590 
FOREST AND STREAM 
time to collecting such information, and to car¬ 
rying it to the public by means of lectures and 
bulletins. Mr. Herbert K. Job, well known as 
a lecturer and author, who has for some time 
occupied the office of State Ornithologist of 
Connecticut, was chosen for this undertaking, 
and began his duties on August i, 1914. 
The Department of Applied Ornithology, we 
expect to develop rapidly, and shall hope from 
time to time to be able to report marked progress. 
Publications. 
Among other publications the Association has 
brought out during the year, is Bulletin No. 1, 
entitled “Attracting Birds about the Home.” 
This is illustrated with forty-one halftone pic¬ 
tures and line-drawings. One edition of 10,000 
has been printed. An illustrated book on Alas¬ 
kan Bird Life, for free distribution to the eight 
thousand school children of Alaska, has been 
completed, and will probably be ready for dis¬ 
tribution by December 1. The entire cost of 
this undertaking has been borne by one of our 
most public-spirited members, whose name we 
are not permitted to give at this time. 
Within the year we have issued for the various 
uses of the Association, the following printed 
and mimeographed letters, 123,000; letterheads, 
60,000; record-blanks and labels, 99,000; four- 
page Announcements to Teachers, 93,000; Bulle¬ 
tin No. 1, 10,000; circulars and printed notices 
of various kinds, 251,000; outline drawings of 
birds, 1,619,000; colored pictures of birds, 2,078,- 
000; and Educational Leaflets, 2,358,000. 
The volume of correspondence has continued 
to grow steadily. The office is today a general 
clearing-house for all imaginable kinds of knowl¬ 
edge. We are called upon to give detailed in¬ 
formation on a wide variety of subjects, from 
the best method of starting a bird-reservation, 
or the drafting of a State game-law, to the easi¬ 
est way of dyeing an old ostritch feather or the 
most humane manner of disposing of a bird¬ 
eating cat. 
During the year more than 70,000 letters were 
received at the office. In the handling of this 
voluminous correspondence the Secretary would 
especially mention the very great assistance he 
receives from Ernest Ingersoll, writer, critic, and 
experienced office-manager, who now has the 
direct oversight of our office-force. 
Financial. 
Fifty-seven new Life Members were enrolled 
during the year. The $5,700 received from this 
source, together with the bequest of $3,000 from 
the estate of our lamented member, Elizabeth 
Drummond, were added to the general endowment 
fund of the Association. The sustaining mem¬ 
bership lias been increased from 2,336 to 2,462. 
The income for current expenses for the year 
exceeded $81,000 which, together with the addi¬ 
tions made to the endowment fund, shows the 
total of money actually received by the Associa¬ 
tion during the year to be more than $89,000, or 
about $8,000 more than the total of last year. 
Satisfying as these figures might possibly ap¬ 
pear to some, the fact remains that our income 
is woefully inadequate to meet the enormous 
demands made upon the Association for support 
in many useful fields. A large amount of the 
Secretary’s energy and thought is necessarily 
directed to devising ways and means of keeping 
up and increasing the financial support, upo 
which foundation, of course, our whole work 
must rest. 
In conclusion, the officers and directors would 
take this opportunity to express their apprecia¬ 
tion to all the thousands of good people of our 
country, who, either by personal effort or by 
the giving of funds, in any way have aided in 
achieving the success of this great Audubon 
movement for the study and preservation of our 
wild birds and animals. The continually increas¬ 
ing growth of the united Audubon Societies of 
America bears splendid testimony to the wisdom 
and foresight of our great and good founder, 
William Dutcher. 
Live Notes From The Field 
Being Weekly Reports From Our Local Correspondents 
POISONOUS SNAKES NEAR NEW YORK 
CITY. 
It will be of interest to herpetologists to learn 
of the occurrence of poisonous snakes in the 
southerly portion of Westchester County. For 
some years past the writer has had reports of 
the occurrence of copperhead snakes and occa¬ 
sional rattlesnakes in the region immediately 
north of White Plains and south of Mt. Kisco- 
He has been sceptical of these reports owing 
to the habits of several species of non-poisonous 
snakes which vibrate their tails when angry, 
causing these to be mistaken for rattlesnakes. 
There is also the common habit among local ob¬ 
servers without proper knowledge of mistaking 
harmless water snakes ( Tropidonotus ) and the 
flat-headed “adders” ( Heterodon ) for the cop¬ 
perhead snake. Of late, however, there have 
been persistent rumors of copperhead snakes 
in the hills near North White Plains. The coun¬ 
try is quite wild and few people roam about 
the hilly portions. On the 25th of June a friend 
of the writer confirmed these rumors by cap¬ 
turing a large copperhead snake (Ancistrodon 
contortrix ) on a hill a short distance from 
North White Plains. This is the nearest definite 
record of a poisonous snake occurring in the 
vicinity of the boundary of New York City that 
the writer has ever received—excepting the nu¬ 
merous copperheads captured on the Palisades 
along the west shore of the Hudson. The speci¬ 
men described was caught just ten miles from 
the city line. 
It is particularly interesting to note that the 
reports of rattlesnakes occurring in southerly 
Westchester County have also been confirmed 
by a large yellow specimen being captured on 
a hill near Sherman Park, this being seventeen 
miles from the city line. The collector inform¬ 
ed the writer that there were several other 
snakes seen on the same hill, which is of a ledgy 
character. 
RAYMOND L. DITMARS. 
SMALL GAME PLENTIFUL IN NORTH 
COUNTRY. 
Norwood, N. Y., Oct. 29.—Local hunters in 
this section report that the brush and woods in 
this vicinity are unusually well supplied with 
small game this fall. Rabbits are very plenti¬ 
ful, but partridges have not been as numerous. 
Leslie Hagget, a farmer on the west side of the 
river, tells that the partridges never were so 
tame as this year, he having observed during 
the early fall before hunting the birds, partridges 
eating with his fowls. Settings of sixteen to 
twenty eggs have also been reported this year, 
where ordinarily only eight or ten have been 
found. The birds have also been found in 
maple trees in the village, evidently having lost 
their way. They have fed extra well this sum¬ 
mer and are very fat, some weighing as much 
as three or four pounds. Only a few flocks 
of ducks have been observed here this fall, and 
those seen only remained in this section for a 
few days. 
HUNT VICTIM ON FIRST DAY. 
Port Jervis, N. Y., Oct. 15.—Hale Jones, Jr., 
21 years old, a son of Hale H. Jones, in his 
day a well known lawyer of Easton, Pa., was 
the first victim of the Pennsylvania hunting 
season which opened in Pennsylvania to-day. 
Jones with a party of friends went to Milford, 
Pa., and with Augustus Meyers, a guide, started 
out to hunt. 
They had been out only a short time when 
Meyers heard a shot and shouted to Jones, 
“Did you hit anything.” There was no response 
and Meyers started looking for his companion, 
finding his body in a thicket. Jones had fallen 
in the thicket and his gun had been discharged. 
Meyers had to walk a mile to get to a tele¬ 
phone. Jones’ automobile was used to bring in 
the body. 
BILL TO PROTECT PHEASANTS. 
Frank Murphy, vice-president of the Massa¬ 
chusetts Fish and Game Association, has filed 
at the State House a bill to authorize the Gov¬ 
ernor to proclaim a close season on pheasants. 
Mr. Murphy believes there is “unnecessary 
slaughter” of the birds at the present time, which 
the Governor should have the right to prevent. 
DAM OBSTRUCTION TO FISH. 
Winona, Minn-, Oct. 18.—That the Keokuk 
dam, an obstruction in the Mississippi, will even¬ 
tually mean the destruction of fishing on the 
upper Mississippi, is the opinion of Edward 
Reilly, who has returned after a three days’ 
study of conditions there on behalf of Wabasha 
fishermen. 
“There is no question in my mind that al¬ 
ready the upper Mississippi is feeling the effects 
of the construction of this dam,” said Mr. Reilly. 
“But within a comparatively few years, unless 
