FIRST BIENNIAL STATEMENT 91 



Mr. Magaud d'Aubusson, President of the League for 

 the Protection of Birds (subsection of Ornithology 

 of the Acclimatation Society) . 



Mr. A. Chappelier, Secretary of the League. 



Mr. Maurice Loyer, General Secretary of the Acclimata- 

 tion Society. 



Mr. Pierre Amedee Pichot, Honorary Member of the 

 Council. 



Mr. Ch. Debreuil, Member of the Council. 



On receiving the medal, Ambassador Herrick made the 

 following response: 



"In awarding an honorary medal of your Society, one 

 of the most distinguished of France, to a citizen of the 

 United States of America, you are honoring the Nation as 

 well as the person upon whom such distinction is conferred, 

 and it affords me special and particular satisfaction to re- 

 ceive your medal on this occasion in behalf of Dr. William 

 T. Hornaday, who greatly regrets that his lectures at Yale 

 University prevents him from being present, so as to re- 

 ceive it personally. 



"The fact that this eminent Society has deigned to bestow 

 such an honor in recognition of services rendered to the 

 cause of bird protection throughout the world, is most 

 significant. It indicates that the destruction of wild ani- 

 mals, pursued in all parts of the world, has assumed so 

 grave an aspect that it has attracted the attention of scien- 

 tists, of statesmen and of society in general. 



"In awarding your honorary medal to one of the most 

 ardent champions of your cause in the world, unremittingly 

 engaged in the defense of wild birds and animals in their 

 painful conditions of existence, the Acclimatation Society 

 of France has boldly challenged the persistent demands of 

 fashion, and expressed, in a manner that cannot be misun- 

 derstood, its desire to see the slaughter of wild birds for 

 the sake of trade come to an end. 



"The American people, having witnessed the brutal de- 

 struction of the vast herds of buffaloes and deer, as well 

 as of wild birds, desired that law and order with regard 



