At the first congress forty-seven ornithologists were elected to active membership--presumably all of the satisfactory candidates available. Of these forty-seven original members, twenty-four were either present or took a prominent part in the organization of the Union, and are thus termed 'Founders.' (The accompanying photograph is a picture of these founders, made up from separate photographs, it being impracticable for the members to assemble to be photographed as a group.) This has remained about the average number, but, as years have passed, the choice for the few coveted places has become harder and harder each year to fill, through the rapid increase of not only available but desirable candidates; so that attainments that would in the earlier days of the Union have proved ample credentials for admission have now less weight, in the effort to select the best from a large otherwise desirable candidacy. The honor of the position has thus become enhanced through competition of merit. The two foreign classes have remained practically unchanged as regards numbers. But the class of Associate Members has increased from about one hundred in 1886 to nearly six hundred in 1898.
The revenue of the Union is derived entirely from the annual dues from members ($5 for active members and $3 for associate members) and subscriptions to 'The Auk.' As the ordinary running expenses of the Union are but a trifle, all of the proceeds from these sources of revenue are devoted to the publications of the Union. These include, besides 'The Auk,' now in its sixteenth volume, the original Code and Check-List of North American Birds (1886), an Abridged Check-List (1889), a separate reprint of the Code alone (1892), the second edition of the Check-List (1895), and nine Supplements to the Check-List (1889-1899), varying in size from about 8 to 36 pages.
'The Auk,' issued quarterly, consists on the average of about 420 pages per year, with at least four fine colored plates, and a greater or less number of text figures, including of late numerous half-tone illustrations of birds in life. As practically all of the funds of the Union are devoted to its publications, and mainly to 'The Auk,' its prosperity as regards its size, the frequency and character of its illustrations, and its influence in promoting the study of ornithology, is limited only by the proceeds from memberships and subscriptions. As it aims to meet the interests and the necessities of both the scientific and the non-scientific reader and contributor, the general articles, comprising more than half of each number, are about equally divided between popular and technical papers, while its department of General Notes (embracing some 15 pages in each number), is about equally acceptable to both classes, as with more or less technical matter for the benefit of the expert are blended notes on the habits and distribution of the lesser known species of our fauna, often of a highly popular character. The department of Recent Literature gives more or less extended notices of the current literature of ornithology, including general works, popular and technical, and of all the principal writings relating to American birds, whether faunal, economic, popular, or technical.