passed in its first year in New York State, even if it
ever could be!

It was the aroused Public that did it!

This volume has been written (under great pressure) in order to put the
whole situation before the people of America, including the zoologists,
and to give them some definite information, state by state, regarding
the needs of the hour. Look at the needs of your own state, in the "Roll
Call of States," and you will find work for your hand to do. Clear your
conscience by taking hold now, to do everything that you can to stop the
carnage and preserve the remnant. Twenty-five or fifty years hence, if
we have a birdless and gameless continent, let it not be said that the
zoologists of America helped to bring it about by wicked apathy.

At this juncture, a brief survey of the attitude toward wild life of
certain American institutions of national reputation will be decidedly
pertinent. I shall mention only a few of the many that through their
character and position owe specific duties to this cause. _Noblesse
oblige_!

* * * * *

The Biological Survey of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is a
splendid center of activity and initiative in the preservation of our
wild life. The work of Dr. T.S. Palmer has already been spoken of, and
thanks to his efforts and direction, the Survey has become the
recognized special champion of preservation in America.

The U.S. Forestry Bureau is developing into a very valuable ally, and we
confidently look forward to the time when its influence in preservation
will be a hundred times more potent than it is to-day. _That will be
when every national forest is made a game preserve, and every forest
ranger is made a game warden_. Let us have both those developments, and
quickly.

In 1896 the AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY became a center of
activity in bird protection, and the headquarters of the New York State
Audubon Society. The president of the Museum (Professor Henry Fairfield
Osborn) is also the president of that organization.

In several of the New York State movements for bird conservation,
especially those bearing on the plumage law, the American Museum has
been active, and at times conspicuous. No one (so I believe) ever
appealed to the President of the Museum for help on the firing line
without receiving help of some kind. Unfortunately, however, the
preservation of wild life is not one of the declared objects of the
American Mus