30 



Bird - Lore 



the calendar by a member of the society ; 

 the originals are painted in water colors 

 on Japanese rice paper, and are very artis- 

 tic bird portraits. The same artist is now 

 at work on drawings of new birds for a 

 calendar for 1900, which the directors 

 hope will be reproduced by a more accu- 

 rate and satisfactory process. 



The Bird Chart of colored drawings of 

 twenty-six common birds, which the Direc- 

 tors undertook last spring, is now ready. 

 The drawings have all been especially 

 made for the chart by E. Knobel and are 

 reproduced by the Forbes Lithograph 

 Manufacturing Co. , on twelve stones. 

 Some of our best ornithologists have seen 

 the color proof and pronounce it good. 

 The society has published a descriptive 

 pamphlet to accompany the chart which 

 has been prepared by Ralph Hoffman. 

 His sketches of the birds are delightfully 

 written, and the book is valuable in itself.* 



The Directors have recently sent out a 

 new circular mainly in Boston and vicinity, 

 "which briefly describes the work under- 

 taken and asks for further cooperation 

 from interested persons, and states that 

 "in addition to our first object, the sup- 

 port of other measures of importance for 

 the further protection of our native birds 

 has been assumed by the Society. Among 

 such measures may be mentioned : 



1. Circulation of literature. 



2. Improved legislation in regard to the 

 killing of birds, and the better enforce- 

 ment of present laws. 



3. Protection during the season for cer- 

 tain breeding places of Gulls, Herons and 

 other birds, which, without such protec- 

 tion will soon be exterminated. 



4. Educational measures. This includes 

 the publication of colored wall charts of 

 birds, Audubon Calendars and other helps 

 to bird study. 



The response to this circular has been 

 gratifying. 



The society now numbers over twenty- 

 four hundred persons, twenty-six of these 

 are Life Associates, having paid twenty- 

 five dollars at one time ; four hundred and 



*See note on this chart and pamphlet in Book 



Meivs and Reviews. 



seventy-five are Associates, paying one 

 dollar annually ; the remaining are Life 

 Members, having paid twenty-live cents. 



While the rage for feather decoration is 

 unabated, we feel that there is steadily 

 growing a sentiment among our best peo- 

 ple in condemnation of the custom. There 

 is a noticeable decrease in the use of 

 aigrettes and of our native birds, except- 

 ing the Terns and the plumage of the Owl ; 

 and a marked increase in the employment 

 of the wings and feathers of the barnyard 

 fowl. While the latter continue to feed the 

 fashion they are harmless in themselves. 

 Harriet E. Richards, Sec^y. 



THE RHODE ISLAND SOCIETY 



The Audubon Society of Rhode Island 

 was organized in October, 1897, and has 

 now about 350 members. 



The purposes of the society, according 

 to its by-laws, are ; the promotion of an 

 interest in bird-life, the encouragement 

 of the study of ornithology, and the pro- 

 tection of wild birds and their eggs. 

 Some work has been done in the schools, 

 abstracts of the state laws relating to 

 birds have been circulated throughout the 

 state, lectures have been given, and a 

 traveling library has been purchased for 

 the use of the branch societies. 



Nearly five thousand circulars of vari- 

 ous kinds have been distributed, and it is 

 evident that the principles of the society 

 are becoming well known and are exert- 

 ing an influence, even in that difficult 

 branch of Audubon work, the millinery 

 crusade. Annie M. Grant, Sec'y. 



THE CONNECTICUT SOCIETY 



A score of ladies met in Fairfield on 

 January 28, 1898, and formed "The Au- 

 dubon Society of the State of Connecti- 

 cut. " Mrs. James Osborne Wright was 

 chosen president and an executive com- 

 mittee provisionally elected, representing 

 so far as possible at the beginning, the 

 State of Connecticut. 



An effort was made to find every school 

 district in the state, and a Bird-Day pro- 



