Bird Fight (Cont.)

An unusually restless, talkative throng of members in the National Association of Audubon Societies filed into a large room at the American Museum of Natural History last week for their 26th annual meeting. Instead of telling each other about the last oriole they had seen or how their new wren-houses were working out, they whispered over the backs of their chairs like politicians. They all knew that the policies of their president, Thomas Gilbert Pearson, were to be challenged by a small group of discontented members who had charged him with too great a friendship for wealthy sportsmen, too little interest in birds (TIME, Nov. 3).

The insurgents, led by Mrs. Charles Noel Edge, Manhattan socialite, had stated their objections in a letter and pamphlet circulated among members. When the meeting began, Dr. William Temple Hornaday, on the side of the insurgents, read a series of resolutions which he thought would improve the ideals of the society. He called for a backing of the McNary-Haugen bill to make permanent the new Federal bag limit of 15 wild ducks per day. He also wanted to put a stop to the baiting of wildfowling grounds, the use of live birds as decoys. He wanted a Federal limit of eight weeks for the open season on wildfowl.

The attacked administration retorted quickly to Dr. Horriaday's suggestions. They said they had always upheld all of his resolutions except the McNary-Haugen bill. They were against this bill because they felt that the Biological Survey which now sets bag limits was i.e better position than Congress to know what was best for U. S. birds. The Biological Survey has a staff of scientists who do nothing but study bird conditions.

Dr. Pearson, who had been much hurt by the civil bird war, heard the opposition through, defended his policies. He said that he was not ashamed to admit that he believes in cooperating with the sportsman. Wise hunters are more inter sted in conserving birds than are most other U. S. citizens, he believes.

The insurgents proved to have small power in the meeting. Some of them objected, complained of "steam roller tactics." Three directors up for reelection, whom the insurgents had hoped to defeat, were reinstated. One of these was Dr. Pearson. In an attempt to restore peace among the bird-lovers, he established a committee of three to investigate the charges made against him. On the committee are Chauncey J. Hamlin, onetime chairman of the National Conference on Outdoor Recreation; Alexander Grant Ruthven, president of the University of Michigan; Dr. Thomas Barbour, curator of Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Sows In Canton, Ill., Lonnie Foote, 2, liked to play with little pigs, crawled through a fence into a field where twelve sows and their litters were kept. His body was found, arms severed, partially devoured.

Bond Dog

Farmer George Bryant of Shelbyville. Ky. saw his hunting dog run under a culvert, heard it bark loudly. Following, he found five steel safe deposit boxes containing $3,200 in bonds, stolen last month from a bank in Leipsic. Ind.

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