ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 37 



ing book store had a window display of books the Club wished 

 exploited. Under the auspices of the School Beautiful Com- 

 mittee each school has done some planting for the birds. The 

 Dennis School has a martin house and a feeding shelf. The 

 Pugh School has erected a bird fountain. 



Professor W. B. Olds has been elected President of the Club 

 to succeed Mr. George Proctor, resigned. At one meeting of the 

 Bird and Tree Club teachers from the various schools were pres- 

 ent and gave their experiences in bringing bird study before 

 their pupils. The children preferred the hikes, it was reported, 

 to any other form of bird study. Mrs. Benjamin Bachrach 

 had been active in promoting the work of the junior groups and 

 has given several lectures in schools, before Boy Scout organiza- 

 tions, etc. The School Beautiful Committee of Decatur, of which 

 Mrs. Bachrach is chairman, with the co-operation of Mr. W. G. 

 Hardy, acting president of the Decatur Art Institute, invited 

 Mr. Myron H. West, city planner, to come to Decatur and ad- 

 dress a large audience of teachers and patrons upon the sub- 

 ject of the school setting. His audience, which included country 

 teachers as well as those of the city, was much impressed with 

 his address. 



Elgin 



The interesting way in which the Elgin Audubon Society 

 carries on is worth re-telling. The report of the monthly meet- 

 ings, with the reading of interesting papers and exchange of lo- 

 cal notes is very suggestive. The secretary, Miss Lillian B. Smith, 

 writes : 



We meet in the different homes at six-thirty for a covered 

 dish luncheon, and have very enjoyable times eating together. 

 When a home is not available we hold our meeting in the Y. W. C. 

 A. rooms. The Society has a membership of 250 and we have 

 an average attendance of fifty. 



For over a year we have been heartily absorbed in our 

 Museum project, and this summer we have been able to open the 

 building to the public. We have many fine specimens, some do- 

 nated and others purchased, and comments from visitors who 

 know pronounce them to be the best. Of course, our exhibits are 

 not all birds, but include minerals, shells, Indian relics, pottery, 

 rare curios, and mounted animal heads. We also have some re- 

 search books. 



The museum has no regular curator, so the Audubon mem- 

 bers volunteer their services. The average attendance for the 

 summer was 200 ; the largest attendance was 700. 



We are greatly in need of suitable cases to house the spe- 

 cimens for inspection, and it means proposed "drives," food 

 sales, rummage sales, and so forth, to raise the amount of money 

 required. As previously reported, the city of Elgin gave us the 

 right to the Museum, but the building was sadly in need of 



