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The Audubon Society. 



THE AUDUBON SOCIETY FOR THE PROTEC- 

 TION OF BIRDS. 

 President pro tern., 

 George Bird Grinnell, Ph. D. 



Honorary Vice-Presidents. 



Mrs. W. Appleton Boston, Mass. 



Mr. George T. Aiigell Boston, Mass. 



Mr. Ch.Trles Alexander Montreal, Canada. 



M iss M.iria R. Audubon New York. 



Miss Mar>' E. Audubon New York. 



Mrs. Margaret Blake Ottawa, Canada. 



Miss Biddle Philadelphia, Pa. 



Mrs. Charles T. Barney New York. 



Mrs. Frank Bottome New York. 



Mr. Henry B ;rgh New York. 



Mr. T. Y. Burgess Cleveland, Ohio. 



Mrs. Henr>' Ward Beecher Brooklyn, N. Y. 



Mrs. Brinton Coxe Philadelphia, Pa. 



Miss M. Dusenberrj' Sing Sing, N. Y. 



Mr. Rodney Dennis Hartford, Conn. 



Mr. Leonard H. Eaton Pittsburgh, Pa. 



Mr. Abraham Firth Boston. Mass. 



Mr. Charles R. Frazer Canton, Ohio. 



Mrs. George B. Grinnell New York. 



Mr. Thomas F. Gatchell Des Moines, la. 



Mr. G. E. Gordon Milwaukee, Wis. 



Mi.ss Elizabeth P. Hall Rochester, N. Y. 



Mr. 'I'honias E. Hill Chicago, 111. 



Mr. Henry B. King Augusta, Ga. 



Mrs. William Ludlow Philadelphia, Pa. 



Mr. J. M. Le Moinc Quebec, Canada. 



Mr. Charles McLaughlin Portland, Me. 



Lady Macdonald Ottawa, Canada. 



Mr. 'I'homas E. D. Marvin Portsmouth, N. H. 



Justice Arthur McArthur : Washington, D. C. 



Dr. R. Noyes St. Paul, Minn. 



Mrs. E. J. Nicholscm New Orleans, La. 



Mrs. W. D. Page New York. 



Hon. T. W. Palmer Washington, D. C. 



Mrs. John C. Peters New York. 



M'iss Lena Potter New York. 



Mrs. S. B. Richey Halifax, N. S. 



Mr. A. Clifford Richardson St. Louis, Mo. 



Lady Ritcrle Ottawa, Canada. 



Lady Stephens Montreal, Canada. 



Mrs. L. L. Tifft Buffalo, N. Y. 



Mr. Oscar V. Todhunter Cincinnati, Ohio. 



Mrs. i hurber New York. 



Lady Tilley Frederickton, N. B. 



Mrs. Cciia Thaxter Boston, Mass. 



M iss A. Wigglesworth Boston, Mass. 



Mr. Henry B. Williams Bristol, Va. 



Mr. Edmund Webster Philadelphia, Pa. 



Mr. Josiah W. Winans San Francisco, Cal. 



Mrs. Caroline E. White . . Philadelphia, Pa. 



Charles F. Amerv, General Secretary. 



THE AUDUBON SOCIETY was founded in New York 

 city in February, 1886. Its purpose is the protection of 

 American birds, not used lor food, from destruction for mer- 

 cantile purposes. The magnitude of the evil with which the 

 Society will cope, and the imperative need of the work which 

 it proposes to accomplish, are outlined in the following state- 

 ment concerning 



THE DESTRUCTION OK BIRDS. 



Within the last few years, the destruction of our birds has 

 increased at a rate which is alarming. This destruction now 

 takes place on such a large scale as to seriously threaten the 

 existence of a number of o..:r most u.seful species. It is carried 

 ■on chiefly by men and boys who sell the skins or plumage to 

 be used for ornamenta purposes— principally for the trimming 

 of vomin's hats, bonnets and clothing. These men kill everj'- 



thing that wears feathers. The birds of the woods, the birds 

 of the field, the birds of the marsh and those of the sea are 

 alike slain, at all times and at all seasons. It matters not if 

 the bird be .a useful one which devours the hurtful insects 

 which destroy the farmers crops, or a bright-plumaged song- 

 ster whose advent has been welcomed in spring, and which h.as 

 reared its brood in the door yard during the summer, or a 

 swift-winged sea swallow whose flight along the shore has often 

 with unerring certainty led the fisherman to his finny prey — 

 whatever it be, it must be sacrificed to the bird butcher s lust 

 for s'aughter and for gain. Besides the actual destruction of 

 the birds, their numbers are still further diminished by the 

 practice of robbing their nests in the breeding season. 



Although it is impossible to get at the number of birds killed 

 each year, some figures have been published which give an 

 idea of what the slaughter must be. We know that a single 

 local taxidermist handles 30,000 bird skins in one year; that a 

 single collector brought back from a three months trip 11,000 

 skins; that from one small district on Long Island about 70,000 

 lirds were brought to New York in four months time. In New 

 York one firm had on hand February i, 1886, 200,000 skins. 

 The supply is not limited by domestic consumption. Ameri- 

 can bird skins are sent abroad. The great European markets 

 draw their supplies from all over the world. In London there 

 were sold in three months from one auction room, 404,464 West 

 Indian and Brazilian bird skins, and 356,389 East Indian birds. 

 In Paris 100,000 African birds have been sold by one dealer in 

 one year. One New York firm recently had a contract to 

 supply 40,000 skins of American birds to one Paris firm. These 

 figures tell their own storj'— but it is a story which might be 

 known even without them; we may read it plainly enough in 

 the silent hedges, once vocal with the morning songs of birds, 

 and in the deserted fields where once bright plumage flashed 

 in the sunlight. 



The objections to this cruel and wanton destruction of bird 

 life are not sentimental only. If continued it will soon not 

 only deprive us of one of the most attractive features of rural 

 life, but it will surely work a vast amount of harm to the 

 farmers by removing one of the most efficient checks on the 

 increase of insects. Agricultural interests are at stake. 



BIRDS, INSECTS AND CROPS. 



The food of our small birds consists very largely of the 

 insects which feed on the plants grown by the farmer. These 

 insects multiply with such astounding rapidity that a single 

 pair may in the course of one season be the progenitors of six 

 billions of their kind. All through the seas(m at which this 

 insect life is most active, the birds are constantly at work 

 destroying for their young and for themselves, tens of thou- 

 sands of hurtful creatures, which, but for them, would swarm 

 upon the farmer's crops and lessen the results of his labors 



A painstaking and ardent naturalist not very long ago 

 watched the nest of a pair of martins for sixteen hours, from 4 

 A. M. till 8 P. M., just to see how many visits the parent birds 

 made to their young. He found that in that time 312 visits to 

 the four young were made, 119 by the male and 193 by the 

 female. If vie suppose only six insects to have been brought 

 ai each visit, this pair of birds would have destroyed, for their 

 young alone, in this one summer's day, not far from 2,000 

 insects. The important relations which our birds bear to the 

 a.^ricultural interests and so to the general welfare, are recog- 

 nized by the governments of all our States. L:;ws exist for 

 their protection, but these l.^ws are rendered inoperative by 

 the lack of an intelligent public sentiment to support them. 

 They are nowhere enforced. It is for the interest of every 

 one that such a public sentiment should be created. 



It is time that this destruction were stopped. 



PUKPOSS OF THE AUDUIION SOCIETY. 



To secure the protection of our birds by awakening a better 

 seiitiment, the Audubon Society, named after the greatest of 

 American ornithologists, has been founded. The objects 

 sought to be accomplished by this Society are to prevent as far 

 as possible — 



(i) The killing of any wild bird not used for food. 



(2) The taking or destroying of the eggs or nests of any wild 

 birds. 



(31 The wearing of the feathers of wild bird.-). O.strich 

 feathers, whether from wild or tame birds, and those of domes- 

 tic fowls, are specially exempted. 



The Audubon Society aims especially to preserve those 

 birds which are now practically without protection. Our 

 game birds are already protected by law, and in large measure 

 by public sentiment, and their care maybe left to the sports- 

 man. The great aim of the Society is the protection of 

 American non-^ame birds. The English sparrow is not 

 included in our lists. 



PLAN OF THE WORK. 



Obviously the Society cannot supply any machinery of com- 

 pulsion to lead individuals and communities to a higher 

 regard for bird life and to efforts for its protection. Nor are 

 compulsory measures thought necessary. The wrongj is toler- 

 ated now only because of thoughtlessness and indifi'erence. 



