82 



Bird - Lore 



pay all expense of carriage. We are 

 obliged to refuse, for the present, all calls 

 for the lecture outside of Massachusetts. 

 Without doubt a traveling lecture should be 

 a part of the equipment of every Audubon 

 Society. 



A friend has agreed to give the society 

 |>5o annually, to be devoted to prizes to 

 junior members. This year the committee 

 have decided to award it in four prizes: viz: 

 I20, $15, |io, and $5, for the best drawing 

 of a Bobolink in full summer plumage. 



It gave us pleasure last autumn to wel- 

 come the first conference of state Audubon 

 Societies, which was held at the Agassiz 

 Museum, Cambridge, the afternoon of 

 November 15. Delegates were present from 

 Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New 

 Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 

 District of Columbia, New York, Rhode 

 Island and West Virginia. Mrs. William 

 Brewster and Mrs. Frank Bolles entertained 

 the delegates and officers, with prominent 

 members of the A. O. U., at receptions on 

 the evenings of November 12 and 14. Mr. 

 Chapman invited the societies to meet in a 

 second conference November 11, 1901, in 

 New York city. 



There are many problems that the Au- 

 dubon Societies have in hand that can be 

 solved only by persistent and united effort 

 of all the state societies. A committee has 

 been chosen to arrange for a national 

 federation of the societies, and a full attend- 

 ance at an annual conference by delegates 

 from all the societies would, in a few years, 

 consolidate and strengthen the work and 

 raise it to a powerful position throughout 

 the country. 



Harriet E. Richards, Sec'y. 



Meeting of the New York Society 

 At the annual meeting of the Audubon 

 Society of New York state addresses were 

 made by Charles R. Skinner, State Superin- 

 tendent of Public Instruction, T. S. Palmer, 

 William Dutcher, and Frank M. Chapman. 

 Mr. Skinner's address on "The Educa- 

 tional Value of Bird Study" showed a 

 thorough appreciation of the pleasure and 

 the mental and moral profit which may 

 come from an acquaintance with the birds 



about us. He said "the value of any stud}^ 

 is the use we make of it," and after ex- 

 pressing his belief that a practical educa- 

 tion which would fit us to enjoy nature as 

 we daily come in contact with it was of 

 more importance than special or technical 

 training in certain details, added, " I be- 

 lieve it to be more essential to the happiness 

 of our children to teach them to know our 

 native birds, flowers and trees than to tell 

 them stories in Latin and Greek of events 

 that happened 2,000 years ago." 



Dr. Palmer presented an admirable re- 

 view of the history of bird laws in this 

 country and explained the powers of the 

 Lacey Act, particularly in its relation to 

 state laws. Contrasting present conditions 

 with those which prevailed at the opening 

 of the nineteenth century, it was shown 

 that the only bird law then in force in 

 New York state was one protecting Heath 

 Hens, Ruffed Grouse, Bob-White and 

 Woodcock on Long Island and in New 

 York county, while now scarcely a state 

 or territory was without laws designed to 

 protect song, as well as game birds. 



Mr. Dutcher spoke on the subject of 

 practical bird protection, and illustrated its 

 results, as well as his remarks, with a series 

 of views from nature made by himself on 

 the coast of Maine in July, 1900, while vis- 

 iting the colonies of Herring Gulls which 

 were under the protection of wardens em- 

 ployed through the Thayer Fund. 



Mr. Chapman, in proof of the work ac- 

 complished by the Audubon Societies, com- 

 pared the fashions of fifteen years ago, 

 when our native song birds could be seen 

 on almost every other hat, with their prac- 

 tically complete absence today. He also 

 attributed the present wide-spread interest 

 in bird study largely to the efforts of the 

 Audubon Societies. 



The Audubon Conference Committee 

 Dr. C. S. Minot, presiding officer of the 

 first Audubon Conference, has appointed as 

 a Conference Committee for the joint meet- 

 ing of the Audubon Societies to be held in 

 New York city, in November, 1901, H. C. 

 Bumpus, F. M. Chapman, and Ralph 

 Hoffmann. 



