Bird lore - Project Puffin

43^ Bird -Lore
my stay in Maryland. For the first time since the Audubon work started in
the South, Maryland stands at the head of the list in 1916, having organized
173 clubs with a membership of nearly 4,000 children.
REPORT OF HENRY OLDYS, SPECIAL AGENT FOR
MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA
It has always been found by those who have been active workers in the
field of bird-protection that the best way to reach the school- children is to
awaken the interest of the teachers. Consequently I was much pleased to be
commissioned to address summer gatherings of school-teachers in Maryland
and Virginia. Although some of these gatherings adjourned too early or con-
vened too late to come within the limits of my activities, yet I had excellent
opportunity to attend a number of meetings of first-class importance, and to
urge upon the educators there assembled the value and interest of forming
Junior Audubon Classes.
I emphasized the fact, in all my lectures, that, apart from the oppor-
tunity they give to acquire or improve acquaintance with birds, these classes
furnish an incomparable medium of union between teacher and pupil—a common
ground of interest in something outside of the curriculum. To make the
impression created as lasting as possible I distributed large quantities of circu-
lars, sample leaflets, sample pages from Bird-Lore, and sample buttons,
besides much more of a miscellaneous character. These were taken with avidity
by those present. I also obtained lists of the names and addresses of those
attending several of the gatherings spoken to, and saw that each person was
supplied later with suitable literature by mail.
The places I visited were the summer schools at Richmond, Charlottesville,
Dublin, East Radford, and Harrisonburg, Virginia, and the Teachers' Insti-
tute at Cumberland, Maryland; and the number of instructors addressed
amounted in all to 1,250, some of whom were listeners more than once.
It is pleasant to mention with appreciation the uniform courtesy received
and the special favors shown in several instances. It was also pleasant to note
wherever I went a more or less well-developed interest in birds and bird-pro-
tection.
I could feel, everywhere, that I was not bringing an entirely new vision to
my audiences, but was merely emphasizing and expanding thoughts and
feelings already entertained. For various reasons, so apparent and so well
known as to need no exposition here, the South has lagged behind the North
in the growth of this interest. But the South is no longer virgin field. The
faithful and effective work that has already been done there has put the soil
in excellent condition for future laborers, and the latter are assured of a lively
and growing response to their appeals. There is every reason to anticipate
the gathering of larger and larger harvests.