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prize will be given for the greatest number outside of Cook County, and 
to anyone who secures six or more new members. » 
Kortwright’s volume has been acclaimed as the outstanding’ work on 
the water birds and contains descriptive matter and fine color plates of 
both old and young of many species. 
CONTEST RULES 
No officer or member of the Board of Directors of the Society shall be 
eligible for these prizes. 
When more than one perscn submits a prospect who affiliates, credit 
will go to the one who first submitted the prospect, except when the new 
name is submitted by another and accompanied by a check for dues, or the 
new member specifically designates to whom he wishes the credit given. 
In case of ties duplicate prizes will be awarded, provided such ties are 
for not less than six members, in which case the Committee will award 
other prizes commensurate with the number of members secured. 
This offer will expire with the close of the present calendar year 1948. 
Names of prospects and any other correspondence should be sent to 
Mr. Harry R. Smith, Chairman, at the office of the Society, 2001 North 
Clark Street, Chicago 14. 
aw fl ft 
A Threatened Catastrophy 
By C. W..G. EIrric 
OF LATE YEARS it is becoming increasingly evident that the number of birds 
is decreasing woefully over large areas. This is being brought home to the 
writer by checks during extended automobile tours which have become more 
or less a routine matter since taking up residence in Florida. 
That there are inscrutable forces at work among birds, just as among 
cther animals and plants, could be seen when about thirty years ago the 
lark sparrow disappeared from the Great Lakes region, followed later and 
perhaps not quite so completely by the migrant shrike, at least in the 
Chicago area. In other cases the cause or causes are plain enough. Thus, 
the near-disappearance of the red-headed woodpecker was due to the killing 
on roads and highways by the growing number of autos. The almost com- 
plete disappearance of the cliff swallow from the eastern half of the coun- 
try was probably due to the depredations of the introduced starling and 
English sparrow, plus the introduction of farm machinery. The latter also 
explains the disappearance of the barn swallow and the purple martin from 
most of our rural areas. 
The writer in 1946 made a more extended auto trip than in other years, 
namely to California and back, with many side trips, a total of 9,394 miles. 
While one cannot make a census and a correct identification of all birds 
seen along the highways, one gets a good impression whether birdlife is 
abundant or not, and of the identity of such well-known and easily identifi- 
