Reports of State Societies and Bird Clubs 473 



chased as memorials to two faithful workers who have passed on^Miss Mary 

 Burr Kippen, the Society's treasurer for nineteen years, and Miss Martha 

 Burr Banks, an ardent nature-lover and worker who furnished the text for 

 one of our popular illustrated lectures, "The Orchard Playroom." At the 

 moment of writing this report the choice of the books is being made, in coopera- 

 tion with Mrs. B. H. Johnson of the State Board of Education, so that they 

 may be fitted to special needs. 



A new lecture, 'The Connecticut Homeland— Its Birds, Flowers and Trees' 

 with loo colored shdes by Wilbur F. Smith and text by Mrs. Wright, has been 

 prepared and would have been given for the first time at our annual meeting 

 on October 26, but the influenza caused the cancellation of all but the business 

 part of the program — our first break during the twenty years of the life of the 

 Connecticut Society, in the pleasant social gatherings where all the members 

 of the Society meet for interchange of ideas and the personal 'keeping in touch' 

 so necessary to all successful endeavor. 



The work of Miss Frances A. Hurd, the School Secretary, has been most 

 faithfully carried out, notwithstanding bad weather and the fact that the vari- 

 ous war activities must of necessity draw from the dimes that the children of 

 the Junior Audubon Classes might have spent for the necessary set of study 

 leaflets. She reports: towns visited, 21; schools, 75; talks given, 320; pupils 

 addressed, 30,000; classes formed, 324; Junior Members gathered in these 

 classes, 7,608. Last year the class membership was 12,546, but in spite of 

 this falling off, Connecticut still stands well in the front ranks of the work of 

 bird-protection. 



Birdcraft Sanctuary still continues to more than hold its own in attracting, 

 not only the interest of the general and more or less curious public, but the care- 

 ful study of many people from all parts of the United States, who are about to 

 form sanctuaries and wish to see at first hand what may be done within the 

 limit of 10 acres. The warden reports that 5,576 persons have visited the place 

 during the year, a very remarkable showing when it is considered that for 

 three months the country was icebound and that we did not have the members 

 of the conference of the spring of 191 7 to swell the number. Cold as was the 

 winter, not a single week passed without a few guests. The number of species 

 of birds observed in the Sanctuary was 134. Within its bounds, 26 species 

 nested, and iii individual nests have been located up to date, many more 

 always being added to the list after the leaves fall. We have added to our 

 cohection 82 birds picked up dead and brought in by friends. These have 

 either been mounted to replace less perfect specimens in the habitat groups 

 or prepared as 'skins' for study or exchange. A pair of the Pheasants given 

 by our State Fish and Game Commission nested in the Sanctuary and brought 

 out a brood. 



Owing to the pressure of time in printing the reports by the National 

 Association, the report of our traveling libraries and lectures, always written 



