296 Bird - Lore 



THE YEAR'S WORK 



Principal Results. — Since the last annual meeting the National Associa- 

 tion has been incorporated, and is now in a legal position to accept and 

 administer legacies either of cash or realty. Already it is known that the 

 Society is mentioned in three testamentary documents, and the directors 

 urge upon the members the importance of this means of providing for the 

 permanency of the Association. Quite recently one of the state societies 

 became a legatee in the amount of $i,ooo, this being the first bequest 

 received. It shows that the Audubon Societies are attracting attention, and 

 their work will in time become one of the best known of the philanthropic 

 movements. The Finance Committee have already invested the fees of 

 twenty hfe memberships in two one thousand 4 per cent gold mortgage 

 trust bonds, issued by the United States Mortgage and Trust Company. 

 This is a beginning on which can be built a great structure of consecrated 

 wealth. The eighty dollars earned each year by our present fund means 

 that some great colony of birds will always be guarded during the breeding 

 season. During 19O-I. we had iio contributors to the working fund. Since 

 February 15, last, when a systematic effort was commenced to obtain mem- 

 bers for the Association, 490 additional ones have been secured. This is a 

 gain of 450 per cent. In 1904 the total receipts from all sources was 

 $4,929.58; during the present year the receipts have been $12,498.07. This 

 is a gain of 250 per cent. 



Office Work. — The Officers have to devote far too much of their time 

 to finances, to the detriment of the more pleasant and legitimate work of 

 bird protection. When the National Committee was organized in 1901, no 

 office was necessary and clerical assistance was needed only a portion of the 

 time. The work of the Society has increased steadily, and for a large part 

 of the present year two clerks have been employed. The work outgrew the 

 limits of the president's home, and, on October i, an office was established 

 at 141 Broadway, New York, which will hereafter be the headquarters, 

 instead of the familiar '525 Manhattan Avenue.' From the office may be 

 heard from morning until night the clatter of typewriting machines sending 

 messages to the public about the protection of wild birds and animals, and 

 through the door is continually flowing a stream of educational Hterature. 



Hundreds of thousands of pages of such publications have been mailed 

 during the past year. The illustrated educational leaflets of the Association 

 now number 16, and, in addition, two special leaflets have been issued, one 

 devoted to the Robin and the second to the Martin. Thousands of pages 

 of letters have been dictated in reply to the ever-growing correspondence. 



Legislation. — The legislative work of 1905 was very successful. The 

 Model Law was adopted in five states, — California, Missouri, Michigan, 

 Pennsylvania and South Carolina. There is now only one coast state where 



