3i6 Bird -Lore 



bers, ' The Ladies' Village Improvement Association ' has become a sustain- 

 ing member. We encourage this club membership, as it so facilitates our 

 distribution of literature. The chairman of the ' Bird Preservation Com- 

 mittee of the Federation of Women's Clubs,' Mrs. E. A. Graves, w^rites 

 that, tv^^enty-two clubs in Florida which belong to the Federation are most 

 of them interested in bird study, and a majority of these have established 

 and observe Bird Day each year. 



"The effort to secure the passage of an 'anti-live-pigeon-shooting' bill at 

 the last meeting of the Legislature of Florida was, on all sides, warmly sup- 

 ported. The defeat of the bill was not only a disappointment in the cause 

 of bird protection, but a regret to all right-minded persons, that cruelty and 

 frivolity could triumph, in this twentieth century, over humanity and justice. 



"The murder of Warden Guy M. Bradley fills not only our Society in 

 Florida, but the people of the United States, with horror. A brave man 

 shot at his post, defending the helpless against brutality, and all for what ? 

 A feather, to adorn the head of some woman ! ! The picture of the murdered 

 man, and above him the woman's face, smiling, as she carries proudly on her 

 head the beautiful aigrette plume, would have furnished a Goya or a Hogarth 

 a fitting subject for his brush. That the lives of those standing for the 

 maintenance of law and order in the state. are in jeopardy, is a matter of 

 concern to thinking people. 



"The following extract from a letter from our honorary vice-president, 

 Mr. Kirk Munroe, will be interesting : 'During the past winter a number of 

 residents along the w^ater front at this place (Cocoanut Grove) have been 

 pleasantly interested in watching, feeding and taming a small flock of Wild 

 Ducks that finally gave ready response to a whistle, and hurried trustfully to 

 the very feet of any person ready to feed them. On the morning of Sunday, 

 February 26, not finding any person present at their usual place of feeding, 

 six of these tamed Ducks ventured near an unaccustomed wharf, on the end of 

 which stood a young man who, when the hungry, trusting birds were about 

 five feet away, fired into the bunch, killing four and wounding two. At the 

 success of his shot he roared with laughter, and expressed the hope that 

 his neighbors would tame more ducks for him to shoot.' Mr. Munroe 

 says : 'As soon as the brutal act was reported to me, I determined, if possible, 

 to punish it, and accordingly prosecuted the offender, in the name of the 

 Audubon Society of Florida, for hunting on Sunday. The case was easily 

 won and the fine with costs, amounted to $60. It was the first time the young 

 man had ever heard of our Society, and I believe it will be long before he 

 forgets the lesson it has taught him.' 



"We would here publicly thank all in Florida who make personal effort 

 for the cause of bird protection. We would also thank all newspapers who 

 have gratuitously printed articles for us, and the Southern Express Company, 

 who have greatly facihated the posting of the State Laws." 



