and both teachers and pupils seemed well pleased with the results.
We owe thanks to many of our local secretaries for their good work
among children, and for the classes for bird study which they formed
during the summer. This is a movement of the utmost importance, as
with increasing membership it becomes more and more difficult for the
secretary to conduct individual correspondence, and everyone who will
band together local members and act as local secretary, will further
the interests of the Society more than can be done in any other way.
We would like to call the attention of our members to the following:
1. When this Society was organized the quills used in millinery were
all taken from large domestic birds. Lately the Brown Pelican, Eagles,
Owls, and Turkey Vulture have been made to pay tribute to the fashions;
and we wish most earnestly to protest against the use of these quills.
A good illustration of the feathers to be avoided will be found in the
October number of Bird-Lore.
2. We would also call attention to the fact that this magazine is the
official organ of the Audubon Societies, and is essential to anyone
desiring to keep up with what is being done for the protection of birds.
3. As heretofore, we are dependent almost entirely upon voluntary
subscriptions for carrying on the objects of the organization, and
we therefore appeal again for assistance from those interested in
furthering the cause of the protection of birds. Increased funds will,
of course, enable us to reach a larger number of persons, and to issue
a larger amount of literature, for which there is a constant demand.
Donations should be forwarded to the treasurer, Mr. William L. Baily,
421 Chestnut street, Philadelphia.
For the coming year we have in view the usual course of lectures, by
Mr. Stone, and also the furthering of bird study in the schools, to
which end we hope to issue some educational circulars.
Julia Stockton Robins, _Sec'y._
THE WISCONSIN SOCIETY
Our busy season is in the spring of the year. At about Easter time
our State Superintendent of Schools issued his 'Arbor and Bird-Day
Annual,' which contained an invitation to teachers and children to join
the Audubon Society. This invitation brought an almost overwhelming
response, every day for several weeks bringing me ten or fifteen
letters from would-be branches, and our school membership mounted
rapidly to over 10,000. A prize offered to these children for the best
personal observation on a Bird Family was won by a little country girl,
who wrote a very good composition on the Ground Sparrow. We have tried,
with varying degrees of success, in different places, to institute the
work of the 'Bird Restorers' among these children.
We shall soon have a little library of bird books circulating among the
schools, and we are trying to raise money for a set of lantern slides
to accompany a lecture--lecture and slides to be sent from place to
place.
I believe that the Audubon work has already made a deep impression
in Wisconsin. The milliners' windows abound in Gulls and Birds of
Paradise, but they are not finding a ready sale. As to wings, perhaps
it is too much to expect that women will not believe their milliners
when told that "These wings are all right, because they are made."
E. G. Peckham, _Sec'y._
The Passing of the Tern
The surprising results which may follow Fashion's demand for a certain
kind of bird have never been more clearly shown than in the case of the
Terns or Sea Swallows of our Atlantic coasts.
Useless for food, the birds had escaped the demands of the hunter, and
thousands nested in security along our beaches. The exquisite purity of
their plumage and their unsurpassed gracefulness on the wing made them
a particularly grateful element of the coast scenery to every lover of
the beautiful, while to the prosaic fisherman they often gave welcome
evidence of the direction of the land, as with unerring flight they
returned through the densest fogs, bearing food to their young.
Suddenly, as a result of causes too mysterious for the mind of man to
comprehend, Fashion claimed the Terns for her own.
Up and down the coast word went forth, that Sea Swallows, or 'Summer
Gulls,' were worth ten cents each, and the milliner's agent was there
to confirm the report.
It was in June when the baymen were idle and, unrestrained by law, they
hastened to the beaches in keen competition to destroy the birds which
were nesting there.
[Illustration: Photographed from nature by F. M. Chapman
WILSON'S TERN ON NEST]
Never, in this country, at least, has there been such a slaughter of
birds. A Cobb's Island, Virginia, bayman, whose conscience, even at
this late date, urged him to a confession of shame for his part in the
proceedings, told me recently that in a single day of that memorable
season, 1,400 Terns were killed on Cobb's Island alone, and 40,000 are
said to have been there shot during the summer. The destruction at
other favorable places was proportionately great.
Two seasons of this work were sufficient to sweep the Terns from all
their more accessible resorts, the only survivors being residents of a
few uninhabited islands. Even here they would have succumbed had not
bird-lovers raised a sum to pay keepers to protect them.
Then Fashion, as if content with the destruction she had wrought, found
fresh victims, and the Terns, for a time, escaped persecution. Now,
however, the demand for them has been revived, and again the milliners'
agent is abroad placing a price on the comparatively few birds
remaining. Before me is a circular issued by a New York feather dealer,
asking for "large quantities" of "Sea Gulls, Wilson's Turns (_sic_),
Laughing Gulls, Royal Gulls," etc., and this is only one instance among
hundreds. In fact, the feather merchants themselves state that the
demand for Terns and Gulls exceeds the supply.[J]
[Footnote J: See also note from 'Brooklyn Eagle' on page 198.]
What will be the result? Is there no appeal from Fashion's decree?
Woman alone can answer these questions, and the case is so clear she
cannot shirk the responsibility of replying.
Aigrettes are decorative, quills difficult to identify, neither bespeak
death, and ignorance may lead the most humane woman into wearing
either. But with the Tern no such excuse exists, and the woman who
places its always disgustingly mutilated body on her bonnet, does so in
deliberate defiance of the laws of humanity and good taste.
Frank M. Chapman.
=====================================================================
"_The greatest and best book ever written about birds._"--Elliott Coues
A DICTIONARY OF BIRDS
=====================
By Alfred Newton
Professor of Zoölogy and Comparative Anatomy, University of Cambridge
Assisted by HANS F. GADOW, Ph.D., F.R.S.
WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM
RICHARD LYDEKKER
Author (with Sir W. H. FLOWER) of "An Introduction
to the Study of Mammals," etc.
CHARLES S. ROY
Professor in the University of Cambridge
ROBERT W. SHUFELDT
Late U. S. Army. Author of "The Myology of the Raven," etc.
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME. Med. 8vo, PRICE $10 NET
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"_=It is far and away the best book ever written about birds=_ ... the
best 'all-round' book we have ever seen; the one that best answers the
purposes of all readers; the one which conveys the most information
per thousand _ems_; the one which is freest from misstatements of any
sort; the one which is most cautious and conservative in expression of
opinions where opinions may reasonably differ; the one which is the
most keenly critical, yet most eminently just in rendering adverse
decisions...."
--From an extended review in _The Auk_.
"A very useful and concise volume, in which is to be found a vast
amount of varied information."
--O. S. in _Nature_.
"It is a better introduction to ornithology and to ornithologists than
has ever been written before ... indeed it is one to lie upon the
desk of every worker in this branch of natural history as an almost
inexhaustible storehouse of facts he needs to know."
--_The Nation._
"_=The most valuable and most interesting contribution ever made to the
subject of which it treats.=_"
--_Science._
PUBLISHED BY
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, New York
=====================================================================
_BIRDCRAFT..._
_A Field Book of Two Hundred Song,
Game and Water Birds..._
BY
Mabel Osgood Wright
[Illustration]
"_Attractive, interesting
and helpful, and should be
in the library of every
lover of birds._"--_Science_
[Illustration]
Author of "Tommy-Anne and the Three Hearts,"
"Citizen Bird," "Four-footed Americans and
their Kin."
With Eighty Plates by LOUIS AGASSIZ FUERTES
Third edition. Small 4to, $2.50
_ENTICINGLY WRITTEN_
"It is more than an accurate and comprehensive description of all
the birds one is likely to find in an extended search. It is also an
introduction to them and their haunts, so enticingly written that the
reader at once falls in love with them, and becomes an enthusiast in
their pursuit. * * * The scientific part of the work is equally well
done."
--_Evening Bulletin_, Philadelphia
_THOROUGHLY ATTRACTIVE_
"The book is as thoroughly attractive in its text as it is in its
pictures, for while it gives a wonderfully clear account of the
birds, their peculiar characteristics and how they are to be known,
its style is perfectly charming."
--_The Home Journal_, Boston
_BRIGHT AND CLEAR_
"Of very great interest and value to the lover of birds and the
student of their ways. * * * Her descriptions are bright, clear and
simple. * * * Crisp and well-written."
--_The Daily Eagle_, Brooklyn
"_As valuable as it is beautiful._"
--_The Inter Ocean_, Chicago
PUBLISHED BY
THE MACMILLAN CO., New York
=====================================================================
_HEART OF NATURE SERIES_
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_CITIZEN BIRD_ [Illustration]
[Illustration]
_SCENES FROM BIRD-LIFE IN PLAIN ENGLISH FOR BEGINNERS..._
BY
Mabel O. Wright and Dr. Elliott Coues
Profusely Illustrated by Louis Agassiz Fuertes
CLOTH, CROWN 8vo. $1.50 NET
"Entertaining as well as valuable."--_Evening Telegraph_, Philadelphia.
"A volume which cannot be too widely circulated."--_Daily Advertiser_,
Boston.
"A delightful and at the same time a most instructive book."--_The
Herald_, New York.
"One of the most charming as well as the most useful of books on birds
ever printed."--_Forest and Stream._
"There is no other book in existence so well fitted for arousing
and directing the interest that all children feel toward the
birds."--_Tribune_, Chicago.
"An extremely praiseworthy attempt to teach children about our domestic
birds, by encouraging them to observe the living creatures rather than
the inanimate 'specimen.' More than a hundred accurate and spirited
illustrations add greatly to the attractiveness of the volume."--_The
Nation._
"_By far the best bird book for boys and girls yet published in
America._"--C. H. M. in _Science_.
=====================================================================
_OTHER BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR OF
"BIRDCRAFT," "CITIZEN BIRD," ETC._
_THE FRIENDSHIP
OF NATURE_
A New England Chronicle
of Birds and Flowers
By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT
CLOTH, 18mo, 75 CENTS
"The birds have seldom found a truer friend, and the flowers have never
had a more loving interpreter. This tiny volume ought to find many
friends."--_The Herald_, Boston.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_Tommy-Anne and
the Three Hearts_
"Probably the most charming
nature-book for children
published."--_The Dial._
By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT
Author of "Citizen Bird," "Four-footed Americans," Etc.
CLOTH, 12mo, $1.50
"It has had a remarkable success, and it has well deserved
it."--_Evening Transcript_, Boston.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_Four-footed
Americans
and their kin_
_HEART OF NATURE SERIES_
By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT
Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN
Illustrated by ERNEST SETON THOMPSON
CLOTH, $1.50 NET
"Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright combines in an unusual degree minute
knowledge of natural life and the power of conveying that knowledge
in an interesting fashion.... The illustrative work deserves special
attention, so accurate and spirited is it and so well done in point of
workmanship."--_The Outlook._
"The illustrations call for almost unqualified praise.... It
is, perhaps, not too much to say that these are the best small
illustrations of our mammals ever brought together in a single
volume."--_The Nation._
PUBLISHED BY
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, New York
=====================================================================
=Our Book-Store is in Every Post Office
of the United States=
_IN THE CITIES IT'S AT EVERY DOOR_
We do not describe these books, but we will send you any of them,
_postpaid_, "on approval." After examining them at your leisure you can
either send us the price, if you wish to retain the volumes, or return
them to us, if for any reason they are not satisfactory.
_Photographing Birds and Butterflies in Colors_
Color photography has surely come to stay. We have published three
volumes illustrated in this manner, and the pictures will probably
surprise you unless you have kept up with such matters very closely.
They are photographed direct from the birds and butterflies, and only
three colors are used in printing; yet the results are generally
_absolutely accurate_ renderings of the original hues. Their price is
about one-twentieth of what such books could have been bought for a few
years ago.
"The Butterfly Book," by Dr. W. J. Holland (already in its second
edition), has, besides hundreds of text illustrations, 48 colored
plates, which show over a thousand species of American butterflies,
with all their native beauty and brilliance of coloring. It tells
everything about butterflies, and tells it in a way anybody can
understand. The price is $3 net.
Neltje Blanchan's "Birds that Hunt and are Hunted" (10th thousand)
gives the life-histories of 173 of our game and water birds and birds
of prey. You can actually see the iridescent sheen on the neck of the
wild pigeon that serves as a frontispiece, and the other 47 plates are
equally remarkable. Quite as remarkable also is the price: $2.
"Bird Neighbors," by the same author, has 52 colored plates, and
describes 150 of the song birds and other more common feathered
neighbors. With the aid of these life-like plates there can be not
the least doubt as to the identification of a bird. It is almost a
sufficient commentary on the volume that we have had to print 20,000
copies in the year since it appeared. It costs $2.
=Any or all of these books sent, postpaid, "on approval." After
examining them at your leisure, you can send us either the price or the
books.=
=SECOND EDITION.=
=The Life of Henry Drummond.= By George Adam Smith.
With photogravure portrait Net $3 00
=61st THOUSAND.=
=The Day's Work.= By Rudyard Kipling. Illustrated 1 50
=35th THOUSAND.=
=Cyrano de Bergerac.= By Edmond Rostand. Translated by
Gertrude Hall Net 50
_Also an illustrated Edition de Luxe on large paper_ 1 00
=15th THOUSAND.=
=The People of Our Neighborhood.= By Mary E. Wilkins.
Illustrated. Cloth 50
=7th THOUSAND.=
Bob, Son of Battle. A Novel. By Alfred Ollivant 1 25
=SECOND EDITION.=
=The Nameless Castle.= By Maurus Jokai. With portrait 1 25
=7th THOUSAND.=
=A Gunner Aboard the "Yankee."= Introduction by Rear-Admiral
Sampson. Illustrated 1 50
=SECOND EDITION.=
=Songs of Action.= By A. Conan Doyle 1 25
=SECOND EDITION.=
=What Shall Our Boys Do for a Living?= By Charles F. Wingate. 1 00
=76th THOUSAND.=
=Little Masterpieces.= Edited by Bliss Perry. 9 volumes,
cloth, $2.70; full leather 5 40
=44th THOUSAND=.
=Tales from McClure's.= Illustrated, cloth, 25 cts. each;
5 vols. in a box. Cloth, $1.25; full leather 2 50
=13th THOUSAND.=
=The Spirit of Sweetwater.= By Hamlin Garland. With 4
photogravures. Cloth, 50c.; full leather. 1 00
Doubleday & McClure Co., 141-155 East 25th Street, New York.
=====================================================================
STANDARD POPULAR BIRD BOOKS
A New Bird Book by PROF. DANIEL GIRAUD ELLIOT, Completing His Series of
Popular Ornithologies.
_The Wild Fowl of the United States and British Possessions_
By Prof. Daniel Giraud Elliot. The Swan, Geese, Ducks and Mergansers
of North America. Portrait and 63 illustrations of every species
described. Post 8vo, ornamental cloth, =$2.50=. Limited edition of 100
copies on hand-made paper, 4to, white cloth, =$10 net=.
The third and last volume of Prof. Elliot's valuable popular Works,
and completes the Game Bird Series. Published uniform with "Shore
Birds" and "Game Birds."
_North American Shore Birds_
The Snipe, Sandpiper, Plover, and their Allies. By Prof. D. G.
Elliot. Profusely illustrated by full-page drawings by Edwin
Sheppard. Post 8vo, cloth. Second edition, =$2.50=.
_Game Birds of North America_
The Partridge, Grouse, Ptarmigan, Wild Turkey, etc. By Prof. D. G.
Elliot. Profusely illustrated by 46 full-page drawings by Edwin
Sheppard. Post 8vo. Second edition, =$2.50=.
FRANCIS P. HARPER, 17 East 16th St., New York
* * * * *
[Illustration: Our Animal Friends
A Monthly Journal Published by The American Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals
· NEW YORK ·]
AN ILLUSTRATED MONTHLY MAGAZINE
THE ORGAN OF
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Containing original and instructive articles of interest to all animal
owners, including serial and short stories, and interesting miscellany
by well-known writers.
SUBSCRIPTION, ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR
Published at the Headquarters
of the Society
MADISON AVENUE AND 26TH STREET
NEW YORK
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS
---------------------
The articles and illustrations are excellent and forcible in their
teachings.--_Journal of Education_, Boston.
Our Animal Friends equals in beauty of exterior and valuable contents
the most widely circulated periodicals of the times.--_The North
American_, Philadelphia.
The magazine is admirably edited and illustrated, and contains matter
of great general interest.--_Forest and Stream_, New York.
Should be read by every boy and girl in the land, and there are
many children of larger growth that would derive benefit from its
pages.--_Spirit of the Times._
As entertaining as it is instructive.--_Philadelphia Inquirer._
No publication in this country so admirably combines exact scientific
information with racy and refined literary matter.--_Yorkshire_
(England) _Weekly Post_.
Lovers of our wild and domestic animals, young people especially, will
find in it much that is readable and instructive.--_Review of Reviews._
It is well printed and illustrated, and original in
matter.--_Sunday-School Times_, Philadelphia.
A good magazine for every home where there are children, and its truths
are just as good for those of mature life.--_Chicago Inter Ocean._
* * * * *
HOUGH'S "AMERICAN WOODS"
A publication on the trees of the United States, illustrated by actual
specimens of the woods
"A work where plant life does the writing and which no one can read
without thinking."--G. A. Parker, Esq., Hartford, Conn.
"I know of nothing so well calculated to make young people fall in love
with trees."--Prin. E. H. Russell, Worcester, Mass.
[Illustration]
PREPARATIONS OF WOODS FOR STEREOPTICON
AND MICROSCOPE, AND WOODEN CARDS FOR
FANCY AND BUSINESS PURPOSES
[Illustration]
Send for circulars, and enclose 10 cents for sample specimens from
_American Woods_.
Address ROMEYN B. HOUGH, Lowville, N. Y.
=====================================================================
_FRANK M. CHAPMAN'S BOOKS_
_BIRD-LIFE_
A Guide to the Study of our Common Birds. By Frank M. Chapman,
Assistant Curator of Vertebrate Zoölogy, American Museum of Natural
History; author of "Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America."
TEACHERS' EDITION--Containing an Appendix with new matter designed
for the use of teachers, and including lists of birds for each month
of the year; and with additional annotated lists of birds found at
Washington (D. C.), Philadelphia (Pa.), Portland (Conn.), Cambridge
(Mass.), St. Louis (Mo.), Oberlin (O.) and Milwaukee (Wis.). With 75
full-page uncolored plates and 25 drawings in the text, by Ernest
Seton Thompson. =12mo, cloth, $2.=
LIBRARY EDITION--Same as above, but without the Teachers' Appendix.
=12mo, cloth, $1.75.=
ALSO, EDITION IN COLORS. 8vo, CLOTH, $5.
"His chronicles are full of the enthusiasm of the born naturalist.
He gossips about the affairs of birds in a delightful strain,
making 'Bird-Life' an irresistible invitation to a fuller study of
ornithology. It is not dry details he offers, but pretty stories,
biographical sketches of interesting families--all sorts of bird-lore
that proves the most enchanting reading."--_Chicago Evening Post._
_TEACHERS' MANUAL_
To accompany Portfolios of COLORED PLATES. Contains the same text as
the "Teachers' Edition of Bird-Life," but is without the 75 uncolored
plates. Sold only with the Portfolios of the colored plates, as
follows:
Portfolio No. I.--Permanent Residents and Winter Visitants. 32 plates.
Portfolio No. II.--March and April Migrants. 34 plates.
Portfolio No. III.--May Migrants, Types of Birds' Eggs, and Nine
Half-tone Plates showing Types of Birds' Nests from Photographs from
Nature. 34 plates.
Price of Portfolios, each, $1.25; with the Manual, $2; the three
Portfolios with the Manual, $4.
_HANDBOOK OF BIRDS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA_
With Keys to the Species; Descriptions of their Plumages, Nests,
etc.; their Distribution and Migrations. By Frank M. Chapman. With
nearly 200 Illustrations. 12mo. Library Edition, cloth, =$3=; Pocket
Edition, flexible morocco, =$3.50=.
"A book so free from technicalities as to be intelligible to a
fourteen-year-old boy, and so convenient and full of original
information as to be indispensable to the working ornithologist....
As a handbook of the birds of eastern North America it is bound to
supersede all other works."--_Science._
_INSECT LIFE_
By John Henry Comstock, Professor of Entomology in Cornell
University. With Illustrations by Anna Botsford Comstock, member of
the Society of American Wood Engravers. 12mo. Library Edition, cloth,
$2.50; Teachers' and Students' Edition, $1.50.
_FAMILIAR LIFE IN FIELD AND FOREST_
By F. Schuyler Mathews. With many illustrations. 12mo. Cloth, $1.75.
_Other Books by Mr. Mathews_
Each 12mo. Cloth, $1.75
Familiar Features of the Roadside The Flowers, Shrubs, Birds and
Insects. With 130 illustrations by the author.
Familiar Trees and Their Leaves Illustrated with over 200 drawings
from nature by the author, and giving the botanical names and habitat
of each tree, and recording the precise character and coloring of its
leafage.
Familiar Flowers of Field And Garden, Illustrated with 200 drawings by
the author.
These books are for sale by all booksellers; or they will be sent by
mail, on receipt of price, by the publishers,
D. APPLETON & CO., 72 Fifth Avenue, New York
=====================================================================
The American Ornithologists' Union
Check-list of North American Birds
SECOND EDITION (1895), THOROUGHLY REVISED
The preface of this work defines its scope and object, and includes
selections from the A. O. U. Code of Nomenclature, of special
importance in the present connection. The table of contents consists
of a systematic list of the orders, sub-orders and families of North
American birds. The check-list proper gives the scientific and common
name, number in previous list, and geographical distribution of
the 1,068 species and sub-species, constituting the North American
Avifauna. This is followed by a list of birds of doubtful status, and a
list of the fossil birds of North America.
This new edition has been carefully revised; the recent changes
in nomenclature, and species and sub-species described since the
publication of the first edition in 1886, are included, while the
portion relating to geographical distribution has been much amplified.
CLOTH, 8vo, 372 PAGES, PRICE $2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_J. A. Allen ..THE AUK.. _F. M. Chapman
Editor_ Assoc. Editor_
A Quarterly Journal of Ornithology