278 



Bird - Lore 



fight for the preservation of these ex- 

 quisite birds, the enclosed quotation of a 

 letter written by Mr. James Henry Rice, 

 Jr., Secretary of the South Carolina 

 Audubon Society, will be found of inter- 

 est, as it indicates something of the 

 activities of a couple of typical plume- 

 hunters, and the difficulties which sur- 

 round the Audubon officers in their 

 efforts to see that the laws protecting 

 plume birds are enforced. 



"On May 3, 191 1, Warden Jake Ward, 

 with assistants, overhauled Jackson 

 Mitchum (who has many aliases), Jake 

 Jordan and Luther Mills, forcing their 

 way into the preserve of the Santee Gun 

 Club, on South Santee river, where is 

 situated the rookery of American Egrets, 

 photographed a few years ago by Mr. 

 Chapman. 



"On being ordered by the Audubon 

 wardens to halt, these men opened fire 

 with high-power rifles, which was vigor- 

 ously returned. Thereupon Mitchum 

 and Jordan fled through the marsh, took 

 boat and escaped. Mills surrendered. 

 Nobody was seriously hurt. A week 

 before this, as I wrote you at the time, 

 Mitchum and Jordan fired upon a warden 

 at Dean Hall, on Cooper river, on the 

 plantation belonging to Mr. R. B. Kit- 

 tredge, of Carmel, Putman county. 

 New York. The shot penetrated the 

 warden's clothing at several places, but 

 without injuring him. 



"Last year the same men fired on 

 Magistrate Royall of James Island, op- 

 posite Charleston, afterward escaping 

 by pushing their small boat far into the 

 marsh where a launch could not follow. 

 They are without doubt the same men 

 who have repeatedly shot up the rookery 

 at Secessionville, near Charleston. The 

 Egret plumes they get are, I understand, 

 sent to New York and Boston. 



"From the Santee rookery, these men, 

 Mitchum and Jordan, made their way to 

 Charleston, where a warrant was at once 

 sent, charging assault with a deadly 

 weapon. The warrant, however, was not 

 served until within the past few days. 

 The case will have to go to a higher 



court, as the penalty is a term of years 

 at hard labor in the state penitentiary, 

 and a magistrate can not try cases in 

 which the penalty exceeds $100 fine and 

 thirty days' imprisonment. Both men are 

 now in jail." — T. G. P. 



Michigan 



Mr. Henry Ford, of Detroit, has for 

 several years been a warm supporter of 

 the Audubon work in Michigan. He is a 

 man of large acquaintance, and his in- 

 fluence as well as his financial support 

 has been of much aid to the Society. 

 Mr. Ford has an extensive estate near 

 Detroit, and he is now seeking to make it 

 a veritable bird paradise as far as lies 

 within his power. One of the many 

 attractions which he is offering to the 

 birds, to induce them to dwell with him, 

 is a systematic arrangement of nesting- 

 boxes. Five hundred of these have al- 

 ready been put in place. 



In order to ascertain just the character 

 of bird-life with which he must deal, he 

 has arranged with Mr. Jefferson Butler, 

 President of the State Audubon Society, 

 to make an ornithological survey of his 

 lands. When this census has been taken, 

 additional means will at once be adopted 

 to attract the birds. 



Another set of prizes has recently been 

 distributed by the Michigan Audubon 

 Society to children in an essay contest 

 on the subject of bird protection. Here 

 is the story submitted by a little girl, 

 Mary Van Slembrouck, which won the 

 first prize of $25. 



"I was walking along the street one 

 day, when, all at once, I saw a crowd of 

 boys shooting at a poor little bird. I 

 said to them, 'Do you think it is right to 

 shoot at such a little bird, who can only 

 protect himself by flying. It has as much 

 right to the world as you have, so why 

 don't you let the poor Httle creature 

 alone.' The boys had pity on the Httle 

 creature, so they let it alone, and did not 

 shoot at any birds since that, because 

 they felt sorry for what they had done." — 

 T. G. P. 



