The Audubon Societies 



207 



seventy-five colored slides of our native 

 birds. A lecture has been compiled from 

 ' Bird-Life ' to accompany this outfit, which 

 is entrusted to the care of our local secre- 

 taries, who may loan it to responsible per- 

 sons in adjacent towns. Clergymen, prin- 

 cipals of schools and directors of farmers' 

 granges have already been interested. 

 The only expense to be met is the express- 

 age to the next point of destination, as the 

 lantern box is always sent prepaid. 



The Society now possesses three sets of 

 colored plates from Mr. Chapman's 'Bird- 

 Life.' These are loaned for work in 

 classes, upon application from our local 

 secretaries. Fifty colored wall charts, is- 

 sued by the Massachusetts Audubon So- 

 ciety, have been distributed among the 

 local secretaries. These may be loaned 

 to schools, to clubs, to lecturers for special 

 occasions, wherever they will serve to 

 advance the educational work. 



The only new leaflet issued is an espe- 

 cially valuable one, — a list of books recom- 

 mended to the bird-student. This pamph- 

 let was compiled by Mrs. Olive Thorne 

 Miller, and contains notes describing the 

 contents of each work mentioned, to guide 

 the purchaser. Altogether, over 17,340 

 leaflets and law posters have been distrib- 

 uted since the last report, March, 1901. 



Ten meetings of the Executive Committee 

 have been held, with Mr. Chapman as 

 chairman. 



In November, 1901, the New York So- 

 ciety had the pleasure of welcoming 

 delegates from eleven other Audubon 

 Societies to the second Audubon Confer- 

 ence, held in the American Museum of 

 Natural History. The result of this con- 

 ference was the formation of a National 

 Committee of Audubon Societies, of which 

 our own delegate to this committee, Mr. 

 Dutcher, has been the able chairman for 

 the past year. This National Committee 

 is particularly valuable in securing prompt 

 concerted action in any matter of national 

 import. It is a pillar of strength to the 

 cause of bird protection. 



Eleven new local secretaries have been 

 added to our list, making the present num- 

 ber sixty-eight. The fidelity of these local 



secretaries cannot be too highly com- 

 mended. They are watching conditions in 

 all parts of the state, and sowing the edu- 

 cational seed in communities utterly callous 

 to the cause of bird protection; they are 

 forming bands of little converts, keeping 

 them interested in the work by ' Bird 

 Talks;' organizing classes and taking them 

 out to the woods and fields; all of this often 

 at much personal sacrifice of time, as many 

 of them are teachers, or in other busy walks 

 of life. 



With the cooperation of the American 

 Museum of Natural History, the Linnaean 

 Society and the Audubon Society, last 

 spring, Saturday afternoon talks were given 

 to teachers at the Museum. The class was 

 held for eight consecutive weeks, and was 

 enjoyed by an audience of one hundred and 

 seventy-five or two hundred teachers. 



The present total membership of the 

 Society is now 3,418, and this constant ex- 

 pansion of the influence of the Society 

 must go hand in hand with increase 

 of income. The chief means of support 

 comes from the annual dues of the sustain- 

 ing members. I would most earnestly urge 

 all members and friends of the Society to 

 use the utmost possible effort to increase 

 this class of membership. Much has been 

 gained. If our work is now to be put to 

 the test, we must not fail for lack of funds. 

 The New York Audubon Society must ap- 

 peal to each loyal member to manifest in 

 its service courage, constant effort and an 

 abiding sense of personal, individual re- 

 sponsibility for the welfare of the bird. — 

 Emma H. Lockwood, Secretary. 



Third Annual Conference of 

 Audubon Societies 



The Third Conference of Audubon 

 Societies, held in Washington, D. C, No- 

 vember 19 and 20, 1902, was a marked 

 success. Through the efforts of the District 

 of Columbia society an excellent program 

 was prepared. The proceedings of the 

 conference were, consequently, well-directed 

 and attended by definite results. 



A public session of the societies for the 

 consideration of papers on educational 

 methods in Audubon work was held in 



