History of the Audubon Movement 49 



A. O. U. Committie on Bird Protection. — At the mectini^ of the Ameri- 

 can Ornithologists" Union held at the American Museum of Natural His- 

 tory, New York, November 17-18, 1885, a report of the Committee on the 

 Protection of Native Birds was made by Mr. Brewster, chairman, who 

 stated that owing to ill health he was obliged to resign the chairmanship, 

 and for this and other adverse circumstances the Committee had been 

 unable to develop a systematic plan of work. The discussion following the 

 report showed that there was no lack of interest in the subject, and that 

 active measures would be taken to enlighten the public and to create a 

 proper sentiment in relation to the wholesale slaughter of birds going on for 

 millinery purposes. "Dr. Merriam regarded the work of this Committee 

 as the most urgent now before the Union." A new Committee was ap- 

 pointed which met at 51 Liberty Street, New York, December 12, 1885, 

 for organization. Mr. George B. Sennett was elected permanent Chair- 

 man and Mr. Eugene P. Bicknell, Secretary, the other members of the 

 Committee being Dr. J. A. Allen, Dr. J. B. Holder, Dr. George B. 

 Grinnell, William Dutcher and L. S. Foster, all of New York City; Mr. 

 Wm. Brewster, of Cambridge, Mass. ; Mr. Montague Chamberlain, St. 

 John, N. B., and Col. N. S. Goss, Topeka, Kansas. Weekly meetings 

 were held thereafter at the American Museum of Natural History, when a 

 large amount of preliminary work was done. A sub-committee was 

 appointed to collect statistics respecting the extent of the trade in bird 

 skins for millinery purposes; to another sub-committee was entrusted the 

 duty of procuring a full series of the legislative enactments of the different 

 states in behalf of bird protection, as a basis for intelligent action in respect 

 to this phase of the subject. 



The Committee deemed it advisable that its first work should be edu- 

 cational in its character, in order to create sentiment against the use of 

 birds for decorative purposes and in general for the protection of all 

 native birds. 



The year 1886 seemed to mark the high tide of bird protection work 

 during its first cycle of development, and great activity was displayed. The 

 A. O. U. Committee, through the cooperation of the editor and publisher 

 of 'Science' and of Mr. G. E. Gordon, President of the American Humane 

 Association, were able to effectively reach the public. A sixteen-page sup- 

 plement to No. 160 of Science,' February 26, 1886, was issued; and it was 

 subsequently republished as 'Bulletin No. i of the A. O. U. Committee 

 on Bird Protection' in an edition of over 100,000 copies. It contained the 

 following articles: 'The Present Wholesale Destruction of Bird-Life in 

 the United States,' by J. A. Allen; 'Destruction of Bird-Life in the 

 Vicinity of New York,' by William Dutcher; 'Destruction of the Eggs of 

 Birds for Food,' by George B. Sennett; 'Birds and Bonnets,' by Frank 

 M. Chapman, and as editorials, 'The Rchtion of Birds to Agriculture,' 



