THE MAKING OF BIRDCRAFT SANCTUARY' 



We xilanned a single-room Imilding similar to the bungalow. 



25 X 16 feet, open rafters to 



be of stained wood, the room 

 lined with cases wherein the 

 smaller birds might l)e 

 grouped against seasonal 

 backgrounds, while the larger 

 Ducks, ])irds of prey, etc., 

 could be shown upon rafters 

 or case tops. 



The accessories and fore- 

 grounds could l)e largely 

 gleaned from wood, shore, 

 and fields ; the chief difficulty 

 would be in securing proper 

 painted backgrounds and the 

 blending of the whole. 



Again Tlie Donor said 

 "Go on," and the IMuseum 

 building, begun in late No- 

 vember of 1914, was opened 

 to the public the Monday 

 after Easter, 1915. Between 

 that time and July 1, the date 

 on which I am writing, 1,300 

 people, not few of them pro- 

 fessionals in bird study, have 

 come and expressed themselves as more than satisfied. Two 

 hundred school children visited Birdcraft Museum on Arbor 

 and Bird Day alone. 



The work of making this little museum was so absorbing 

 that the three months spent upon it passed as only one (at first 

 it seemed that many seasons must pass before we could make a 

 showing), but having obtained from the State and Game Com- 

 mission the necessary permit to maintain a Museum, we begged 

 absolutely without shame, and received such generous response 

 from Dr. Jonathan Dwight, Jr., Mr. William Brewster, and The 

 Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, that there was 

 no need for delay. 



Of course there were some difficulties. Having arranged 

 for five picture cases — Winter, Early Spring blending into 

 Summer, Summer, Autumn on the Bay, and the Sportsman's 



WREN IN A vox BER- 

 LEPSCH BOX 

 Photographed by Wilbur P. Smith 



