An Open Letter From the President. 



Fello.v-moaibcrs of the I. O A., Greeting-: 



We are now in our r.hii'd year as an association and the work so far accom- 

 pUt<hed is excepLi()n;illy encouraging. 



We have from a very small beginning built up an association of which we are 

 justly proud. No state in the Union has a better. We have received many en- 

 couraging letters and good wishes from men in the highest rank of Ornithologists. 



Our official organ has been the means of bi-inging oar work and our association 

 into :>i'oailnen ;e, not o.ily in our own stAto bat thro.ighoit, th j coantry. Artl- 

 t!les have at times been widely coi)ied in the papei s of the state. Without our 

 official organ our results could not commence to be of such value to our selves. 

 We have been for the last year engaged in (Compiling a list of '"Iowa Birds" 

 The jn-eliminary lists are in and the compiling under way, t«id it is hoped to 

 Jiave our preliminary, annotated list ready fur distribution and further annota- 

 tion by the next annual congress. 



Our members are to a considerable extent engaged in the study of our state's 

 ava-fauna from an economic stand iiolnt, and we are hoping to issue a bulletin 

 on this line of investigation at some time in the near future, that will be of value 

 not only to the agriculturists of our state but to those of the whole Mississippi 

 vallev, and which will bring us into praniinece in a quarter that will be of im- 

 mense pr-actical benefit to us. 



But right here we have encountered an obstacle which threatens to compel us 

 to abiindoa much work so finely started. We have nob u,s yet enough members 

 and subscriptions to make our organ self supporting, though we have very near 

 it. and with good earnest woi-k on the part of the 50 active members we now 

 have, from now until .Jan. 1st, there is not the slightest doubt but that we can 

 have enough members and Siubscribers not only to cart-y us through this year 

 and next, but to give us surplus enough to allow us to realize our ambition and 

 in a year or so to publish the finest list of the birds of Iowa, with their habits, 

 nidification and economic value, that has ever been attemi)ted in this state. 



But we need money at once. There are still twenty unpaid dues this year and 

 this would do a good deal toward helping us through the year. These are not 

 unpaid I feel sure through any lack of interest in our Association, for from the 

 fine work doue it is to be readily seen that we have but little lack of interest 

 among our numbers, but it is I think simply from neglect and thoughtlessness on 

 the part of these delinquent members. There ai-e still five unpaid pledges on 

 last years deficit. 



We are now in a position where it will be absolutely necessary to abandon the 

 publication of our official oi-gan as well as our hopes for the bulletin in prepara- 

 tion, unless we meet with an immediate and hearty response to this petition. 

 To many members there seems but little chance of obtaining new members or 

 subscribers. But do they look in the right places? In a recent letter from our 

 enthusiastic fellow member, C. F. Henning, he says, "I am going to get our pro- 

 fessor of the Boone High school interested in us and hope to send you at least 

 ten members Three are now ready for the chairman of the executive commit- 

 tee." Here now is a field for work which but few have tried, and a field which 

 is going to yield the best results in our canvas for new recruits. In a neighbor- 

 ing city I have recently heard of a club of enthusiastic j'oung Ornithologists 

 (Continued on Third Page Cover.) 



