THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 
Published Quarterly by the 
ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 
Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Il!. 60605 
Number 137 March 1966 
THE PRESIDENT’S PAGE 
By Raymond Mostek 
Return of the Trumpeter Swan—An exciting chapter in the saga of one of the 
great birds of the West has now been written. The Trumpeter Swan, once 
numbering less than 100, is considered off the list of endangered species, as 
its numbers have reached almost 1000. Most of the swans are in the famed 
Red Rocks National Wildlife Refuge in Montana. Several have been trans- 
ferred to areas in South Dakota. The preservation of the Trumpeter Swan 
during the 1930’s drew the personal interest of President Franklin D. Roose- 
velt. He had developed an interest in bird-watching during his boyhood at the 
ancestral home on the Hudson river at Hyde Park. The Trumpeter Swan has 
a French-horn call that can be heard for two miles. 
Congress Approves Purchase of Sylvania Tract—Strong support by conserva- 
tionists, led by Senators Proxmire and Nelson of Wisconsin and Hart of 
Michigan, has resulted in congressional action on the famed Sylvania Tract in 
the Ottawa National Forest in Michigan. Hiking and riding trails are planned, 
along with camping and picnic sites. 
Illinois Supreme Court Hears Steel Case—The United States Steel Co., by 
action of the Illinois Legislature, won title to 194 acres of submerged land 
at 79th street in Chicago for expansion of its steel plant. The price was 
$100.00 an acre. The Illinois Supreme Court voided the purchase, but agreed 
in January to re-hear the case for the steel firm. Conservationists oppose the 
sale of this land. 
The Golden Eagle—This thin volume by Robert Murphy is one of the reading 
treats of the decade. It is sheer poetry from start to finish, and can be read 
in two evenings. Kira, the Golden Eagle, begins her life high on a cliff in 
Colorado. The reader shares every sensation of the eagle’s hunt for food, 
flight from predators and a storm, and the exultation of soaring flight. One 
reads this book with a growing sense of anxiety and closes the cover with an 
overpowering feeling of emotion. If anyone can read this moving story with- 
out an earnest desire to do more than ever before to protect our great preda- 
tor birds, let him be abandoned—there is no hope for him. Because of the 
nefarious amendment by Senator Tower (Texas), the Golden Eagle may still 
_ be shot, although no longer from airplanes. The law must be changed to give 
_ the Golden Eagle full protection. If you are anxious to help the eagle colony, 
_ send one dollar for a lifetime membership card in the American Bald Eagle 
Club, «/o Mrs. Vera Shaw, Illinois Audubon Society, RR 2, Olney, Illinois. 
Funds are used for education and to protect nesting sites. 
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