30 DHE AU DUE ON.) BiG as 

Right in the City 
1244 Carmen Avenue, 
Chicago, Illinois, 
Mr. O. M. Schantz, May 12, 1924. 
Pres. Il. Audubon Soc. 
Dear Sir: 
I 4m writing you this letter in behalf of our friends, the birds. I am 
a boy of sixteen years of age. I am considered queer by most people of 
my own age because of my love of birds and the study of nature. How- 
ever I have managed to convert considerable of these “critics” to my 
study of bird life and other things of like nature. 
I live in the heart of the uptown business and shopping district. 
Our street is the only one that is still mostly a housebuilding street; 
mostly all the others are apartment-building streets. Almost four years 
ago when I moved here nobody was interested 1n birds. Nowa few places 
have bird baths, a few places have bird houses, and the children do not 
tease those birds that come within teasing distance. We have trees and 
bushes in both the backs and fronts of the homes, but nevertheless it is 
not really a “woods.” I have given this description so that in case you 
find any parts of this article interesting enough for any of the clippings 
on local subjects put in the nature magazines, people will see that it is 
not so hard to see birds in a large city like Chicago, as it is supposed. 
Within a radius of six houses from my house, up and down the 
street I average fifty different kinds of birds a year (and at that I am 
away all summer); within a radius of six blocks of my house I average 
sixty different kinds of birds a year; by visiting the region on the lake in 
the vicinity of Belmont Harbor and the cemeteries I average one hun- 
dred birds a year (I have just started this year to visit the cemeteries) ; 
by going to the forest preserves in our vicinity I average one hundred 
and thirty birds a year. I am only a boy and can study birds only in my 
leisure moments and I cannot obtain all the necessary materials in order 
to identify all the birds I see, so that I think that a trained ornithologist 
ought to be able to see at least two hundred or more birds in the time and 
places that it takes me to go. If I had money or the chance I would make 
natural history my work. I hope if anybody gets to see this that needs 
it, it will give those persons a better idea of what this city is capable of 
showing them in the way of wild life. 
I put up bird houses, bird baths, and feeding stations for the birds. 
I have succeeded in attracting Wrens to my houses. Purple Martins 
nest 1n houses put up in the vicinity. I average two dozen varieties of 
birds on my bird bath every year. My feeding station during winters has 
been unsuccessful as only House Sparrows and Pigeons make use of it 
