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Bird- Lore 



left to the last two or three years to see the 

 exact status of law and conditions so collected 

 that any one interested in such matters may 

 keep them at his elbow. 



Audubon workers should realize their re- 

 sponsibility, the importance of accuracy and 

 keep themselves well informed, — as there is 

 nothing so disastrous as the effect of loose 

 statements and overdrawn claims upon the 

 skeptical, — and both welcome and circulate 

 this literature. 



Without excluding much else that is 

 valuable, I wish to call attention to three 

 recent publications, viz., 'The Educa- 

 tional Leaflet Series ' of the National Com- 

 mittee of Audubon Societies; 'Audubon 

 Societies in Relation to the Farmer,' by 

 Henry Oldys (reprint from the Year- Book 

 of the Department of Agriculture, 1902), 

 and 'Birds in their Relations to Man,' the 

 manual of economic ornithology prepared 

 by Messrs. Clarence M. Weed and Ned 

 Dearborn, D. Sc. and issued in an illustrated 

 volume of some 375 pages by the J. B. 

 Lippincott Company, of Philadelphia. The 

 educational leaflets treat each of one bird, 

 the four already issued being on the much 

 misunderstood Nighthawk, the Mourning 

 Dove, the Meadow-lark and the Robin. 

 These give, in addition to accurate descrip- 

 tions and many interesting facts also, a table 

 of -the food or yearly menu of the bird. 

 These may be purchased from the chairman 

 of the National Committee in bulk, and 

 used in answer to the cry of ' more litera- 

 ture,' that continually comes to Audubon 

 workers. 



Mr. Oldys' pamphlet is a valuable pre- 

 sentation of the Audubon work that the 

 societies should procure and strive to circu- 

 late at grange meetings and at the autumnal 

 county fairs, while 'Birds in their Relations 

 to Man' is a book not so much of new 

 material but of assimilated facts, of equal 

 value to the economic ornithologist, the 

 general reader and the nature-lover who is 

 learning to discriminate between values. 



This August season is the ebb-tide of the 

 bird protection year, as far as the meetings 

 and active Audubon work is concerned. The 

 schools are deserted and the impudent Eng- 

 lish Sparrow raises his last brood, behind 



the blinds, undisturbed ; people are away 

 from home, and, therefore, less keenly alive 

 to their responsibilities. Now is the time 

 to " read, mark and inwardly digest " and 

 plan the work for the coming year; there- 

 fore, let all who can buy, borrow or — yes, 

 even steal — Birds in their Relations to Man,' 

 and not only read the book but endeavor to 

 realize it. M. O. W. 



That the Omaha Society is coming to the 

 front, both in interesting school children and 

 prosecuting lawbreakers, is proven by the 

 following cuttings from a local paper: 



PUPILS LEARN TO LOVE BIRDS 



The pupils of the Omaha public schools 

 are being enrolled as members of the 

 Omaha Audubon society. Fifteen thousand 

 children will have signed a pledge not to 

 harm birds and will wear a badge of the 

 society by the ist of May. Dr. S. R. 

 Towne and Arthur S. Pearse are visiting 

 the schools at the request of the princpials, 

 making short talks on the mission of the 

 society. Miss Joy Higgins, 544 South 

 Thirtieth street, will send membership 

 cards to any one wishing to assist the organi- 

 zation. The distribution of literature and 

 assistance the society can give to the schools 

 — the significance and importance of which 

 will be appreciated by all bird -protection- 

 ists — depend upon the voluntary contribu- 

 tions from persons Interested. 



Special Dispatch to the World-Herald. 



Thedford, Neb.. April 23. — -For a few 

 minutes today constructively the city jail 

 was the home of Rev. Robert E. Lee Craig, 

 rector of the Trinity Cathedral of Omaha. 

 The rector had been in the place but a few 

 minutes, however, before he was released 

 on bonds, after having been bound over to 

 the district court on the charge of shooting 

 Meadow-larks. 



The beginning of the rector's tribulations 

 commenced several days ago, when he was 

 seen here, armed with a shotgun and a 

 plenitude of ammunition. The neighbor- 

 hood had been praised to him as the Eden 

 of sportsmen. He readily found a guide 

 for the hunting fields and started out with 

 his game-bag yawning for the fruits of the 



