservations 

 have proved of immense value to bird life, pro- 



