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 148 Bird -Lore THE AUDUBON SOCIETY OF THE STATE OF WYOMING Pursuant to a call inihlislifil in the morii- ino; and evening papers, (|uite a irowcl of enthusiastic ladies and gentlemen assembled in the parlors of the Inter Ocean hotel, Cheyenne, April 29. Mr. Frank Bond was called to the chair and hrieHy stated tiie object of the meeting and the work which had already been done in tlic direction of securing pledges of support in the public schools and elsewhere. It being agreed that a society for the protection of birds and the enforcement of the state law was desir- able, the meeting decided that four officers were necessary, viz.: A president, vice- president, secretary and treasurer. Officers to fill these positions were duly elected as follows: President, Frank Bond ; vice- president, Mrs. John A. Kiner; secretary, Mrs. N. R. Davis; treasurer, Prof. J. O. Churchhill. It was ordered that all cards of promise to protect birds, their nests and eggs, after being signed should be handed to the sec- retary, Mrs. Davis, who will make a recortl of the name, residence and date in a book to be kept for that purpose. These cards are to be returned to the signer, who will also be supplied with an Audubon button as soon as they arrive, or as soon thereafter as possible. It was found that public sentiment was overwhelmingly with the bird-protection movement, and that the new Audubon Society would soon embrace in its member- ship more than a thousand persons, in fact, two thousand members in Cheyenne, alone, did not appear an extravagant figure to those who met at the Inter Ocean hotel last evening. Because of the showing made, the treasurer was instructed to order the printing of a second thousand of pledge cards, the first thousand being already nearly exhausted. I'he question of order- ing another thousand buttons was also favorably discussed and tiie matter left to the officers of the Society, who will act promptly as soon as it becomes evident tiie buttons will be needed. Bird lovers, a term which will soon in- clude all of tile farmers and atrriculturists of tiie country, if it does not do so already, will be gratified to learn that the Audubon Society started out with a membership of 900, the result of a few days' work only. ILLINOIS SOCIETY In ail work the thoughts of a secretary or treasurer are apt to play around the dry details of statistics and figures, and so it is to be expected that in this report of the work of the Illinois Audubon Society for its fourth year they must form a part. The exact membership of the Society is difficult to state, for members move away or die and the secretary does not know it. Without, therefore, claiming accuracy as to the figures, our present membership counts 870 adults and 7,904 juniors — a total of 8,774. ^Ve have sent out during the year nearly 5,000 leaflets; part being purchased from other societies and part being our own publications. In connection with our efficient game commissioner, Mr. Loveday, we have placed "Warnings" in every one of the 2,700 post offices in the state. These warn- ings gave an outline of the laws regarding birds and referred for information to the game commissioner and the secretary of the Audubon Society. Another joint work of the game com- missioner and this Society is the practical suppression of the sale of living wild birds in the Chicago bird stores. Several test cases have been brought and the decision given in favor of the birds. This is a long step in the right direction and leads us to hope that the time may come when our law, which forbids the sale and purchase of birds alive or dead, may also be enforced as re- gards the dead birds. During this last year we have adopted the little paper By-the-Wayside, which is the paper used by the Wisconsin Society in ••s junior work, for the Illinois juniors also. It has recently been moved from Milwaukee to Madison and makes its monthly visits to the children from that place. There has been a large increase in the number of meet- ings held In' Womens' Clubs, Teachers and Farmers' Institutes, etc., and a promise of Lrreater increase in the future.