 Chapter 12 of Wild Bird Guests by Ernest Baines. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Bird clubs and how to organize them. And now, gentle reader, as the old time ornithologists would have put it, if the foregoing chapters have convinced you that birds need protection, that it is worth our while to give it to them that there are ways in which all of us can help to give it to them, are you willing to do your share, to do your duty in a great campaign in which the help of every man, woman and child is needed. Perhaps you are already doing it along the lines which promise the maximum amount of good to be realized from your efforts, if so I will simply say go ahead and good luck to you. But if not, let me suggest that I know of no way in which the average person can be so helpful to the cause of bird protection as to membership in an active local bird club. Whether it is desired to help and work for the benefit of the local birds or in the passage of a great federal law for bird conservation, you will be in a stronger position if you have a good club behind you than you would be alone. It is the writer's belief that there should be a bird club in every village, town and city in the country. In the larger cities perhaps there should be more than one and these might unite in providing for our native birds in the public parks and gardens. Similar clubs should be started in colleges, private schools and academies and where possible in the public school as well. Such a club was started a few years ago at Fay School in Southborough, Massachusetts and the result has been most interesting. The boys are reorganized at the beginning of each school year and they do enthusiastic, faithful work for the birds not only while at school but during the vacations. The writer recently organized a similar club for the girls at Ferry Hall, Lake Forest, Illinois. If each school will do its small share, in ten years we shall have a race of men and women who will know their duty to art while birds and how to perform it. The organization of a school bird club is a very simple matter and may safely be left to any enthusiastic instructor. If the latter has had no experience however, the rest of this chapter devoted to the organization of clubs of somewhat wider scope may contain some helpful suggestions. Some readers may ask why is it necessary to organize a bird club? Why cannot each person help the birds as much as he or she likes without going through the trouble of calling and attending meetings and through the expense of paying dues? I would say that just as the United States is stronger and better than a lot of separate and independent states would be, so in a small way a bird club is stronger and better than a number of independent bird lovers. No matter how hard a particular person in a town may have worked for the birds when he joins a bird club and compares notes with his fellow members at a club meeting, he is sure to find that some of them have good ideas or suggestions which had not occurred to him and which he can make use of while he in turn is sure to have had experiences which none of the other members have had and which they will be very glad to profit by. In this way each member instead of having just his own ideas to help him will have the ideas of everybody in the club. Then there will be certain desirable things like the posting of land against gunners, the protecting of property against fire, the establishment of a public bird sanctuary, the passing of a law or ordinance for the protection of the birds, or the starting of bird work among the school children which might be quite difficult for an individual to do but which would be simple enough for a club. That there be no doubt in your mind about the desirability of organizing a bird club in your town if there is not one there already, it is the duty of every community to care for its own birds and it will be difficult indeed to perform this duty unless the citizens organize for the purpose. Who should start the ball rolling? Why you the reader of course and I'm going to tell you exactly how to do it. Don't let anyone dissuade you by telling you how hard it will be or that you can't do it, you can do it and it's the people who can and will do things who really count in the world. The person who organizes a bird club in his or her own town or village is a public benefactor and the neighbors will recognize that fact sooner or later. So start as soon as possible and make up your mind to succeed. This is the way to go about it. Call on some of your friends who are fond of birds and tell them what you propose to do. The more intelligent your friends are, the more likely they are to encourage and help you. So go to the most intelligent friends you have. Tell them that you are about to organize a local bird club and ask their kind advice and assistance. Listen carefully to all advice given by older people or by those who have had more experience than you have had but if there is no bird club in your town let no one dissuade you from organizing one. You have a great opportunity, don't let it pass. With the assistance of your friends, few or many as the case may be prepare to call a meeting for the purpose of organizing the club. Arrange to have the meeting held in some convenient place if possible, one likely to prove acceptable to almost everybody in the community. If you have a town hall that may be the best place, the public library may have a suitable hall where the Board of Education will probably be glad to allow you to use the school assembly room. A church makes a very satisfactory meeting place in a town where the people are broad minded and where a large number will not refuse to attend simply because they don't belong to that church. It makes a little difference where the meeting is held provided only that the right spirit prevails. For example, the Meridan New Hampshire Bird Club was organized in the chapel of the local academy, the Alma Michigan Bird Club in the high school auditorium, the Hanover New Hampshire Bird Club in one of the Dartmouth College buildings, the Meridan New Hampshire Bird Club of Milton Massage Juices in a private house, the Walpole New Hampshire Bird Club in the public library, the Wind Coat Pennsylvania Bird Club in a church, the Rhinebeck New York Bird Club in the town hall, and the Woodcrafters Bird Club of Culver, Indiana was organized out of doors in the woods. Having decided on the place of meeting, the next thing to do is to select a date that will be satisfactory to most of the people. The date should be set far enough in advance to allow for advertising and to enable people with many engagements to arrange to come. The next thing to do is to secure one or more speakers who can be depended upon to arouse enthusiasm in your cause. If possible, arrange to have an illustrated lecture by some man who has had experience with bird clubs and who can show by chance that the date should be set far enough in advance who has had experience with bird clubs and who can show by means of lantern slides the success and pleasure that await the members of a club organized along the lines you will suggest. That will win half your battle for you. Your state ornithologist may be just the man. If not, he may be able to suggest someone. If not, write to the secretary of the Meriden Bird Club at Meriden, New Hampshire, whose business it is to give information on such matters. In addition to the principal speaker, you should have one or two good local men who are in sympathy with your plans and in whom the people of your town have confidence. A few words from them backing you up will have a very good effect showing that you are not the only person in the town who desires to have a bird club. Now for the advertising of your meeting and this is very important. No matter how splendid a message you may have for the people, it counts for nothing if they don't hear it. A notice of the meeting and its purpose should be posted in several conspicuous places and if there is a local paper you will find that the editor will be glad to help you by printing items about what you propose to do. Perhaps he will go as far as to print an editorial setting his stamp of approval on your efforts. In these public notices be sure that the invitation is general. The birds belong to everybody and everybody should have a hand in protecting them. Here is a ground where everybody in your town and bad rich and poor Christian pagan, Gentile and Jew may meet in a common cause and if you can get them to do it it will not only help to make your bird club a success but it will make for friendly feeling throughout the town. There will be a few busy people whom it will be especially desirable to have present. People who by reason of their standing can greatly help you if they will. Among these may be the superintendent of schools and the teachers, the ministers, the lawyers, the doctors and other professional people all of whom should gladly aid so great a cause. It is worthwhile to make a special effort to have those people present and if possible a special invitation should be sent to each one of them asking them to kindly make a point of coming. Before the day set for the meeting consult the principal bird lovers and prepare a slate of the people whom it is desirable to have for officers of the proposed club. It is much easier to do this at your leisure beforehand than to wait until the meeting is on and then try to think of suitable officers in a hurry. All other things being equal try to have both men and women represented on your slate. Be sure to select people who have in addition to an interest in birds the ability and enthusiasm necessary to carry the work of the club along in spite of the little obstacles and discouragements which are sure to arise. The list should be presented at the proper time by some responsible person. You will need a chairman. Perhaps you can take the chair yourself. If not perhaps the lecturer will act at the close of his address. At any rate the chairman should be a business-like person who understands your plan and is thoroughly in sympathy with it. He will explain in a general way the purpose of the meeting and then call upon the other speakers in turn. After that the audience should be given an opportunity to ask questions and discuss them briefly and then it will be well to proceed to the election of officers. In addition to these, there should be a committee on constitution. The members of this may be either elected by those present or appointed by the president. In any case it should be the duty of this committee to draw up a constitution to be presented at the next meeting of the club. At the end of this chapter it will be found the constitutions of two successful bird clubs. From one or both of these your committee may at least get some suggestions. The first one given modified to suit local conditions is already being used by a great many bird clubs. A word as to dues you will see in the sample constitutions that the dues for active membership are made quite low. You will find it a good plan to have the dues for at least one form of membership made very low in order that no one may be barred from your club because he can't afford to belong to it. By having other forms of membership with comparatively larger dues you give generous people with plenty of money and opportunity to befriend the club to almost any extent. Be sure to have a junior membership for the children. It makes little difference what time of year a bird club is organized. There is always plenty of work to be done for the birds. In the spring there are bird houses to put up bird baths to get ready and the planting of crops and of trees and shrubs and creepers which are attractive to birds. In the summer there are bird baths to put out and bird houses to make. In the summer there are birds to be made for winter feeding while in winter the work of feeding the birds alone will afford plenty of activity for the club and its members. The details of such work are given in other parts of this book in addition to this active work for the birds all sorts of things may be done to interest the members to promote the study of birds and advance the cause of bird protection. Many of the boys and girls are sure to wish to make nest boxes and food houses as an example of the Cornfield Bird Club of Cornish, New Hampshire and employ a manual training teacher. But unless this teacher has a firsthand knowledge of birds he should not be asked to furnish the designs for these appliances. He should be required merely to superintend the manufacture of them from plans obtained by some authority on the subject. This is very important as improperly constructed nest boxes and food shelters are often worse than none and thus disappoint and discourage people who might otherwise become bird protectors. The Charlestown, New Hampshire Bird Club does not employ a teacher but distributes among its members cardboard patterns from which nest boxes may be made. The Walpole Bird Club of Walpole, New Hampshire has had great success with what it calls bird socials. These are generally held in the fall and winter months and the junior members are invited to meet in some suitable hall or a large room under the leadership of older members. The entertainment takes various forms sometimes there is a contest to see who can identify the greatest number of birds from colored pictures held up one at a time. The young people are provided with pencils and paper and without consulting one another write down the names of the birds as they are shown. At other times the juniors are given instructions in tying suet to branches brought to the meeting on purpose or experimenting indoors every member is provided with a generous lump of suet and some string and the whole party goes outdoors to put into practice what they have learned. The Brookline Massachusetts Bird Club has a paid instructor who helps the members to plan all sorts of activities and at different times as scores the children and adult members on bird walks and aids them in identifying birds with which they are not familiar the Brush Hill Bird Club of Milton, Massachusetts distinguished itself some time ago by holding an exhibition of nest boxes food houses, bird baths and other similar appliances and the Arnold Arboretum cooperated by loaning a collection of shrubs creepers and other plants which are especially attractive to birds. The Claremont New Hampshire Bird Club has been interested in outlining a graded course of bird study which has been adopted by the local public schools the Meriden New Hampshire Bird Club of which the author is general manager has many activities first of all it is active in the organization of other bird clubs and is responsible for the existence of scores of such clubs in different parts of the country it has members scattered over about 30 different states and to each member is sent every year a beautifully illustrated report telling what the club has been doing and giving instructions for the carrying on then the Meriden Bird Club has an old farm of 32 acres the gift of Helen Woodruff Smith which it has converted into a bird sanctuary here all native birds are provided with food in winter with water in summer and with many nesting boxes at all seasons it was for the dedication of this preserve that Percy McKay wrote his famous bird mask sanctuary which has since been played before many bird clubs and which has already resulted in the establishment of several bird sanctuaries and speaking of bird sanctuaries the writer believes that it is a matter of much importance that great numbers of these be established all over the country he thinks it might be well for practically every bird club to include among its objects the establishment of a bird sanctuary it would not be necessary in every case to spend a lot of money for special devices to attract the birds the main thing would be to secure a piece of property as small as the case might be which should be set aside as a refuge a place where birds would be safe from all their enemies man included care should be taken when possible to select a piece of land attracted to a large variety of birds an almost ideal place would contain some old forest with both evergreen and deciduous trees and plenty of undergrowth some old pasture land overgrown with tangles of berry-bearing shrubs some old orchard a patch of swamp, a pond and a good-sized stream it would seldom be possible to get all these features on one place but it would often be possible to get several of them if nest boxes and other devices could be supplied later so much the better but the mere posting of it and the freeing of it from bird enemies would be a fine thing for the local birds and would tend to give permanent value to the club then of course private individuals whenever practicable for their own estates this has already been done in many places one of the most successful is that of Mr. Frederick C. Walcott at Norfolk Connecticut here is a 4,000-dacre tract of typical New England country with four ponds, two natural and two artificial ones dedicated to the cause of bird protection only three years ago at this writing and now literally alive with birds at certain seasons not only the land birds but the waterfowl also have founded a refuge to use a bit of Mr. Walcott's own description between two and three thousand black ducks drop into the home pond each fall and remain until late December before going farther south and each fall and spring from 40 to 50 wild Canada geese stay with our geese several days for food a further description of this and other more or less similar sanctuaries may be found in Mr. Walcott's chapter on private game preserves and Dr. William T. Hornaday's book wild life conservation in theory and practice the following letter from John B. Burnham president of the American game protective and propagation association is very valuable as showing how a state legislature has set an example in making easy the establishment of bird sanctuaries dear Mr. Baines legislation has been enacted in the state of New York giving bird protectionists a splendid framework upon which to act for the creation of bird sanctuaries it seems to me that the principles embodied in this legislation might well be copied in other states because there are altogether too few states in the country today where the plan has received legislative sanction the new law permits the conservation commission to set aside any lands owned by the state outside of the Adirondack and Catskill parks as sanctuaries it also empowers the commission to purchase lands for the shooting and fishing rights for the purpose of creating sanctuaries and it puts such lands under the protection of the conservation commission another section of the conservation law amended to its present form in 1913 provides for the creation of sanctuaries where private individuals desire to dedicate their lands for such a purpose and in this instance also the obligation to protect the land against trespass by law violators is placed upon the conservation commission by the enactment of these laws it will be seen that provision is made for the establishment of sanctuaries in a flexible and comprehensive way the sanctuaries are intended for both game and game bird protection and also for the protection of song and insectivorous birds in its practical application from the latter standpoint spending opportunities are open to individuals and bird clubs all over the state to secure the needed protection for their feathered friends the state has many old farms as its properties scattered in almost every county a list of these is published by the state comptroller in book form these lands were acquired by tax sale as sheet by foreclosure of mortgage given by the United States loan commissioners and in other ways suppose there was a bird club located in the town of Hillsdale Columbia County by consulting the comptroller's list they would find the state owned the old Dutcher farm of 120 acres in that town and running parallel into the town of Austerlitz the club would appoint a committee to investigate the farm from the standpoint of its availability for a bird sanctuary armed with the facts they could send a concise description of the property to the conservation commission with the request that it be dedicated as a sanctuary under the provisions of section 366 of the conservation law the commission would then pass upon the petition and I have no doubt give it favorable attention and probably set it aside as a bird and game refuge and posted against all shooting and put it in charge of the nearest state game protector to see that there was no poaching or trespassing upon the property it would then be up to the bird club to see that the track was made a really effective sanctuary from their funds they could provide for the proper care of the track the commission would be glad to give them the necessary privileges bird boxes could be erected for nesting places and feeding stations installed for the winter care of the birds and arrangements made for discouraging the attacks of cats or other predatory animals and birds I see on reading over the section that no provision has been made for trapping vermin in this section the law should be amended to give this privilege under proper regulations while such tracks are available in any sections of the state there are places of course having bird clubs where state land is not available here two methods for securing sanctuaries are possible under the existing law by one of these the commission may be petitioned to buy a certain track or to buy the shooting and fishing rights on the track this of course would require an appropriation by the legislature and it would be necessary for the bird club first to secure the approval of the commission for the project and then from a practical standpoint it is followed up by appearing before the proper legislative committees on the other hand it is a very simple matter to find some landowner who is willing to dedicate his private land for the purpose of a sanctuary to secure a legal dedication of this land it is necessary under section 153 of the conservation law to procure from the conservation commission two blanks which have been printed for this purpose one of these known as form 36 is headed dedication of land for game this is in the form of a petition to the town board of the town in which the land is located it contains a simple description of the land with the request that it be set aside by the conservation commission for a game and bird refuge for a period not exceeding 10 years of course the dedication can be renewed at the expiration of this period the petition is signed by the owner of the land the other format is form 37 and is headed resolution for game and bird refuge this resolution is a request by a majority of the town board to set aside the land specified in the original petition as a game and bird refuge it can either be passed at a meeting of the town board or signed by a majority of the board which includes a supervisor to justices of the peace and the town clerk there is never so far as the writer's experience goes been any difficulty in securing the signatures of the majority of the town board to such a petition and the method has the practical advantage of enlisting the town officers of the sanctuary project after form 37 is signed it is sent to the conservation commission for ratification and the petitioners may feel certain that it will be favorably acted upon under these various provisions of the New York law there is not a town in the state of New York which cannot have its bird sanctuary all that is necessary is a little educational work to arouse interest the formation of a club to ensure the proper care of the sanctuary and afterwards faithfully sustained work the reward will be to the workers knowledge of work well done and to the community a marked increase in the number of birds with the result in effect of better crops on farms and in gardens fewer diseased and dead trees in the woodlands and greater productiveness of apple orchards as well as the joy which comes from the beauty of color and form and song of the birds yours very truly I am now with our president that the state of Minnesota is alive to the importance of this work is evidenced by the creation of the minnetonka game refuge where the birds are absolutely protected on attractive over 55,000 acres adjacent to the city of Minneapolis federal sanctuaries are also of the utmost importance and no one appreciated this fact more strongly than president Roosevelt who during his administration turned from other important matters long enough to create over 50 national refuges for wild birds but to return to New Hampshire other activities of the meridian bird club consist in the placing of bird charts in the local schools in the academy and in the summer hotel in starting a library of bird books in conducting a column of bird notes in the local paper and offering prizes for the best essays on methods of attracting birds and for photographs illustrating the methods this club also conducts debates on such subjects as resolve that the insect eating birds are more beneficial than the seed eating birds and resolve that the birds of prey are more beneficial than the insect eating birds and resolve that the seed eating birds are more beneficial than the birds of prey the debating of these and similar subjects is of the greatest importance to the cause of bird protection I know of no better or stronger way to present the facts to the farmers than to have these interesting and vital questions debated in the schools and academies where the farmers may come to hear there are thousands of people who may not care to read a pile of government reports who will gladly sit for an hour and witness a live contest between young people whom they know and who have the gist of those reports that their fingers ends and can present it in a concise, interesting and effective manner. It is the writer's opinion that the debating of these subjects should be encouraged in every grammar school, high school academy and private school in the country and that if inter-scholastic debates could be brought about so much the better. No end of material for such debates has been collected in recent years and is available in the form of bulletins issued by the federal and state departments respectively, leaflets published by the Audubon Societies and books written by specialists. A very important piece of work recently suggested by Mr. H. W. Henshaw Chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey at Washington should also interest all bird clubs looking for new outlets for their enthusiasm. It consists of making bird censuses during the nesting season in order to find out how many pairs of the different species of birds breed within definite areas. Mr. Henshaw suggests three different kinds of censuses to make the first and most important which we will call Census A. It is suggested that you select an area not less than 40 acres and not more than 80 acres representing fairly average farm conditions including farm buildings, shade trees, orchards, plowed land and pasture or meta without woodland. The second census which we will refer to as B would be made on an isolated piece of woodland 10 to 20 acres in extent situated conveniently near the first tract and the third census desired which we will call C is that of some definite area of woodland 40 acres perhaps forming part of a much larger tract of timber either deciduous or evergreen each area should be selected with a view to making a yearly census of it and for that reason it would be best to select an area not likely to change very much for several years at least otherwise when there were found to be changes in the bird population it would be difficult to tell if these changes were due to an increase or decrease in the number of birds or simply to change conditions in that particular neighborhood. The height of the breeding season is the time to make these bird censuses because the spring migration is over, the fall migration has not begun so that the birds which you see in any locality are all likely to be birds which belong to that locality and which have their homes there. At Washington D.C. latitude 39 degrees the 30th of May is about the time to begin farther south one should begin a little earlier and farther north somewhat later of course in the latitude of Boston the 7th or 8th of June would be about right while in Maine that month would be early enough the plan recommended by Mr. Hanshaw and which has proved very successful for several years is to begin at daylight and zigzag back and forth across the whole area counting the male birds which at this hour and season should be in full song and easily observed after the birds have settled in their summer quarters each the adult male may safely be taken to represent a breeding pair no bird should be counted unless he is actually in the boundaries of the area no matter how near the boundary he may be the census of the first day should not be taken as final it should be checked by several days of further observation to make sure that each bird counted was actually nesting within the area and also to make sure that no species has been overlooked the census should be sent to the chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey Washington D.C. about the 30th of June and with it should go such a careful statement of the exact boundaries of the area selected that it would be possible 25 years hence to go right to the place cover exactly the same ground and repeat the census the name and address of the owner of the property should also be given in every instance in the case of census A the observer should send in addition a careful description of the character of the land till whether the area is dry upland or swampy bottom land number of acres in each of the principal crops in permanent meadow pasture orchards swamp and road and whether there are streams or ponds on the place you should also tell the kinds of fencing used and whether there is much or little brush along the fences roads or streams or in the permanent pasture in making census B or C the person making it should in addition to giving the size and exact boundaries of the wood attract name the principal kinds of trees whether there is much or little undergrowth the making of one or more such censuses will not only be a very interesting and helpful bit of work for the person making it but will furnish definite information concerning the bird life of the region and give a basis for comparison when in future years the government wishes to find out whether the laws made for the protection of birds are effective or not and before saying farewell to this subject I must mention another bird census which every bird club in the country should take part in several years ago Mr. Frank M Chapman editor of that splendid little magazine bird lore started a winter bird census to be taken on Christmas day with a view to the showing in a general way how the birds are distributed at this season this is a very interesting and instructive census and not only gives a very good idea of the comparative abundance of the permanent residence and regular winter visitants in different parts of the country but forms a record of those occasional flights of crossbills red paws, pine grows beaks and other birds which in many places are seen but once in several years the plan adopted in taking this census is very simple it consists of going out for a walk at any time on Christmas day and jotting down in a notebook the kinds of birds we have seen and the number of individuals of each kind we should also jot down the time we started the time we returned whether the day was clear cloudy or snowy the direction and strength of the wind and the temperature we should write the census very plainly and mail it that very night if possible to the editor of bird lore American Museum of Natural History New York City as there will be scores of other bird students sending in lists it is necessary in order not to overburden the editor to make out our list exactly as he asks us to then it can be published in the next issue of bird lore just as we send it in a census from my own village for instance should read about like this Merritton New Hampshire time 8.30 am to 12.45 pm clear wind north west very light temperature 15 degrees screech owl screech owl 1, Harry Woodpecker 2 Downey Woodpecker 1 J8 Red Paws 100 White Breasted Knot Hatch 3 Chickadee 10 Golden Crown Kinglet 4 Total 9 Species 134 individuals Ernest L. Hughes no doubt many other lines of activity will occur to you and your fellow members from time to time but perhaps I've given enough suggestions to show that there's plenty of interesting and much needed work for every bird club that wishes to do its share in the worldwide campaign for the protection of birds as your interest grows you will wish to know what is being done by other organizations working along similar lines get in touch with the Merritton bird club at Merritton New Hampshire which started the bird club movement on the line suggested above it publishes a beautifully illustrated annual report giving the results of all sorts of interesting experiments in feeding birds and providing homes for them if you are especially interested in game bird protection right to the American Game Protected and Propagation Association which has headquarters at 233 Broadway, New York if you have a state auto bound society look it up and encourage it in any way you can make yourself familiar with the spend of work being done by the National Association of Auto Bound Societies whose office is at 1794 Broadway, New York this organization besides protecting the birds directly is helping to educate the coming generation to a sense of its duty towards feathered creatures generally the American Museum of Natural History and the New York Zoological Society both of New York are conducting equally noble campaigns of education each along its own interesting and effective lines these and many others are worthy of the best support which we can give them so many people ask where they may obtain current information concerning matters pertaining to bird protection that it may not be out of place to mention the fact that the Bureau of Biological Survey Washington DC publishes each year a pamphlet called directory of officials and organizations concerned with the protection of birds and game this may be obtained free by writing to the chief of the Bureau and every bird club should have at least one copy for the use of its members to keep in touch with the principal organizations listed here may be of mutual advantage they can easily supply you with information which might otherwise be hard for you to get and you in turn can help them when they need support for good bills which they may be trying to have passed for the protection of birds lawmakers will usually make laws if they are sure that enough people really want them and if we want them we should let the lawmakers know it imparting the author hopes to be forgiven for his insistence if he urges the reader once more in the interest of American wild bird protection to organize a bird club organize a bird club gentles if you have followed me now is no need to say goodbye for we shall meet in reverie wherever glad birds sing and fly wherever sad birds bleed and dumbly die okay end of chapter 12 end of of wild bird guests by Ernest Baines