46 Bird - Lore 



as well as boys, of the insect-eating and song-birds of our land " ; 

 'Decrease of Song Birds,' in which the writer directs attention to the 

 advertisement of a Boston taxidermist who calls for ' all kinds of native 

 birds' and states, "I saw in the window of a large millinery store here 

 over one hundred and fifty stuffed skins of the Baltimore Oriole, labeled 

 75 cents each." In an editorial in ' Forest and Stream,' entitled, 'The 

 Sacrifice of Song Birds,' it is stated: "The destruction of American 

 wild birds for millinery purposes has assumed stupendous proportions. 

 The unholy work gives employment to a vast army of men and women, 

 and this arrny wages its campaign of destruction with a diabolical per- 

 fection of system." The editorial refers to details of the work published 

 in other columns of the paper which furnish evidence of the ghastly 

 character of the business. It was during this year that the work of 

 exterminating the Terns commenced and the gruesome business was carried 

 on from Florida to Massachusetts and hundreds of thousands of these 

 beautiful and graceful creatures were sacrificed on the altar of fashion. 

 Today the small remnant of the once countless throngs of Terns, or 

 Sea Swallows, are being carefully guarded by wardens in the employ of 

 our Society who are paid from the Thayer Fund. They now live in 

 peace and happiness, are permitted to breed in security, and, thanks to a 

 growing sentiment of kindness to all wild life, are rapidly increasing 

 in numbers. 



Work of the American Ornithologists' Union. — In the minutes of the 

 second annual meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union, held 

 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, September 30, 

 1884, may be found the following entry: "Mr. Brewster called attention 

 to the wholesale slaughter of birds, particularly Terns, along our coast 

 for millinery purposes, giving some startling statistics of this destruction, 

 and moved the appointment of a committee for the Protection of North 

 American birds and their eggs against wanton and indiscriminate destruc- 

 tion, the committee to consist of six, with power to increase its number, 

 and to cooperate with other existing protective associations having similar 

 objects in view. After earnest support of the motion by Messrs. Brewster, 

 Chamberlain, Coues, Goss, Merriam and Sennett, it was unanimously 

 adopted, and the following gentlemen were named as constituting the 

 committee: William Brewster, H. A. Purdie, George B. Grinnell, 

 Eugene P. Bicknell, William Dutcher and Frederic A. Ober." 



Establishment of the Biological Survey. — At this same meeting action 

 was taken which proved far more reaching in its results than was prob- 

 ably ever dreamed of or hoped for by its originators. The Union 

 instructed the Council to prepare and present a proper memorial to 

 Congress and also to the Canadian Government, in behalf of the Com- 

 mittee on Bird Migration, and to consider what other means could be 



