Cije Audubon ^ociette0 



" Vou cannot with a scalpel find the poet's soul, 

 Nor yet the wild bird's song." 



Edited by MRS. MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT and WILLIAM DUTCHER 



Communications relating to the work of the Audubon and other Bird Protective Societies should 

 be addressed to Mrs. Wr.ght, at Fairfield, Conn. Reports, etc., designed for this department, should be 

 sent at least one month prior to the date of publication. 



A Stronghold to be Conquered 



August, to the great majority, is probably 

 the most enervating and irresponsible month 

 of the entire year. It is high tide to the su- 

 perficial eye, a time when everything on land 

 and sea is at an apparent standstill, and we 

 ourselves are supposed to follow Whit- 

 man's invitation to " loaf and invite your 

 soul." 



There is also a lull in bird affairs, the 

 nesting being over and the moulting begun. 

 I have even thought at times that it would 

 be a relief to bird protectionists if, for this 

 one month, they might also moult to the 

 extent of shedding their ever-present sense 

 of responsibility. But, on the contrary, the 

 last month of summer calls one and all to 

 special effort, for with September comes the 

 universal opening of the public school, and 

 this, the greatest of all American institu- 

 tions, is a stronghold to which the cause of 

 protection of bird and beast must not only 

 gain admission, but in a proper sense 

 dominate and possess for its own before 

 we may feel our position in any way 

 secure. 



In America, where it is the reflex influ- 

 ence of the child upon the parent, more than 

 the direct parental influence upon the child, 

 that molds the point of view, it is necessary 

 to meet the child face to face and win him in 

 the early school years. How this may be 

 done must be thought out now, in order to 

 be ready for action at the opening of the 

 schools. 



Lack of tact on the part of well-meaning 

 enthusiasts has done more to keep birds 

 and flowers out of schools, than either 

 politics or the so-called "stupidity" of 

 schoolboards. Bird Study has a hard 

 sound and suggests one more text-book to 



be bought, another task to be added as 

 a link in the chain of studies already 

 too heavy. Bird Life or Bird Play- 

 according to the grade and age— has a far 

 more alluring sound, and to be both attrac- 

 tive and beneficial the matter should be 

 introduced as one of the extra "topics of 

 the day" rather than as a task of regular 

 and fixed times. 



How can this be accomplished ? you ask. 

 By skilfully influencing the supplement- 

 ary reading of the schools within reach, and 

 so creating a demand for nature books. 



Here in Connecticut we first cooperated 

 with the intelligent and progressive State 

 Board of Education by adding nature 

 libraries, bought with the money of the 

 Audubon Society, to the other sets of 

 books that are circulated free in all school 

 districts. Then we asked, what next? 



"Give us pictures and reading leaflets 

 so arranged that they can be passed from 

 hand to hand and desk to desk, that the 

 children may feel the interest of personal 

 possession," was the response. 



We sent out colored pictures of birds, 

 flowers, shells, trees, etc., all mounted on 

 stout cardboard. The success was instan- 

 taneous — "More, give us more, the chil- 

 dren learn to read the books through the in- 

 terest created by the pictures. The charts, 

 etc.,hungon the wall have their place, but the 

 portfolios of pictures that may be handled 

 and enjoyed at close range are much more 

 practical, andean be kept in the teacher's 

 desk to be taken out at odd moments." 



Let every officer of an Audubon Society 

 while he or she is taking the August rest, 

 swinging in a hammock or in a boat, camp- 

 ing in the primeval forest or simply revel- 

 ing in the comfort of a rural home, put on 

 a thinking-cap of leaves and devise some 



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