4 THE «+A,U D U-B°OIN@ BU Del Eee 
now used as a controlled shooting area and there is pressure to open it as a 
field dog training area. Dr. Yeatter visited it last week and found three 
booming grounds in use by the chickens. Dr. Scott and Dr. Yeatter have 
drafted a letter to Gov. Stratton which they suggested the Society adopt. It 
was unanimously adopted and Mrs. Anne Bayless was directed to send a 
copy to the governor. The letter commends the governor and Conservation 
Department for preserving the prairie chickens during the 20 years in which 
the state has owned the Lee county area, and expresses the hope that the 
Conservation Department will continue to preserve this colony and others 
remaining in the state. 
The meeting adjourned until dinner, held that night at the First Presby- 
terian Church, Rockford. Mr. Tunstall directed group singing. The invoca- 
tion was offered by the Rev. J. Rodman Williams. After dinner, announce- 
ments were made of field trips the following day, and thanks were given to 
all committees responsible for the meeting. Mrs. Russell announced that the 
Board of Directors had accepted an offer from the Decatur Audubon Society 
inviting the I.A.S. to hold its annual meeting in Decatur next year on April 
26. For the field trip on April 27, Mrs. Russell has invited members to visit 
her farm home outside Decatur, which she has made into a sanctuary. 
Sherman Ehlert, of Rockford, past president of the North Central Illinois 
Ornithological society, introduced the speakers. First Mrs. Anne Bayless, 
who writes a bird watching column for The Chicago Tribune under the name 
of Anne Douglas, and her husband, John, presented a skit based on some of 
the amusing questions asked by readers. The main event of the program was 
a color movie, “Four on Safari,” presented by Dr. S. Glidden Baldwin of 
Danville and his wife, Mary, telling of their trip with their two sons to 
Africa last summer. It included outstanding sequences on wild animals, 
birds, natives, and the scaling of Mt. Kilimanjaro. It was generally agreed 
to be one of the best nature movies the audience had ever seen. 
Two field trips were held Sunday, one at 7 a.m. and one at 8:30, under 
the leadership of David Seal and Lee G. Johnson of Rockford. The two 
groups met at noon for a box lunch after collecting a list of 121 species. 
Attendance at the meeting was considered excellent; 78 registered for the 
afternoon meeting, 106 attended the dinner, and approximately 50 went on 
the field trips. 
Although rain fell at intervals throughout the meeting and the weather 
was chilly, the whole affair was considered a success in every respect. 
Thanks go not only to members of I.A.S. who took part in the planning — 
Mrs. Huxford, Mr. Helmer, Mr. Fawks, Mrs. Waller, Mr. Tunstall, and 
Oliver Heywood, who manned the book counter every free moment — but 
also to the Rockford committees. They include: Registration and Reserva- 
tions — Mary Jane Jones, Harold Bennett, and Miss Florence Schenck; 
Program — Mrs. Norman Tester, Milton Mahlberg, and Miss Harriet Van 
Duzer; Dinner — Mrs. R. O. Hamilton, Mrs. Harold Bennett, and Mrs. Mil- 
ton Mahlberg; Field Trip — Lee G. Johnson and David Seal. Mrs. David 
Burdick, wife of the president of the Rockford group, was responsible for 
table decorations, which included miniature birds in nests. 
8925 Indian Bowndary, Gary, Ind. 
