500 Bird - Lore 



formed at Cleveland, under the guidance of Elizabeth C. T. Miller. This 

 organization is heart and soul in the new movement, and will influence northern 

 Ohio most beneficially. The State Audubon Society at Cincinnati has a new 

 President, Dr. Robert C. Jones, who is thoroughly in sympathy with educa- 

 tional work, and had arranged with the Superintendent of Public Schools in 

 Cincinnati that every child shall hear 'bird-talks' and have an invitation to 

 join a Junior Class during the school year. Nothing of this kind has ever before 

 been undertaken by the Ohio Society. 



Probably one of the most significant facts of all, and giving proof of the 

 spread of the Audubon idea in education, is that now your Agent rarely meets 

 with rebuff at the hands of superintendents and principals, as was formerly 

 the case. He is now welcomed and invited to return. This means that the 

 school authorities have considered the work soberly, and find it not a "diverting 

 amusement," as once dubbed, but a matter of real worth. Besides all of these 

 good things, it must be remembered that a greatly increased number of Ohio 

 people made donations to this work within the year in the form of member- 

 ship-fees to the National Association. The formation of Junior Audubon 

 Classes this fall began automatically, and almost daily some evidence appears 

 of a renewed interest in wild birds. 



Please permit your Agent to take credit unto himself for one thing. He 

 has succeeded in developing what is virtually a state-wide sentiment against 

 the stray cat — a sentiment that expresses itself in action, with the result that 

 in numberless back yards a cat-cemetery has been formed. Deserted kittens 

 at back doors are rarer. Only three years ago, it was a common occurrence to 

 hear their pathetic calls, and find yourself confronted with the necessity of 

 taking them in or killing them. In this move I have been humane to the cats 

 as well as merciful to the birds. Whenever I give a bird-talk — and I have given 

 hundreds — I never fail to tell the truth about the stray cat's relation to wild 

 birds. 



May, June, and July of this year were unusually dry months in Ohio, and 

 free from wind-storms, with the result that a remarkable number of birds 

 were hatched and reared to maturity. This has been a banner-year in Ohio 

 for the wild birds. 



My report would hardly be complete without some mention of the Melon 

 Seed-Saving Contest. This method of keeping kindly intentions toward wild 

 birds in the minds of the children daily, and of a multitude of adults also dur- 

 ing vacation, provoked only an amused smile from "those who know." They 

 didn't believe the birds would eat melon-seeds — they don't believe it yet. It is 

 true also that they never tried the experiment, and I have. It was a difficult 

 matter to secure $25 with which to offer prizes and pay for some printing, and 

 the cash prizes I could afford to offer were too small. After the conditions of 

 the contest and the prizes had been announced, and notice had been given 

 in more than a hundred Ohio papers, the National Association of Audubon 



