450 Bird -Lore 



been able to reach about 2,000 Michigan men, and tell them the needs of our 

 Society and what it has accomplished for the state. 



Wishing to see how effectively an entire county might be organized for 

 bird-protection, the president and secretary have begun to visit every school 

 in that county, and introduce a plan of work embracing the study of a few of 

 our most common birds. Actual observations are to be made and stories written 

 about them; winter-feeding to be done; bird-houses built and placed in the 

 spring; and, when nesting- time comes, cat-guards made and used. Every 

 school is asked to compete for prizes offered for the best stories about actual 

 work done, for best feeding-devices, cat-guards, and houses. The prizes will 

 be awarded at the 191 7 county fair, where the results of the contest will be 

 exhibited. 



Our Society is expecting opportunities in 191 7 for the greatest progress it 

 has ever yet made. — Gertrude Reading, Secretary-Treasurer. 



Nebraska Audubon Society. — The past year has been a notable one in 

 the history of the Nebraska Audubon Society. Since the organization in June, 

 1902, barring the first two years, which were active ones, I may say that we have 

 just kept going — "doing our bit." In October of 1915, however, a reorganiza- 

 tion of the Society was effected, regular monthly meetings were resumed, 

 Educational, Membership, and Press committees were appointed, and with 

 enthusiasm we started upon our year's work. 



We received hearty cooperation from the Omaha Park Commissioner, the 

 Superintendent of Recreation, the School Board and many teachers, and 

 above all from the Press. By the time of our November meeting our mem- 

 bership had increased fourfold. Monthly meetings continued until June, 

 with increasing members and interest. The Society having suggested that bird- 

 houses be placed in the public parks, the Park Commissioner furnished lum- 

 ber to the manual-training departments of the public schools, and their super- 

 visor made bird-box building the subject of the whole winter's work. The 

 children of the various public schools made more than four hundred boxes, 

 and an exhibit of them, held at the City Hall, attracted widespread attention. 

 The boxes were placed by the Park Commissioner in the parks and along the 

 boulevards of Omaha. A local merchant offered prizes for the best specimens 

 made by the children, and another good public exhibition was the result. All 

 these latter boxes were made in the homes. 



The lecture of Ernest Harold Baynes, on March 11, was a tremendous 

 success. We felt the interest in bird-life in Omaha vastly quickened by Mr. 

 Baynes' visit. In addition to his evening lecture, from which many had to be 

 turned away, Mr. Baynes spoke to a large audience at the Commercial Club's 

 Noonday Luncheon on 'Conservation and Bird-Life.' A bird-picture con- 

 test, suggested by the Superintendent of Recreation, was one of the achieve- 

 ments of the year. The Society cooperated with a local bakery company, 



