ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 17 



68 days, and we have now to examine the weather conditions which 

 prevailed on those days. 



A series of weather maps issued at Washington, D. C, which ap- 

 peared on Sundays and holidays, has been used for the comparison, 

 and an examination shows that on 59 of those days there were ap- 

 proaching areas of low pressure, with south winds which had been 

 effective during the preceding night. On 5 days there were southerly 

 winds, or had been at points further south in the state during the pre- 

 ceding night, although an approaching "low" was not well defined. 

 On 3 days the winds were light and either due East or West. On one 

 night, April 30, 1907, there was a rather light northerly wind and yet 

 5 "firsts" were recorded on the morning of May 1st. 



Since an examination of the records for these 68 days shows that 

 they also include the heaviest of the bulk movements of many species, 

 as well as the "firsts" of others, there seems ample justification for the 

 statement that there has been a high degree of correlation between the 

 flights of night migrants and the meteorological conditions involved in 

 the near approach from the West, of an area of low barometric pres- 

 sure with the accompanying rise in temperature and southerly winds. 

 The determination of the relative importance of temperature and wind 

 direction is yet to be made. 



Weather maps are reproduced of two dates on which our records 

 show that particularly heavy movements took place during the pre- 

 ceding nights. On April 29, 1909, over 100 species were recorded, of 

 which 32 were "firsts." On May 7, 1916, there were 14 "firsts" and 

 the total number of species again exceeded 100. Of these, 95 species 

 were seen by the writer. Frank Smith, Urbana. 



Lecture Course of Illinois Audubon Society 



The second spring lecture course of the Illinois Audubon Society 

 was held at Central Music Hall, Chicago, at 2 :30 on the Saturday after- 

 noons of March 9, 16, 23 and 30. The first lecturer was Ernest Harold 

 Baynes of Meriden, N. H., his subject being "Birds in the Nesting 

 Season." Norman McClintock of Pittsburg gave the second lecture 

 entitled, "American Birds and Animals in Motion Pictures." The 

 third lecture was by Edward Howe Forbush of Boston, Mass.. and 

 entitled, "How Birds Help Us to Win the War." A lecture by Louis 

 Agassiz Fuertes of Cornell Heights, Ithaca, N. Y., entitled, "Birds 

 and Their Conservation," concluded the series. These lectures con- 

 stituted an impressive symposium on the value of bird life with the 

 last lecture as the fitting climax of the series. Even more strongly 

 than last year the directors of the Illinois Audubon Society felt that 

 the effort spent in promoting these lectures and the financial sacrifice 

 involved were exceedingly worth while. The significance of these 

 lectures was recognized by the press of the city and the audiences were 

 in a peculiar sense representative people who will carry the message 

 of the lecturers far afield. The directors hope to arrange a schedule 

 so that another year other sections of sufficient population in Illinois 

 may share with it the series of lectures. 



