4o8 



Bird - Lore 



Several persons have been arrested and 

 warned; and the society is spreading a 

 knowledge of the federal and local laws, 

 and announces that hereafter convictions 

 will be followed by adequate punishment. 

 Similar vigorous efforts should be made 

 by local Audubon societies in aU parts of 

 of the country. 



Good Work at Bedford, New York 



The Audubon Society of Bedford, New 

 York, has printed and issued its first 

 annual report, an admirable pamphlet 

 showing a vigorous and intelligent activity. 

 President Henry M. Howe is the writer; 

 and he places first among the society's 

 accomplishments the results obtained 

 by the Committee on Nesting-boxes. A 

 total of 704 nesting-boxes and 970 gourds 

 (brought from the South by the chairman, 

 William G. Borland) were made and sold 

 to more than forty local buyers. In many 

 cases, the same person has set out both 

 shingle- boxes and gourds side by side, 

 so that evidence will soon be obtained 

 as to which class is the more attractive 

 and useful. 



Of fundamental importance is the work 

 of the Membership Committee, under the 

 chairmanship of Mrs. Marshall P. Slade, 

 to which the society owes its having a 

 membership of 175, and 63 junior mem- 

 bers, total 238. The Committee on Illegal 

 Shooting, Hall B. Waring chairman, has 

 taken active and efficient steps to prevent 

 illegal shooting, and the carrying of fire- 

 arms, and it has been well supported 

 by the police. Thanks to the Lecture 

 Committee, under the guidance of Mrs. 

 James S. Day, and to Mr. Borland, three 

 formal lectures on birds have been given, 

 one by T. Gilbert Pearson, Secretary of 



the National Association; one by Dr. 

 Arthur P. Allen, of Cornell University; 

 and one by Edward H. Forbush; all very 

 well attended. L. C. Remsen, of Mount 

 Kisco, gave an informal talk at his house, 

 illustrated by his valuable collection of 

 native birds; the late Dr. Campbell spoke 

 to the school children at Mount Kisco; 

 and Mrs. Heniy Marion Howe gave two 

 informal talks on bird-protection. The 

 Library Committee, Mrs. J. S. Penman, 

 chairman, has stimulated the local libraries 

 toward buying books on birds, and bring- 

 ing them to the attention of the read- 

 ing public; has placed in the libraries 

 posters urging the putting up of bird-homes , 

 and has distributed leaflets on the winter- 

 feeding of birds. Charles Haines, represent- 

 ing this society, has visited Albany, and 

 there urged on the legislature improvements 

 needed in the statutes in the interest of 

 birds. He has also given two well-attended 

 lectures on birds, one at Bedford Hills 

 and one at Mount Kisco. Miss Marion P. 

 Cuyler has continued her valuable work 

 on birds with the children of Mount 

 Kisco. An effective cat-trap has been 

 devised, which catches cats without 

 injuring them, thus avoiding natural 

 objections to the use of traps. Wild cats, 

 when caught, have been shot. 



It is believed that in these and other 

 ways, effective steps tending to increase 

 the bird-population have been taken. 

 The suppression of illegal shooting, the 

 wide use of gourds and nesting-boxes, 

 feeding-boxes, and baths, and the efforts 

 to avoid frightening the birds away, have 

 certainly not only increased the number 

 of Bedford-hatched birds that survive, 

 but also made Bedford a much more 

 attractive place for birds, and a far less 

 attractive one for insect pests. 



