16 THE AUDUBON Bid sia 

in America has had a wider acquaintance past and present, with ornithol- 
ogists both here and abroad. His collections of rare books on ornithology, 
many of them autographed, his collection of pictures of ornithologists, 
and his bird lists from all portions of the United States make his library 
one of the unique collections of bird data in America. 
New Endowment 
URING the year there has come to the Society a bequest of five 
thousand dollars which together with funds already held in trust 
will make the endowment fund $11,500.00. The Directors hope 
that other bequests may follow, which will swell the endowment fund 
to an amount that will bring sufficient interest to pay for the services of 
a Kield Secretary for at least six months of each year. Requests for 
lectures, and for plans for organizing new groups for carrying on bird 
conservation prove the need of a field secretary who can go when called 
for to carry the gospel of bird protection and study throughout the State. 
From a Beginner in Bird Study 
Mr. O. M. Schantz, 
c/o Illinois Audubon Society, 
16.50. La Sallesse. 
Chicago, Ill. 
Dear Mr. Schantz: 
[ have had such a wonderful experience with birds out in this Grand 
Detour country on the Rock River that I thought you might be inter- 
ested. I have been a member of The Illinois Audubon Society for about 
a month; this is my second year’s experience at bird observation and 
identification; and my first year with bird glasses. 
In the two weeks that I have been here, I have seen and heard about 
fifty varieties of birds. The first Sunday here, June 14th, I saw seventeen 
different kinds and I did not go off of the hotel grounds; the robin, Balti- 
more oriole, catbird, blue jay, red-winged blackbird, house wren, house 
sparrow, song sparrow, rose-breasted grosbeak, flicker, -gold finch, red- 
headed woodpecker, downy woodpecker, purple grackle, blue-heron, 
mourning dove and sandpiper. 
Monday I went to Marshmallow Rock where you went on May 30, 
1924, and wrote about in the AuDUBON BULLETIN of Spring, 1924. There 
I saw a red-bellied woodpecker, a beautifully marked bird who hitched 
himself up the whole length of a very tall willow tree and then came and 
perched on a limb facing me so I had a wonderful view of him. On that 
trip I saw also a blue bird, towhee, and some chipping sparrows. Later 
