ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 



31 



marsh area. With this accomplished there will be a reservation of about 

 three hundred sixty acres where protection will be given to birds of forest, 

 marsh and meadow. It is needless to add that the attitude of this Country 

 Club toward bird life is greatly appreciated by the Audubon Society and 

 that the action taken will doubtless be a precedent for similar undertakings 

 elsewhere. 



A Bird House Exhibition in Peoria 



From February 26 to March 2 the first bird house exhibit ever held 

 in Peoria, Illinois, was opened to the public. The various conditions of 

 the exhibit were carefully organized, giving everyone interested an oppor- 

 tunity to participate on terms that were fair to all. The following were 

 the most important points covered as published in the Manual Training 

 Magazine : 



Exhibitors: 



Class A. School pupils not taking shopwork (boys below the seventh grade, 



girls of all grades). / 



Class B. Seventh grade boys in the public or parochial schools. 



Class C. Eighth grade boys in the public or parochial schools. 



Class D. First year boys of the high schools and Bradley Institute. 



Class E. Any friend of birds. 



Class F. Commercial manufacturers of bird houses, baths, etc. 



Kinds of Houses : 



Group I. Sawed lumber, (painted, stained or natural). 

 Group II. Sawed lumber covered with bark, twigs or shingles. 

 Group III. Rustic houses made of parts of tree trunks, limbs. 

 Group IV. Stucco and concrete houses. 

 Group V. Nesting shelves. 



Accessories : 



Group VI. Food shelters. 



Group VII. Baths, (wood, concrete, metal). 



Group VIII. Sparrow traps. 



Kinds of Birds 



Bluebirds 



Chickadee 



Martins 



Nuthatch 



Owls 



Robins 

 Swallows 

 Woodpeckers 

 Flickers, Wrens 



First, second and third prizes were awarded in classes A, B. C and D under 

 Kinds of Houses (Groups I to V), Accessories (Groups VI to VIII), and Kinds of 

 Birds. Honorable mention was awarded in classes E and F. First and second prizes 

 were offered as follows: 



(a) For the best essays on the value of birds and the methods of attracting 

 them to the city, open to high school and Bradley Institute (Academy) students. 



(b) For the best stories on "The Birds that Built in My House" open to 

 classes A, B and C and closing October 1, 1917. 



(c) For the best essays on "Bird Enemies and How to Guard Against Them" 

 (sparrows, cats, snakes, etc.), open to classes A, B, C and D, and closing October 1, 

 1917. 



A first prize was offered to the first person reporting a nesting house occupied 

 by any bird except English Sparrow, open to classes, A, B, C and D. A banner was 

 awarded to the school entering the most houses. 



There were 603 bird houses exhibited, many of which showed an unexpected 

 degree of skill and artistic merit. In extent of interest the exhibit was a civic event, 

 visitors coming even from the nearby towns, and plans are already being made for 

 a larger and better exhibit next year. 



