Reports of State Societies and Bird Clubs 435 



of her method of work in the pubhc schools and showed the 'Suet bags' which 

 have proved so popular with the birds; and not the least interesting part of 

 the meeting was the open discussion which took place. Mr. Pearson told of 

 the aims and purposes of the Audubon Society and of the work it is doing in 

 helping enforce existing laws and in getting legislation for the protection of 

 rapidly disappearing birds. Few of us realize how much our National Asso- 

 ciation has accomplished and still has to do. The fight for protection has liter- 

 ally had to be carried to the floors of the senates and legislatures of the dif- 

 ferent states. Even today, a constant watch must be kept on state and National 

 legislatures to prevent the passage of such a bill as was recently brought up at 

 Albany which will give farmers permission to shoot Robins when, in their 

 opinion, they become a menace to crops. This means, of course, that they 

 would be indiscriminately destroyed. 



Those of us who were appalled at the steady increase in the demand for 

 aigrettes which Mr. Bok speaks of in his autobiography, and which he seems 

 to think was due to the campaign carried on in his magazines to discourage the 

 wearing of these feathers, could well believe Mr. Pearson's accounts of the 

 wholesale attempts to break the law prohibiting their importation and sale. 

 However, it is encouraging to know that the legislation that has been enforced 

 and the organization of many bird clubs has made a very perceptible difference 

 in the number and varieties of birds which we can all appreciate. 



Perhaps not many of us realize how many varieties there are on Long 

 Island. William Beebe, while staying with a member of the Bird Club in August, 

 1921, on Dosoris Island, counted fifty different kinds of birds in two days. 



The field agent has given 113 talks and lectures, speaking to public schools, 

 clubs, and other oragnizations as will appear in her report. There has been an 

 unusual amount of sickness in the schools, and Mrs. Sage has been ill herself, 

 which has made the number of talks given this year less than last year. 



We have printed and distributed large cards which carry excerpts from the 

 Penal Code regarding the sale and carrying of weapons, and also directions 

 for winter feeding of birds. These cards have been greatly sought after by the 

 school principals, game-wardens, and have been reprinted in many of the 

 local newspapers, and hung in post offices, schools and railways stations. Mrs. 

 Sage and the little Ford coupe with 'The Bird Club of Long Island' on the 

 panel of the doors, and known as 'Birdie,' is well known from one end of the 

 Island to the other. Requests for her to speak before other organizations and 

 to small groups of members have been gladly complied with whenever possible. 



It will be noted that we are still only fifty-five per cent self-supporting, and 

 we hope that a sufficient number of new members may be secured during the 

 coming year to give us a large enough income to make it unnecessary for us to 

 accept funds from the National Association of Audubon Societies which they 

 might devote to carrying forward the work in unorganized territories.— Ethel 

 C. Derby, Secretary. 



