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Carthage College Wild Life Preserve includes about seven 
and one-half acres of college land, to which has been added the 
adjacent right of way along the C. B. and Q. tracks, by free lease 
from that company. Students of the department have labored 
faithfully to help put the place into suitable condition. The old 
garbage dump of many years’ standing has been graded, under- 
standing trees and shrubs are being pruned, as time permits. 
Walks will be arranged throughout the tract. A neat fence is 
being put about it. Outdoor brick ‘“‘stoves,”’ or cooking devices, 
on beds of sand, will protect from fires set by picnic parties. 
Every tree and shrub group will be labelled with scientific and 
common names, and the names of the givers. Much has been 
begun, much must be done, to insure success. May the Pre- 
serve prosper. 
ALICE L. KIBBE 
Decatur 
Under date of March twenty-ninth, Mrs. Benjamin Bachrach 
sends the following report: 
Decatur bird lovers report that less birds were seen in these 
parts than in former years. The Cardinal seems to stay with us 
throughout the year. In my own garden we see the male and fe- 
male together as early as February. Have observed this for the 
past three years. 
Mr. Aiken, who has a farm near the city, has a Mocking Bird 
that spends the year near the house. 
Birds observed during the winter are: Blue Jay, Downy, 
Hairy, and Red-bellied Woodpecker, Brown Creeper, Junco, and 
Tree Sparrow. The birds that have arrived from the south in 
the order of their coming are the Robin, Meadow Lark, Bluebird, 
and the Red-headed Woodpecker, Bewick Wren. A flock of 
Cedar Waxwings, twenty-five in number remained for a few 
days feeding on the berries of the High Bush Cranberry. 
The interest in birds and food shelter and protection for 
them rapidly grows a more prominent movement in Decatur ev- 
ery season. All of the schools either study birds, make houses, 
posters, books, poems, or erect houses on the school grounds. 
Great numbers of Martin houses are erected every year. On our 
new lake wild Ducks have rested for a week at a time, and we 
have Sea Gulls and Sandpipers. Quantities of food was emptied 
in the lake for our interesting tourists. Our bridges were lined 
with cars and people who came out in delight to view these flocks 
who so quickly accepted as their own this fourteen mile of water 
that the vision and finances of Decatur, and the feat of engineer- 
ing made possible. 
Our enemy the cat still prowls fearlessly round the city. Do 
let us help the State Society to restrict this enemy of our 
feathered creatures. The sparrows we are rapidly trying to 
exterminate, as there must be at least two dozen sparrow traps 
working in the various sections of the city. The Decatur Bird 
