Part 8

Mrs. Elizabeth C. T. Miller, President of the Cleveland Bird-Lovers' Association, sent notices to all on her large membership list, called upon the people generally through the press, and set other movements in operation looking to the good of the birds.

The South Dakota State College is the largest educational institution in the State, enrolling over eleven hundred members. President E. C. Perisho, who is a lover of wild birds and, incidentally, one of the most influential and public-spirited educators of the West, called a mass meeting of his students and laid the situation before them. The following is from one of his letters, and will give some idea of what resulted.

"We are doing everything possible at this end to save the birds of South Dakota. I thought perhaps you would be interested to know that our organization for this purpose is as follows:

"1. The State College has written to four hundred or five hundred boys and girls, members of the Boys' and Girls' Clubs of the state, asking them to scatter grain and make some protection to save the Field Sparrows, Quails, and Prairie Chickens especially.

"2. The entire extension force of the College, including all the short-course demonstrators, district men, etc., have been written to and are coöperating with us.

"3. All the county agents of the state are interesting the school children of their counties, and a number of farmers and the rural mail carriers.

"4. The commercial clubs in all the large towns of the state, and the smaller ones where grain is most needed, have been written to, asking for their immediate coöperation.

"5. All the state institutions, five besides our own, have been asked to help in this matter.

"6. A number of high schools and township schools, etc., have been asked to help.

"7. Between one and two hundred farmers, well distributed over the state have had personal letters.

"Money in small amounts has been promised to county agents, commercial clubs, etc. I met a number of the young men of our college today and talked to them about the situation, and asked for their coöperation in writing to their homes, etc. Those most interested in the work went out, after the meeting, and had a picture taken. I will send you this photograph as soon as it is developed."

In Minnesota, the "Save the Quail Association" was immediately formed by the sportsmen of St. Paul and vicinity. Mr. Carlos Avery put the State Game Wardens to work, and the matter was given wide publicity. An immense work was done throughout the state in the way of feeding birds. Mr. Avery has sent in a large number of photographs, showing the men actually at work for the relief of the birds. The method of feeding the Quails, to locate the covies, scrape the snow away, and put out food.

The heavy snow and extreme cold prevailed over a large area of the northern United States, and more work was probably done to feed the birds this winter than ever before under similar conditions. Many of the State Game Commissions have funds for this purpose, and have been very active.

Quails and Pheasants are known to have suffered much in Oregon and Washington. A quaint little incident is reported of pheasants in Washington, sent us by a correspondent in British Columbia. He relates that the Pheasants during the time of deep snow not only came familiarly about barnyards, but were fond of perching on the backs of the hogs in order, apparently, to warm their chilled feet.

There have been some losses in New England, and even from New Jersey reports reached the office of the toll of bird-life that the heavy snow had taken.

=FLORENCE MERRIAM BAILEY=

When George Bird Grinnell coined the term "Audubon Society," and started the Audubon Movement, in 1886, one of the first to respond to the call and to go actively into the work was Miss Florence Merriam, who, with Miss Fanny Hardy--now Mrs. Eckstorm, author of several bird-books--in March, 1886, organized the Smith College Audubon Society. Soon afterward Miss Merriam assumed the duties of a local Audubon secretaryship, in northern New York, and also secured local secretaries in several neighboring towns.

In 1897, when the Audubon Society of the District of Columbia was organized, she was one of its chartered members. For many years, as Mrs. Florence Merriam Bailey, she has been an active member of its executive committee, and, among other duties, has had charge of the annual spring bird-class, one of the most important features of that Society. That her interest in the work is deep, and sympathetic to an unusual degree may be shown by a quotation from a letter that she wrote to the California Audubon Society on the occasion of its organization:

"Wherever you go, study the birds and tell your friends of them. Point out to them the chaste beauty of your exquisitely tinted waterfowl; let them see the glowing splendor of your Tanagers, the flashing jewels of your Hummingbirds. Take them to the fields, that they may listen in rapture to the rare voice of your Meadowlark; take them to the deep canyons filled with the flute-like notes of the Canyon Wren; and to the fir forests on the mountainsides, where their souls will be stirred by the uplifted song of the Thrush.

"By knowing the birds personally, you will bring to your Audubon work the enkindling spark of enthusiastic friendship. In all phases of your work, for yourselves, your friends, your birds, and your children, you have my hearty interest and good wishes. For fifteen years I have been waiting for you to take up the cause of the California birds, and for many years I have been working with the children of the West on my heart. Knowing this, you may well believe that I wish your beautiful work an earnest God-speed."

Mrs. Bailey's natural girlhood's interest in wild birds was greatly quickened by dwelling in a home in which scholarship and a love of scientific accuracy were taught daily; and she had the added advantage of living in a region of northern New York well supplied with bird-life. In a recent letter she wrote: "Having been brought up on Coues's 'Key,' and trained by my brother, Dr. C. Hart Merriam, on leaving College in 1886 I began doing careful field-work." Since that day, no woman has studied the wild birds of America so systematically, so thoroughly, and so carefully as she. The amount of field-work she has done is perfectly astonishing, and probably few women have spent so many days in the wilds, or so many nights under canvas, as has Mrs. Florence Merriam Bailey. Her work, partly conducted in company with her brother, Dr. Merriam, and her husband, Mr. Vernon Bailey, has been carried on not only in eastern and southern states and in the Bermudas, but also in Arizona, Oregon, California, North Dakota, Texas, Utah, and New Mexico.

As a teacher of others, she has given bird-talks and conducted field-classes in bird-study in various parts of the country, and for thirty years her name has been before the public as a writer of popular and scientific articles. The titles of no less than seventy communications published in _The Auk_, _Bird-Lore_, _The Condor_, _Forest and Stream_, _The Outlook_, _Popular Science_, _The American Agriculturist_, and elsewhere, have come to my attention. Her first book, "Birds Through An Opera Glass," was published in 1889. This was followed by "My Summer in a Mormon Village," 1895; "A-Birding on a Bronco," 1896; and "Birds of Village and Field," 1898.

Her largest and most valuable contribution to the literature of ornithology is her "Handbook of Birds of the Western United States," first published in 1902. From the day of its appearance, this was hailed as the most practical and useful book on our western birds that had ever been published, and for many years to come it will be regarded as the standard work on the subject. No serious student of bird-life in the western United States would think of being without this valuable book on his study-table.

=NEW MEMBERS AND CONTRIBUTORS=

Enrolled from January 1 to March 1, 1916.

_Life Members._

Agnew, Miss Alice G. Andrews, J. Sherlock Arnold, Edward W. C. Barr, James H. Black, R. Clifford Blake, Mrs. Francis Brackenridge, George W. Burnham, William Butler, Mrs. Paul Butterworth, Mrs. William Campbell, John B. Childs, Eversley Clark, George H. Clementson, Mrs. Sidney Colgate, Richard M. Covell, Dr. H. H. Dahlstrom, Mrs. C. A. Dodge, Cleveland H. Doepke, Mrs. William F. Eddison, Charles Glazier, Henry S. Hamlin, Mrs. Eva S. Hanna, Mrs. H. M., Jr. Haskell, J. Amory Higginson, Mrs. James J. "Iowa Friend" Jenkins, Mrs. Joseph W. Keen, Miss Florence Keith, Mrs. D. M. Kingsbury, Miss Alice E. Langdon, Woodbury G. Lansing, Mrs. G. Y. Lawrence, Rosewell B. Low, Miss Nathalie F. MacLean, Mrs. Charles F. Marmon, Mrs. Elizabeth C. Miller, Mrs. E. C. T. Mitchell, Miss Mary Moore, Mrs. William H. Neave, Miss Jane C. Newberry, W. F. Oliver, Mrs. James B. Osborn, Mrs. William C. Prentiss, F. F. Rathborne, Richard C. Remsen, Miss Elizabeth Rodewald, F. L. Sanger, Mrs. C. R. Severance, John L. Stetson, Francis L. Stillman, B. G. Stillman, Chauncey D. Thaw, J. C. Upson, Mrs. Henry S. Weld, Miss Elizabeth F. White, Windsor T. Woolman, Edward

_Sustaining Members._

Adams, Mrs. Maud W. Aims, Miss Edith M. Allen, Charles D. Allen, Mrs. D. P. Armstrong, Mrs. C. R. Audubon Society of Illinois. Audubon Society of New Hampshire. Barber, Mrs. H. Barrows, Ira. Bayne, Howard Beacom, M. W. Benton, Andrew A. Biays, Miss Katherine Billard, Mrs. J. L. Bispham, David Boettger, Mrs. Theodore Booth, Mrs. Henry M. Brunswick, Mrs. E. Burton, Mrs. Robert M. Carey, Mrs. Frederic F. Cerf, Mrs. L. A. Choate, Miss Caroline Church, F. S. Clark, F. Ambrose Clark, George C. Clements, Mrs. G. H. Cochran, G. D. Cohn, Julius M. Colfelt, Mrs. R. McM. Colorado Audubon Society Cory, Daniel W. de Bary, A. Delta Duck Club DeMilt, Miss Aida R. deRham, H. Casimir Dinsmore, Mrs. W. B. Emerson, William Flint, Mrs. Austin Ford, Mrs. Bruce Foshay, Dr. P. Maxwell Fraser, Miss Ann C. Fuld, Solomon Gale, C. C. Gates, Dr. Milo H. Gavit, E. P. Godwin, Mrs. H. Gouinlock, Miss Mary S. Haggin, Mrs. Ben Ali Haines, Charles D. Hall, A. Neely Hatch, Miss Cornelia C. Havemeyer, Henry O. Hawes, Miss M. M. Hawkes, Miss Eva Herz, Mrs. F. W. Heyn, Miss Emma Hibbs, Mrs. Russell A. Hitchcock, Master Frank Hoening, Mrs. C. Hooper, Mrs. Newlin Hopkins, Mrs. George B. Hotchkiss, Frank A. Houghton, Mrs. Grace N. Howland, Dr. John Hoyt, Miss Rosina S. Hyde, Mrs. Clarence M. Imbrie, Mrs. James Irwin, John V. Jaretzki, Mrs. Alfred Jenkins, A. W. Jennings, Mrs. Oliver G. Jewett, William K. Judd, Mrs. M. E. Judson, Mrs. A. L. Keck, Miss Margaret W. Kennedy, David A. Kennedy, Mrs. N. Van Rensselaer Kent, Edwin C. Keyes, Mrs. Edward L., Jr. Kimball, Mrs. Reuel B. King, Mrs. Willard V. Kinne, Miss Helen Klingenstein, Charles Lamb, Gilbert D. Lane, James Warren, Jr. Lansburgh, Miss Edith Rosalie Ledoux, Mrs. Albert R. Lehmaier, Mrs. Louis A. Lehman, Meyer H. Lewis, Richard V. Lieb, Dr. Charles C. Lilienthal, Dr. Howard Louis, Charles H. McHugh, Joseph P. Maron, Otto Massey, Miss H. F. Mather, Charles M. Mayer, Louis Merriam, F. L. Meyn, Mrs. Heinrich Miller, Mrs. R. T. Miller, Mrs. Seaman Mills, Frederic C. Mills, Miss Jean Moore, Miss K. T. Moorhead, Horace R. Morton, Mrs. Levi P. Moses, Mrs. E. Muendel, Miss Christina Nelson, Charles W. New Bedford Bird Club Newell, Mrs. G. T. Nicoll, Mrs. Fancher Oregon Audubon Society Palmer, Nicholas F. Peck, Dr. Charles H. Pomeroy, Daniel E. Poor, Roger M. Pope, Miss Edith A. Pratt, Mrs. Frederic B. Procter, Mrs. Wm. Cooper Proctor, Thomas R. Puffer, Miss Isabel Putney, Miss E. C. Redmond, Master Henry S. Reese, Mrs. R. G. Rehling-Qvistgaard, J. W. V. Renard, Fred O. Reynolds, Mrs. G. W. Riley, Mrs. W. W. Robbins, Allan Appleton Rogers, Mrs. Francis Romenus, Albert Rumsey, Lawrence Dana Rupprecht, Frederick K. Ryle, Miss Julia Sachs, Dr. Bernard Savage, James Sawtelle, Mrs. E. M. Schanck, George E. Scofield, Miss Marion Seaman, William W. Sharpe, Miss Elizabeth M. Shaw, Miss Louise Sherman, Miss Julia Frances Siegel, William Simmons, Mrs. Warren H. Simonson, Mrs. William A. Simpson, Miss Jean W. Smillie, James C. Smith, Mrs. A. G. Smith, Miss Emeline C. Smith, Mrs. Rufus B. Smith, William Wharton Snook, Mrs. T. E. Soule, Elizabeth P. Stafford, Mrs. William F. Staudt, John Steers, James R. Steinway, F. T. Stephens, Mrs. Nassau S. Stillman, Mrs. E. G. Stone, Miss Elizabeth B. Strauss, Albert Stubner, C. J. Stursberg, Julius A. Swan, William D. Taylor, Mrs. W. R. K. Thomson, John F. Topliff, Miss Anna E. Townsend, Eugene L. Tucker, Carill Tuxbury, Miss L. E. Varicle, Miss Renée Vassar Wake Robin Club Watson, Miss Emily A. White, Mrs. Stanford Whitson, Abraham U. Wiborg, F. B. Williams, Alexander S. Williams, Mrs. Sydney M. Wilson, Mrs. M. Orme Wing, Frank L. Winston-Salem Audubon Society Zabriskie, Mrs. Cornelius

_New Contributors._

Evans, Miss Mildred French, Daniel C. Harron, Master Halie I. Haueisen, William C. Jeremiah, J. Kellogg, Miss M. W. Macdonald, James A. Mix, Robert J. Newcomer, Miss Nannie I. Parker, Forrest H. Perrin, Marshall L. Post, Mrs. E. J. Townsend, Mrs. Charles Wheeler, Mrs. L. F.

=Contributors to Egret Fund=

Previously acknowledged $1,016 26 Abbott, Mrs. T. J. 5 00 Adams, William C. 1 00 Ames, Mrs. J. B. 5 00 Auchincloss, Mrs. E. S. 5 00 Barclay, Miss Emily 5 00 Barri, Mrs. John A. 5 00 Baxter, Lucy W. 5 00 Beebe, Mrs. William H. II. 3 00 Bernheimer, Mrs. J. S. 10 00 Bignell, Mrs. Effie 1 00 Bird-Lover 5 00 Blackwelder, Eliot 1 00 Bliss, Miss Lucy B. 7 00 Bonham, Miss Elizabeth S. 5 00 Bonham, Mrs. Horace 10 00 Boynton, Mrs. C. H. 1 00 Brent, Mrs. Duncan K. 2 00 Brooks, Mrs. Shepherd 10 00 Brown, D. J. 2 00 Burgess, E. Phillips 3 00 Burt, Miss Edith 2 00 Button, Conyers 25 00 Carse, Miss Harriet 2 00 Case, Mrs. James B. 10 00 Clarke, Mrs. E. A. S. 5 00 Clerk, Mrs. A. G. 1 00 Cleveland, Mrs. Clement 1 00 Collins, Miss Gertrude 5 00 Cristy, Mrs. H. W. 1 00 Curie, Charles 5 00 Cutter, Ralph L. 5 00 Davis, William T. 5 00 Dawes, Miss Elizabeth B. 10 00 DeForest, Mrs. Robert W. 5 00 Delafield, Mrs. John R. 2 00 Dwight, Mrs. M. E. 2 00 Early, Charles H. 2 00 Eastman, George 50 00 Ellis, William D. 10 00 Emmons, 2nd, Mrs. R. W. 10 00 Evans, William B. 4 00 Fergusson, Alexander C. 2 00 Field, E. B. 2 00 Foot, James D. 2 00 Franklin, Mrs. M. L. 10 00 Friedman, Mrs. Max 2 00 Fries, Miss Emilie 1 00 Frothingham, John W. 35 00 Fuguet, Stephen 5 00 Garst, Julius 3 00 Godeffroy, Mrs. E. H. 10 00 Goodwin, Geo. R. 5 00 Greene, Miss Caroline S. 1 00 Haskell, Miss Helen P. 2 00 Hathaway, Harry S. 2 00 Hodgman, Miss Edith M. 5 00 Hopkins, Miss Augusta D. 3 00 Horr, Miss Elizabeth 5 00 Hoyt, Miss G. L. 5 00 Hunter, Mrs. W. H. 2 00 Jackson, P. T., Jr. 6 00 Jennings, Dr. George H. 3 00 Jordan, A. H. B. 20 00 Joslin, Ada L. 2 00 Jube, Albert B. 3 00 Kennedy, Mrs. John S. 5 00 Kerr, Mrs. T. B. 1 00 Lewis, Mrs. August 10 00 Lewis, Mrs. Herman E. 5 00 Mackey, Oscar T. 5 00 Mann, J. R. 1 00 Marrs, Mrs. Kingsmill 5 00 Marsh, Spencer S. 1 00 Mason, G. A. 5 00 Mason, H. L., Jr. 5 00 Meigs, Miss Hester 1 25 Mellns, J. T. 2 00 Merritt, Mrs. James H. 2 00 Mills, Dr. Herbert R. 20 00 Montell, Mr. and Mrs. F. M. 2 50 Moore, Alfred 5 00 Morganthau, Mrs. M. L. 1 00 Mott, Miss Marian 5 00 Murray, J. Irwin, Jr. 1 00 Nice, Mrs. Margaret M. 3 00 Noyes, Raymond 3 00 Oliver, Dr. Henry K. 10 00 Osborne, Arthur A. 1 00 Pagenstecher, Miss Friede 5 00 Parker, Edward L. 25 00 Parker, Mrs. W. R. 3 00 Patton, Mrs. Margaret S. 10 00 Peck, Dr. Elizabeth L. 1 00 Penfold, Edmund 10 00 Petty, E. R. 2 00 Phelps, Mrs. Frances von R. 10 00 Pott, Miss Emma 1 00 Pusey, Mrs. Howard 2 00 Raymond, Charles II. 5 00 Rhoads, S. N. 1 00 Righter, William S. 5 00 Robbins, Miss N. P. H. 3 00 Robbins, Mr. and Mrs. R. E. 20 00 Sampson, Miss Lucy S. 1 00 Saunders, Charles G. 1 00 Schweppe, Mrs. H. M. 1 00 Scofield, Miss Marion. 10 00 Shattuck, Miss Gertrude A. 1 00 Simpkins, Miss M. W. 10 00 Small, Miss A. M. 2 00 Spackman, Miss Emily S. 1 00 Spalter, Mrs. F. B. 1 00 Stanton, Mrs. T. G. 2 00 Stevens, F. E. 2 00 Stimson, William B. 3 00 Thorndike, Mrs. Augustus 1 00 Timmerman, Miss Edith 1 50 Tower, Mrs. Kate D. 1 00 Troescher, A. F. 10 00 Vaillant, Mrs. G. H. 3 00 Von Zedlitz, Mrs. Anna 2 00 Walker, Miss Mary A. 2 00 White, Horace 5 00 Willcox, Prof. M. A. 10 00 Williams, George F. 5 00 Winslow, Miss Maria L. C. 6 00 Woodward, Dr. S. B. 5 00 Wright, Miss Mary A. 2 00 Zimmerman, Dr. M. W. 5 00 -------- Total $1,701 51

=THE VIRGINIA GAME BILL PASSES=

By a vote of twenty-four to nine, the Senate of the Virginia Legislature has passed the bill of the Farmers' Union and the Audubon Society for the establishment of a Commission of Fisheries and Game. The bill was signed by the Governor on March 13, 1916. Thus ends a fight which the Audubon Society has led in the Virginia Legislature, session after session, for many years.

Mr. M. D. Hart, President of the Virginia Audubon Society, and others who have labored hard for the successful passage of this measure, are to be congratulated. Now, at least, we may hope for some good bird-and-game protection in that state, for the commissioner will have power to employ wardens, and will have funds with which to pay them.

The methods of selecting the local wardens is rather unusual: From a list of ten names, submitted by the boards of supervisors of the counties and the councils of cities, the commissioner will select wardens--one for each county and city in the commonwealth. In communities of less than 20,000 inhabitants these officers will be paid a salary not to exceed $50 a month. In more populous communities their monthly pay will not be in excess of $60. Special wardens may be appointed to serve for not more than $3 a day. The commissioner or any of his wardens may serve original processes as sheriffs and constables. Every hunter who leaves his own premises or those adjoining his will be required to obtain from the commissioner a hunter's license. Residents will be charged $1 for the privilege of hunting in their county, and $3 for a state range. Non-residents may hunt anywhere in Virginia on payment of $10.

The victory in Virginia leaves only two states in the Union that have no game-warden system. These states are Florida and Mississippi, which still vie with each other for the honor of being the Rip Van Winkle state in the matter of bird-protection.

=NOTES FROM THE FIELD=

=Birds Beautifying Cemeteries=

Some time ago, the Secretary happened to visit a suburban cemetery, where landscape-gardening and sculptural art had done what they could to make the scene beautiful and comforting, but he was impressed by the absence of singing birds. Alien Sparrows were chattering, and the gurgling of a Grackle was heard in the distance, but none of the sweet voices and pretty forms of the native birds charmed the ear or gladdened the eye of a visitor. This seemed strange, for the varied trees and shrubbery, with sunny spaces among them, quiet and guarded against noisy intrusion, would be exceedingly attractive and favorable to bird-life; and it occurred to him that in no place would an invitation to the birds to make themselves at home in summer be so likely to be accepted; nor could anything be more appropriate than their cheerful presence. They will prove useful, too.

These thoughts induced him to write a brief essay, entitled "Cemeteries as Bird-Sanctuaries," which has been published by the National Association as Circular No. 2, and distributed to many persons likely to be interested. The response has been most encouraging. Associations and individuals all over the country have written for this circular, and are taking measures to furnish cemeteries with shelters, nesting-boxes and feeding-stations for birds under instruction from the Association. The great Forest Lawn Cemetery near Omaha, for example, is putting up 100 nest-boxes as a beginning. The Rosehill Cemetery and others about Chicago are undertaking similar enterprises, and the Cemetery Beautifying Association of San Francisco is planning this addition to its methods of making more attractive the resting-place of the dead. _Blue Bird_ announces that the Lake View Cemetery at Cleveland, Ohio, will erect many feeding-tables and nest-boxes, in its grounds. The matter has been taken up by the Lexington Kentucky Audubon Society. Other instances might be mentioned.

It is greatly to be hoped that many others will follow their example. The movement we think is worth while, for the sake of humanity as well as for the birds.

=The Oregon Audubon Society=

The Oregon Audubon Society has recently established headquarters in the Young Men's Christian Association building, in Portland. The room occupied by the Society has been tastefully decorated with pictures, and contains cabinets of specimens for study. It is planned to give lectures regularly on Saturday evenings.