Cije Hububon Societies! 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 



Edited by T. GILBERT PEARSON, Secretary 



Address all correspondence, and send all remittances for dues and contributions, to 

 the National Association of Audubon Societies, 1974 Broadway, New York City. 



William Dutcher, President 

 Frederic A. Lucas, Acting President T. Gilbert Pearson, Secretary 



Theodore S. Palmer, First Vice-President Jonathan Dwight, Jr., Treasurer 

 Samuel T. Carter, Jr., Attorney 



Any person, club, school or company in sympathy with the objects of this Association may become 

 a member of it, and all are welcome. 



Classes of Membership in the National Association of Audubon Societies for the Protection of Wild 

 Birds and Animals: 



$5 annually pays for a Sustaining Membership 

 $100 paid at one time constitutes a Life Membership 

 Si ,000 constitutes a person a Patron 

 $5,000 constitutes a person a Founder 

 $25,000 constitutes a person a Benefactor 



Form of Bequest: — I do hereby give and bequeath to the National Association of Audubon 

 Societies for the Protection of Wild Birds and Animals (Incorporated), of the City of New York. 



ANNUAL MEETING 



Notice is here given of the fourteenth 

 annual meeting of the National Associa- 

 tion of Audubon Societies which will be 

 held in the American Museum of Natural 

 History, New York City, on October 29, 

 1918. 



The business session will open at 10 

 o'clock A.M. After luncheon the Educa- 

 tional Conference will convene at 2 p.m. 



It is planned to hold a public meeting 



in the main lecture hall of the Museum 

 the evening before, viz., October 28, be- 

 ginning at 8 P.M. At this gathering no 

 business will be discussed. The program 

 will be of an entertaining character. 



All members and friends of the Associa- 

 tion who can find it convenient to attend 

 any or all of these sessions are urged to be 

 present. 



A REDDISH EGRET COLONY IN TEXAS 



The Reddish Egret is today undoubtedly 

 one of the rarest Herons in the United 

 States. Occasionally a few are seen in 

 Florida and Louisiana, but these reports 

 are rare. No breeding colony of the birds 

 has, to my knowledge, been discovered of 

 recent years. It was, therefore, a source of 

 much satisfaction to find a large colony of 

 them the past summer. 



On June 20, 1918, I visited the "Chain- 

 of-Islands" lying between Mesquite Bay 

 and San Antonio Bay, Tex. This is 20 

 miles north and east of Rockford. Twelve 

 islands constitute the group, ranging in 

 size from i to 2 acres. They are composed 

 of mud and oyster shells. The most notice- 



able vegetation is stunted mesquite, 

 prickly pear cactus, and Spanish bayonet 

 (yucca). Water-birds were nesting on nine 

 of these islands. Egret and Herons' nests 

 were everywhere in the cactus or mes- 

 quite, at heights varying from 8 inches to 

 7 feet from the ground. I estimated the 

 following numbers of birds breeding on 

 these islands: Louisiana Herons, 3,000 

 pairs; Reddish Egrets, 1,250 pairs; Black- 

 crowned Night Herons, 600 pairs; Ward's 

 Herons, 200 pairs; and American Egrets, 

 3 pairs. Probably 100 pairs of Great-tailed 

 Crackles were also breeding there. On a 

 small strip of beach I counted 85 nests 

 of the Black Skimmer containing eggs. 



(384) 



