68 



BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



as one of the most thorough and practical of our 

 field naturalists. Throughout his life he took an 

 intense interest in all branches of natural history, 

 ornithology being his favourite subject. In com- 

 pany with the late Lord Lilford, who was his life- 

 long friend and fellow-worker, he made Spain his 

 special study, and the two may be jointly viewed as 

 the pioneers of our ornithological knowledge ot 

 that region. In 1875 ne published a most admir- 

 able work on the " Ornithology of the Straits of 

 Gibraltar," which is likely to remain permanently 

 the standard work dealing with the subject, and in 

 1887 his "Key List of British Birds," which has 

 proved of great utility to lovers of birds. He was 

 a Member of the Council of the Zoological Society, 

 and took an active interest in the formation of the 

 life-groups of birds at the Natural History Museum. 

 Colonel Irby's wide scientific knowledge, coupled 

 with keen sympathy in the preservation of rare 

 birds from the avidity of collectors, rendered his 

 support and advice very valuable to the Society for 

 the Protection of Birds. His death is the first loss 

 through death which has befallen the Council in 

 the Society's sixteen years' history. 



THE AUDUBON SOCIETIES. 



The National Association of Audubon Societies 

 for the Protection of Wild Birds and Animals, 

 which has done such excellent work for the pre- 

 servation of the native birds of the United States 

 of America, was incorporated on January 5th, 1905, 

 just two months after the incorporation of our 

 British Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. 

 The annual report of the Association for 1904, 

 therefore, appropriately includes an interesting 

 history of the Bird Protection movement in the 

 States. It began, as such movements usually 

 begin, with letters and protests in the public Press, 

 especially as to " the unholy work " of destroying 

 birds for millinery. 



In 1884 a committee of the American Orni- 

 thologists' Union was formed for the protection 

 of North American birds and their eggs ; and 

 other steps taken at the same meeting led to the 

 establishment of the Biological Survey, which now 

 constitutes an important department of Govern- 

 ment, and is of the greatest assistance to the 

 Audubon Societies. New Jersey has the honour 

 of having secured, in 1885, the first comprehensive 

 bird law of America. In the following year the 

 A.O.U. Bird-Protection Committee drafted their 

 Model Law, which is now in force in twenty-eight 



States. The first Audubon Society was formed 

 in the same year, having for its objects to prevent 



(1) the killing of any wild birds not used for food ; 



(2) the destruction of nests and eggs of wild birds ; 



(3) the use of feathers as ornaments or trimmings. 

 Men like Henry Ward Beecher, J. G. Whittier, 

 Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Charles Dudley 

 Warner gave the society a warm welcome, and 

 for a time it grew and flourished exceedingly. 

 But opposition, from the fashion and the farmers 

 especially was strong, the general ignorance of 

 the public made it hard to keep up interest and 

 to obtain funds, and twelve years' work left the 

 workers discouraged and hopeless. Feather- 

 wearing was as rampant as ever, bird legislation 

 as defective as before the movement began, and 

 the Audubon Society practically ceased to exist. 



Such a history might have led to the abandon- 

 ment of a cause, but our American cousins, like 

 ourselves, do not know what it is to be beaten, 

 and no sooner was hope apparently extinguished 

 than the torch was again blazing. In 1886 the 

 present system of distinct Audubon Societies for 

 the various States was started, which now extends 

 to thirty-five States, one territory, and the District 

 of Columbia ; and the National Committee of the 

 Societies was formed in 1900. The first number of 

 " Bird-Lore," the admirable organ of the Societies, 

 was published in 1899, and the issue of educational 

 leaflets started in 1903. The names of Messrs. 

 Brewster, William Dutcher, G. B. Sennett, E. P. 

 Bicknell, Witmer Stone, F. M. Chapman, and 

 others, must always be held in grateful remem- 

 brance by all American bird-lovers ; and a distinct 

 work is associated with the name of Mr. Abbott 

 Thayer, who organized the watchers' fund, out ot 

 which thirty-five wardens are employed to pro- 

 tect the sea-birds, whose lives the plume trade 

 threatened. 



That the work has now secured wide sympathy 

 and support is instanced by the fact that a New 

 York philanthropist has promised ^600 a year to 

 the funds for 1905 and 1906, with an additional 

 promise of ,£20,000 under his will. 



Two notable items in the Report for 1904 are 

 the records of the destruction wrought by Japanese 

 plume-hunters in the Pacific Islands, and the notes 

 on Bird- Protection work in Mexico, where the 

 Department of Agricultural Parasitology is making- 

 active efforts to preserve birds useful to agriculture. 



It is pleasant to be able to add that the most 

 cordial friendship exists between the British and 

 the American Societies. All our readers will con- 



