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THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 



THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 

 SPRING AND SUMMER 1918 



Published by the 



ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 



For the Conservation of Bird-Life 



COMMITTEE 

 ON PUBLICATION 



JESSE LOWE SMITH, Chairman 

 Highland Park 



MISS MARY DRUMMOND 



Lake Forest 



MRS. FREDERIC H. PATTEE 



Evanston 



MISS CATHERINE MITCHELL 

 Riverside 



MR. O. M. SCHANTZ 

 10 So. La Salle St., Chicago 



MR. FREDERIC H. PATTEE 



626 S. Clark St., Chicago 



Editorial 



Let us indulge in a bird lover's 

 homily appropriate for the spring-sum- 

 mer season before us and discreetly 

 arranged about four sub-headings, of 

 which the first is : 



I — The Cat Nuisance. Fight it, and 

 thus help to make the world safe for 

 the birds, our allies. Read over care- 

 fully the Maywood Bird Club's Cat 

 Circular, a copy of which was enclosed 

 in this bulletin before mailing, and post 

 it up where it can do good to others. 

 Write for more copies if you can use 

 them. If you haven't a copy of For- 

 bush's Bulletin entitled "The Domestic 

 Cat, Bird Killer, etc," write to the 

 Massachusetts State Department of 

 Agriculture for a copy. One is always 

 in the proper frame of mind to do 

 one's bit after reading the Forbush 

 Bulletin. 



II — Prevent the Increase of the Eng- 

 lish Sparrow. Farmers' Bulletin 493, 

 revised in April, 1917, entitled "The 

 English Sparrow As a Pest," will stim- 

 ulate one to do the English Sparrow a 

 bit. In this bulletin Mr. Ned Dear- 

 born says, "The most effective method 



of preventing the increase of sparrows 

 in a locality is to destroy their nests at 

 an interval of ten or twelve days 

 throughout the breeding season. In a 

 town of 4,000 inhabitants where this 

 method of attack was practiced for 

 four years, 20,000 eggs were destroyed 

 and the number of sparrows was great- 

 ly reduced. Occasionally they build 

 large covered nests in trees, but as a 

 rule they build open nests in bird 

 houses, electric-light hoods, cornices, 

 waterspouts, and similar places. While 

 it is often difficult to reach nests by 

 hand, they can easily be torn down by 

 means of a long pole having an iron 

 hook at the tip. By concerted and 

 continuous efforts to destroy every nest 

 after the eggs are laid, the number of 

 English Sparrows in any locality may 

 be rapidly reduced." The Bulletin 

 would like to have reports of con- 

 certed efforts of this kind for publica- 

 tion in the next issue. 



Ill — Drinking Fountains for Birds 

 and Bird Baths. This paragraph is not 

 meant for those who keep cats. Birds 

 should be discouraged from visiting 

 premises where cats are harbored. It 

 is extreme cruelty to lure birds to 

 one's premises where destruction of 

 that sort awaits them. Let us make 

 a wise choice and let it be bird baths, 

 and bird companions. Little puddles 

 of mud, scraps of cloth and string, a 

 brush pile in the backyard, if possible, 

 and a nicely graduated bird pool, that 

 is the type of hospitality to maintain. 



IV — It is worthy of comment that 

 practically every report from those 

 who are successful in maintaining well 

 patronized feeding stations for birds 

 in winter are those who keep up the 

 practice the year around. Let us keep 

 the suet supply replenished and dole 

 out from time to time sunflower seeds 

 and other choice supplies for the birds 

 so that our home grounds to the extent 

 of their natural fitness will be bird 

 havens indeed. Every home where 

 there are facilities for bird shelter and 

 feeding and where persistent warfare 

 upon the English sparrow and the 

 prowling cat is carried on will profit 

 financially and spiritually from that 

 fact There will be ample protection 

 from most of the insect pests. There 

 will be the quickening and elevating of 

 human sympathies sure to come from 

 sustaining intimate relations with the 

 birds. 



