The Republican journal., 1909-07-08
CHILDREN RALLY FOR BIRDS.

CHILDREN RALLY FOR BIRDS.
Army of Young Americans Forming to Pro-
tect Songsters. Country's Hope of Flu
ture Feathered Resources Rests on Boys
and Girls.
New YORK, JULY 5th: To enlist every
American boy and girl in one great child
army to guard the bird resources Of their
country is the object Of a campaign that
has been begun in this city. Under the
direction of the National Association of
Audubon Societies it is planned to try to
reach every one of the twenty million
school children scattered over the con-
tinent and form them into an active and
united fighting force for the feathered
crop guards whose butchery is now
threatening the agricultural wealth of
coming generations. Already it is re-
ported that the children of many States
are enrolling in the ranks of this national
array of boys and girls, on whom the
Audubon officials base their brightest
hopes of future protection for the birds.
To muster the children Of the South
into the vanguard OF this boy and girl
army, T. Gilbert Pearson, secretary Of
the Audubon association, has gone to
Knoxville, where he will lecture to sew
eral thousand teachers at their summer
school on the relation Of birds to agricul
ture and the best methods of teaching
this important subject in schools. With
an endowment of 800, which it is
hoped may be obtained from the Peabody
Fund next fall, this branch of education
the Southern States, until every child in
this section has become an active adj
vocate of the proper protection of its
valuable bird resources.
From Ohio it is reported that the boys
of Cincinnati are already heading an ex-
tensive child movement in that State by
building 200 houses for the birds which
sadly need their shelter in the parks.
Instead of robbing birds nests of their
eggs, these boys, as we'll as many others
| throughout the country, are now inter-
ested in the equally interesting occups-
ton of making and placing these bird
shelters in the trees where they will be
patronized by the native fiocks. Such
work has been done in Germany for a
long time with splendid results.
On the Pacific Coast and in New Eng
land the children are ready to organize
for the work of guarding their birds in
which their elders are actively interested.
In New York State hundreds of thous-
ands of school children are known to be
eager to enlist. The boys and girls of
Illinois are also reported to be preparing
to make up a good large section of the
young army. Thousands Of pamphlets
showing the children the uses and habits
of over sixty American bird species have
been distributed in schools over the entire
country by the National Association of
Audubon Societies during the past year
in preparations for this movement by
American boys and girls. If sufficient
funds become available for this educa-
tional campaign it is planned to spread
the knowledge of every bird in the land
in this way to every schoolhouse on the
continent.
1--WE must depend on the little folk to
take up this battle for the birds which
we have waged for years all over the
country" said William butcher, presi-
dent of the National Association of Au-
dubon Societies at it's headquarters, al
Broadway. Besides the great SEN
timental interest which the children take
in the feathered songsters Of their home
country, they must be taught to realize
that their native land will become barren
in few generations if the insect-eating
birds are not preserved and increased.
This is great and vital work of nation
al education and we hope to rally thous.
ands of parents to it's active support. -