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 Nov., 1912 MINUTES OF COOPER CLUB MEETINGS 235 on .conservation of wild life, gave a report, briefly outlining the work accomplished by the committee, and sketching some of the plans for the future It was suggested that the Club renew its petition to the American Orthnithologists' Union, requesing that society to hold its an- nual meeting in 1915 in San Francisco, joint- ly with the Cooper Club, as contained m a resolution passed at the October, 1911, meet- ing. The secretary was instructed to draft such a proposal and send it to the Southern Division for its approval. The paper of the evening was "The Rela- tion of Birds to a Grasshopper Outbreak m California," by H. C. Bryant, presenting some of the results of a study of the actions and diet of certain species of birds during a plague of grasshoppers in the San' Joaquin Valley. Adjourned.--H. S. SWARTI-I, Secre- tary. OcToBER.--The October meeting of the Northern Division was held at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology on Saturday evening, October 19, with President Coggins in the chair, and the following members present: Bryant, Coggins, Gifford, Heinemann, Joseph . Mailliard, Miner, Shelton and Swarth. Mr. A. L. Barrows was a visitor. The Northern Division minutes for September were read and approved, followed by the reading of the Southern Division September minutes. The following individuals were elected to membership in the club: F. S. Hanford, J. N. Loshinski, W. P. Gee, F. C. Clarke, B. Bell, C. C. Schmidt, M. Johnson, H. V. Williams, A. Eastgate. New names were presented as follows: Hilda Wood Grinnell, proposed by J. Grinnell; A. L. Barrows, Ber- keley, by H. C. Bryant; Hans. Hochbaum, Los Angeles, by L. H. Miller; A. Cookman, Los Angeles, by Evan Davis; P. E. Letch- worth Jr., Covina, by A. B. Howell; E. W. Merrill, Sitka, Alaska, by G. Willett; and W. A. Squires, Stockton, by W. Lee Chambers. The only new business was the ratification of the amendment to the Constitution deal- iug with the distribution of Club publica- tions, already passed by the Southern Divi-- sion Mr. Coggins read some extracts from Cas- sinia, as of especial-interest to Califorma ornithologists. In the absence of Mr. Taylor the report of the conservation committee was read by Mr. Bryant. Mr. Gifford, in the course of an account of s6me of his experi- ences with wild ducks in an aviary, made a strong plea for the great value of experi- mental work with captive birds, as supple- mental to field work and the study of muse.- mn material. Some of his remarks were'il- lustrated with study skins showing certain of the more uuusual plumages; and the speaker pointed out the danger of drawing erroneous conclusions from the mere observation of these conditions without a thorough knowl- edge of the life history of the bird. His re- mai'ks called forth a rather extended discus- sion of the subject. Mr. Bryant had. on exhibition a series of wal charts showing the food of certain spe- cies of birds, these being destined for use in an exhibit which the State Fish arid Game Commission is to place in the Alameda County Fair. Adjourned.--H. S. SWARTI-I, Secretary. REPORT oF ORGANIZATION MEETING CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATED SOCIETIES FOR TI:IE CONSER- VATION oF WILD LIFE It now (November 14) becomes my pleas.- ant duty to transmit a record of the organi- zation meeting of which mention is made on page 227. Representatives of nine organiza- tions, as well as all the members of the Coop- er Club Committee on Conservation of Wild Life (Northern Division), and Secretary Schaeflte of the Fish and Game Commission, were present at the meeting. Instead of a membership of five societies and between one and two thousand individuals, as prophesied on page 228 of this issue, the California Asso- ciated Societies for the Conservation of Wild Life was inaugurated with a constituency of nine societies having a total membership of between nine and ten thousand persons. The Executive Committee of the new as- sociation consists of the following persons. Dr. William F. Bade, Sierra Club; Roy E. Dickerson, Paleontological Society of the Pa- cific Coast; J. Grinnell, California Academy of Sciences; Matthew McCurrie, State Hu- mane Association and San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; W. Leon Dawson. State Audubon Society of California; Professor L. L. Burlingame, Bio- logical Society of the Pacific Coast; J. H. Cutter, Tamalpais Conservation Club; W. P. Taylor, Cooper Ornitholorical Club. Dr. William F. Bade of the Sierra Club was elected President of the California Associated Societies, and W. P. Taylor of the Cooper Club, Secretary. A program of practical work was outlined, and it is intended to push with all diligence the passage of laws desired for wise conserva- tion of wild life. The most important and immediately desired measures are the following: (1) A no-sale of American-killed wild game law. (2) A law )lacing all assistants and deputies of the Fish and Game Commission under Civil Ser- vice. (3) The absolute protection of the Red- head, Wood Duck, Ibis, Shore-birds, Rail, Band-tailed Pigeon, Mourning Dove, and Sea Otter. W. P. TAYLOR, Chairman Committee on Conservation of I/Vild Life, Northern Division.