The Audubon Society 



65 



need for it, or, failing this, there will be 

 nothing to protect. In either case the 

 time is tiozv, and the price of success is 

 not only an expenditure of sense, senti- 

 ment, practical economics, legal ardor, 

 but hard-headed, cold cash ! 



Fellow Audubonites, face this issue I 

 Do not spend so much time in crawling 

 around it and nibbling the edges. 



A well known public educator of St. 

 Paul writes me, "We have now so much 

 available material for nature study in 

 our schools that, within about ten years, 

 we should have the spirit of destruction 

 changed into a spirit of protection." Yes, 

 and the Audubon Societies must have 

 fees in order to mould this material into 

 an attractive shape that will appeal to 

 the child, through its eye for the beau- 

 tiful, and not in a study form, to add its 

 weight to the intolerable burden of 

 ' ' lessons. ' ' 



When the societies can do this they 

 will have forgotten such things as 

 Pledges.— M. O. W. 



Reports of Societies 



ILLINOIS SOCIETY 



The work of the Illinois Audubon 

 Society has gone steadily on during the 

 past year. There are regular monthly 

 meetings of the directors held during 

 eight months of the year, with meetings 

 for members and the general public in 

 the spring and fall. The speakers at the 

 public meetings this last year have been 

 Rev. Jenkin Lloyd Jones and Mr. Frank 

 E. Sanford, of our own Society, and 

 Prof. O. G. Libby, of Wisconsin. 



New branch societies have been formed 

 in several towns, but this part of our 

 work grows slowly, the southern part of 

 the state being, as yet, entirely untouched. 



Bird Day is, unfortunately, not estab- 

 lished by law, but was observed by many 

 of the schools where the teachers were 

 personally interested in the work. It is 

 possibly a' question to be considered 

 whether the school work of the humane 

 societies with their "Bands of Mercy," 

 and the work of the Junior .\udubon 



Societies might not be united to the 

 advantage of both, a multiplicity of 

 pledges being unadvisable for children. 



During the year new bird laws have 

 been passed by our state legislature, 

 conforming in many points to the model 

 laws suggested by the A. O. U. Bird 

 Protection committee. While we are 

 thus fortunate in having reasonably good 

 laws, the question of enforcing them 

 seems a difficult one. "Test cases ' will 

 probably come sooner or later that will 

 decide whether they are a "dead letter" 

 or a "living epistle." 



Thanks to the graceful and active pen 

 of one of our directors, the subject of 

 bird life is brought often to the notice 

 of the public through the columns of the 

 press, one recent result being the posting 

 by two active bird lovers, of warnings 

 to "all concerned," to leave unmolested 

 the game up and down the wooded 

 banks of the Desplaines river. 



It is to be regretted that, in spite of 

 game laws and Audubon Societies, birds 

 are shot by men, in season and out of 

 season, stoned by boys and worn by 

 women. While we hear that the hats 

 and bonnets of our women of the " middle- 

 west" are not quite as bad as those of 

 our eastern sisters, they are worse than 

 they have been for years ; though, per- 

 haps, one sees fewer song birds. 



Our present membership embraces 

 some 772 adults and nearly 6,000 

 children, the latter being seemingly as 

 difficult to count accurately as the birds 

 themselves. 



Since our spring meeting, April 13, 

 we have sent out over 1,500 leaflets and 

 are about sending out some 1,200 more. 

 Only one new leaflet has been issued 

 by the society during the year. 



M.^RY Drummond, Sec'y. 



SOUTH CAROLINA SOCIETY 



The South Carolina Audubon Society 

 was organized at Charleston, January 4, 

 1900, with a membership of thirty-six. 

 Miss Christie H. Poppenheim was elected 

 president, and Miss L. A. Smyth, of Le- 

 gare street, Charleston, secretary. 



