56 



The A. O. U. Bi7'd Protective Committee. 



and the other members were requested to 

 co-operate in its preparation. 



Early in January, iS86, various changes 

 took place in the composition of the Com- 

 mittee, two of the original members having 

 resigned. To-day the body consists of: 



Mr. G. B. Sennett, Chairman, New York. 



Mr. E. P. Bicknell, Secretary, New York. 



Mr. Wm. Dutcher, Treasurer, New York. 



Mr. J. A. Allen, New York. 



Mr. L. S. Foster, New York. 



Dr. Geo. Bird Grinnell, New York. 



Dr. J. B. Holder, New York. 



Mr. William Brewster, Cambridge, Mass. 



Mr. Montague Chamberlain, St. John, 

 New Brunswick. 



Col. N. S. Goss, Topeka, Kansas. 



The supplement to Sciaice^hov^ referred 

 to, was issued Feb. 26, 1886, and 3,000 

 copies were furnished the Committee for its 

 own use by the publishers. This supple- 

 ment was afterward issued in a slightly 

 changed formed as Bulletin No. i of the 

 American Ornithologists' Union Committee 

 for the Protection of North American Birds, 

 of which about 20,000 copies were distrib- 

 uted. It containssarticles from the pens of 

 Messrs. Allen, Sennett, Bicknell, Dutcher, 

 Holder and Foster, which cover a very 

 wide range, and contain a vast amount of 

 information, and having been widely scat- 

 tered over the land it cannot have failed 

 •of doing a great deal of good. 



The meetings of the Committee continued 

 through the winter and spring, and it is 

 interesting to note that at each meeting 

 seven out of the ten members — all those 

 resident in New York — were present. 



In May, 1886, the State of New York 

 passed a bird protection act, modeled in 

 the main on the draft of the law published 

 In the Committee's Bulletin No. i, and on 

 reassembling in the autumn it was thought 

 advisable to issue a second Bulletin devoted 

 to a consideration of bird legislation. This 

 was published in November last, and 

 measures have been taken to bring it to the 



attention of legislators in all the States and 

 Territories. 



The connection between the A. O. U. 

 Committee and the Audubon Society has 

 been intimate from the beginning. A mem- 

 ber of the Committee was appointed to take 

 special charge of Audubon work, and his 

 report was incorporated in the report of the 

 Chairman to the A. O. U. last autumn. 



It may truly be said that to this Com- 

 mittee of the A. O. U. is due primarily the 

 movement to check the needless slaughter 

 of our birds, a movement which has now 

 spread far and wide over the length and 

 breadth of the land. The Committee has 

 ever shown itself ready to advise, direct and 

 guide, but for anything further it had no 

 funds and no time. Its duty was to pave 

 the way. The further task has devolved 

 upon the Audubon Society, whose latest 

 efforts, embodied in this magazine, bid fair 

 to achieve the objects for which the labors 

 of the Committee on Bird Protection were 

 a fitting preparation. 



Too much credit cannot be given to this 

 Committee and to each of its members for 

 their unselfish labors in this cause. To it 

 they have given valuable time and thought, 

 and for it they have labored faithfully and 

 earnestly. There is not one of them that 

 has not done something to help the good 

 work along. 



Those who reside in New York have been 

 assiduous in their labors. Others living at 

 a distance from the place of meeting have 

 also done much to influence public opinion 

 and especially legislation. For the at- 

 tainment of this last named end Mr. 

 T>rewster has labored mo.st effectually. 

 Perhaps no one outside of New York has 

 iiccomplished so much to help on the pro- 

 tective movement as Mr. Montague Cham- 

 berlain, who besides working in behalf of 

 the Committee, has taken on himself addi- 

 tional duties, and has been, far more than 

 any one else, instrumental in spreading the 

 Audubon movement in Canada. 



