Peta tue Ae Ub eG eN@ 48 U Lal Eat aN 9 
that day with a picnic in a small park right on the water’s edge, and ate 
a wonderful meal while perched on the rocks watching a school of por- 
poises perform and herons fly over. 
Our final field trip was on the last day of our stay, to Fairchild Gar- 
dens, officially part of the camp although separated from it. (This has 
no relation to the Fairchild Gardens near Miami.) It was started by Ben- 
jamin T. Fairchild, a local man who endeavored to grow examples of every 
type of plant native to Connecticut, but it contains many that are not 
native — his friends gave him starts and cuttings and he put them in 
regardless. After Fairchild’s death a local organization was formed to ad- 
minister the garden, but it withered from lack of funds and the garden 
was given to the National Audubon Society in 1945 after it had been neg- 
lected entirely for several years. It is now in the capable hands of 
Leonard J. Bradley, botanist, who was unable even to find signs of the 
original paths when the society took it over. 
It has since been cleaned up amazingly, but pains were taken not to de- 
stroy its natural, informal air. There are no flower beds; everything grows 
virtually in the wild. The only clearing has been of paths and of vegeta- 
tion that threatened to smother some of the rarer species. Bradley identi- 
fied more than 100 species for us the morning we visited it. It, too, is a 
fine place for birds, as there are quite a bit of woods, a stream, and several 
ponds in the gardens, which contain 127 acres. 
The area is so planted that it offers exciting yields all through the grow- 
ing season, with a continuous succession of blooms. It has been the basis 
for articles in several gardening and nature magazines. 
I think few of the delegates had ever learned so much about nature 
and natural resources, and in such an enjoyable fashion, as they did dur- 
ing those five days. I cannot recommend too highly that anyone with the 
time to spare attend the Connecticut camp some summer, for it is not 
necessary to be a teacher or youth leader to be accepted. Accomodations 
are modern; the meals, served in a remodeled barn with a huge picture 
window overlooking the woods, are excellent; the staff is top-notch, and 
I, for one, couldn’t have improved upon anything in any way. If it were 
possible for more Illinois residents to attend a session there, I don’t think 
this state would be a “conservation desert,” as it has been called, any 
longer. 
6139 Kenwood Ave., Chicago 
fT fi fl 
Send in Your Census Early 
Christmas Census reports should be sent as early as possible in January 
for inclusion in the next Bulletin. They should include the terrain covered, 
miles by foot or auto, weather conditions, and time devoted to census; 
species seen, preferably in regular A.O.U. order, and names of persons 
participating. Send your report to the Illinois Audubon Society, Chicago 
Natural History Museum, Chicago 5, Ill. 
