The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-03-11
AN AUDUBON SOCIETY
FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRD
LIFE MAY BE
ORGANIZED IN SAVANNAH
GEORGIA ONLY STATE ON ALLAN
TIC COAST WITHOUT ONE.

East of the Mississippi Which
Have Not Adopted Legislation
Looking to the Preservation of
Useful Birds-BeautIfuI and SerV-
iceabIe Varieties Growing Alarm
ingIy Scarce Along Georgia
Coast.
The formation of an Audubon Socie-
ty of the State of Georgia, having as
it's object the promotion of interest in
| birds and in the study of ornithology,
and the encouragement of the practice
of killing such birds as are not the le
Ultimate prey of the hunter, is being
agitated in Savannah. The matter is
| as yet in its embryonic state, but 1t Is
probable that as a result of the pres
! to the ends which the proposed society
has in view, will be taken, if not at the
next session of the Legislature, in the
near future.
There are only four states east of the
Mississippi that have not adopted leg
| islation, and in which the society has
not home. Georgia is one of these.
|
| society say that in Georgia of all other
states, where the ea-birds find a home
| in the marshes and estauries along the
| coast, and where abound those birds
| which, enemies to the worm, make the
| large cotton and corn crop possible, 1t
is imperative that action be taken.
To one who stops to consider the fig
ures furnished by such high authori-
| ty as the United States Department of
| A no of
complished by the birds in the destruc-
| ton of insects and worms which threat
en- the vegetable kingdom, and the cor
| responding damage done by the de-
struction of the birds, the information
| is astonishing. In one state in the Un-
ion, alone. these reports show that $780,
| 100000 has been lost in the past year
| by one form of insect pest
Need for Bird Protection.
The extensive coast line of Georgia,
with its large and shallow sounds,
forms the natural feeding grounds for
countless numbers of winged tenants
| of the sea. Once these waters teemed
| in summer with gulls and terms, beau
tiful, long-winged flyers, which come
| out of the southland, upon the approach
of spring to lay their eggs and rear
| their young upon our shores. They
| were the natural scaVengers of the
|
decaying matter which otherwise would
have been thrown upon the beach to
| purify in the sun.
| Often the seaman, lost in the fog,
would eagerly watch for the birds to
| give evidence of the direction of the
| land as they winged their way home
| ward from the deep with food for their
| young. The great flocks of gulls and
terms that followed the schools of fish
showed the toilers of the sea just where
| to cast their nets. These have dis
| appeared, and a consequent scarcity
of fish has followed. Where they have
gone is answered in the hats of our
women, say ornithologists
Full tens of thousands gathered to
feed along the coast, from the mouth
of the Savannah to the Altamaha riv-
| err and from Cumberland Island to
| Tybee. They nestled among the dunes
| at Beach Hammock and on the sandy
beaches along Long Hammock. At
| Warsaw, st. GATHERINGS and Cumber-
| land Islands there were large colonies,
and countless thousands reared their
young in the inlets and estuaries about
Tybee, Beach Hammock and Bird Ham
mock. Over the waters of Greene ISL
| and Sound they were abundant, and
in Callaboga sound they gathered in
swarms, and everywhere the beauty of
their plumage and the grace of their
|
which saw them.
| The Work of Dame Fashion.
But all this is in the past Fashion
issued her decree for sea birds feath-
ers with which to decorate women s
hats. Swiftly the New York millinery
dealers dispatched their gunners TO the
| breeding place of the gulls and terms
and all summer the roar of their guns
answered loudly the roar of the ocean,
A few seasons of this and the vast
flock had disappeared. The climax
reached when woman adorned herself
with an aigrette, the beautiful nup-
tial plumage of the snowy white
heron. An old hunter and recognized
authority on ORTHODOXY in Savannah
is authority for the statement that the
neck feathers of the aigrette, from
which womans finery is made, have
sold for such fabulous prices as $1,000
q pound.
Now on every coast state along the
Atlantic border, with the single ex-
ception of Georgia, wardens with guns
in their hands and the law at their
backs, protect the colonies of the
breeding birds from the murderous fire
of the feather gatherers. Thus pre-
vented from carrying on their work
elsewhere the employees of the MILL
ners turned with eager JOY to the
coast of Georgia, where the public
| conscience still SlumberS on the sub
ject of its duty towards the birds.
To Organize Societies.
The methods suggested by the agita-
tors of the movement in Savannah are
to have certain local societies incorpor-
ate the purposes of this society in their
aims. 1t is probable that the mem
bers of the women's clubs, the
Christian Endeavor societies, the Ep-
worth League and the young peoples
Christian associations will interest
themselves, as have similar organiza-
tons in other states. The matter has
assumed an aspect of national impor-
lance. The people are waking up to
the realization that unless some de-
cided step is taken, the beautiful birds
of plumage will soon be extinct. Like
the forests of the South, they are be-
coming the victims of industry
In order to stop this the societies in
the several states have adopted the
following aims:
First. To promote an abiding in
terest in birds and in the study of
ORTHODOXY.
Second. To impart information re-
specting the economic value of birds
to agriculture, and their general i'm
portance to the welfare of man.
Third. To labor for legislation for
the protection of our birds and their
nests and eggs and haunts, and to see
that all such laws are enforced.
Fourth. To discourage the wearing
of feathers, except those of our domes-
tic fowl and of the ostrich.
] n