Part 16
Let it suffice to say, that the weight of common sense, of real humanity, and of economics, as well as of science in overwhelming measure, was, in the judgment of the best informed, wholly with those who would reduce the Sparrow. The Mayor, however, decided to suspend the work, assigning as a reason the difficulty and expense of continuing it. The committee sent to the Mayor a letter expressing its regret that the work should thus be brought to an untimely close, and fully outlining plans for its continuance. At the present writing, no definite prospect is in sight of the resumption of the work. The committee proposed, after the closure of the nesting orifices, to pull down by means of hooked poles such nests as were built by the Sparrows in the branches of the trees on the Common and Garden, timing visits so as to destroy nests and eggs only, thus preventing the hatching of young. With the onset of cold weather it was proposed to trap and destroy the Sparrow by devices which were already proved at once efficient and merciful. These two methods, aided, perhaps, by others, carefully planned to avoid cruelty, were the ones much relied on by the committee to do the needed work of clearance.
After the stoppage of the work the Mayor wrote to Chairman Osgood, asking his opinion as to the advisability of putting up bird-houses on the Common, so built, without perches, as to keep out the Sparrow and admit the White-bellied Swallow, Bluebird and House Wren. Mr. Osgood replied in effect that perchless bird-houses, judging from recent evidence, would probably invite and shelter the breeding of the Sparrow, and, with the Common still uncleared, would hardly aid in restoring any native bird. He was willing, under certain strict conditions, that the experiment should be tried purely as an experiment, provided that every box should be instantly removed upon proof that these perchless devices sheltered the Sparrow. He, however, expressed little hope that any good would come of such a measure beyond the absolute demonstration, once for all, and publicly, that perchless boxes were not Sparrow-proof. The "Sparrow committee" could not advise the putting up of bird-boxes under existing circumstances, and if any are erected the responsibility for the trial will not rest in any way with this committee. At this writing, the Sparrows shut out from the tree orifices are building to some extent in the branches of the trees upon the Common. To note how extensively this breeding is carried on this season, and to attain general information as to the presence of any native birds upon the Common and Garden, a patrol of the Boston Branch of the American Society of Bird Restorers has been assigned to observation work through the spring and summer.
Results will be officially reported to the National Biological Survey (U. S. Department of Agriculture) at Washington, D. C.
Fletcher Osgood,
Organizer and Manager of the American Society of Bird Restorers.
Reports of Societies
MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY
In February and March, Mr. Ralph Hoffmann gave a course of eight lectures on birds, under the auspices of the Society. These were well attended, and not only increased the interest in bird study, but informed the public more fully of the work of the Society, and also added materially to the treasury.
March 22nd, the Society held a 'Hat Show' at the Vendome, which was a success. Many of the best milliners exhibited, and it served the purpose of interesting both milliners and public in the work of bird protection. In spite of bad weather, the room was crowded all day, and many hats were sold. The newspapers reported it with illustrations; the milliners were pleased; and the Audubon Society was talked about with renewed interest.
The Society has purchased the publisher's stock of the Audubon Calendar colored plates, without the Calendar numbers, and are offering them for sale at 25 cents for the set of twelve.
The large sale of the chart is very satisfactory, about 1,200 having been sold since Christmas. Appreciative letters are daily received, and the school teachers especially commend it.
New circulars have been purchased for distribution, from the University of Nebraska and Cornell University; also "A Letter to the Clergy," republished by the Wisconsin Society.
Harriet E. Richards, _Sec'y._
CONNECTICUT SOCIETY
The second annual meeting of the society took place on June 1, in the United Church Chapel, New Haven Conn., and was largely attended. It being part of the policy of the Society to hold its public meetings each year in different parts of the state.
The president made a short address, outlining the work for the coming season, which will include: (1) the consideration of a practical method for destroying the English Sparrow, as a bird distinctly injurious to song birds and others having agricultural value; (2) an effort to obtain legislation to stop the spring shooting of shore and water birds; (3) the addition to the societies' equipment of several small libraries of bird books, to be circulated free throughout the state where there are no public libraries, after the manner of the lecture outfits; (4) the addition of an illustrated lecture suitable for small children.
The report of the corresponding secretary-treasurer showed a membership in the various classes of 814; also, receipts of over $500 during the year, no debts, and a balance in the treasury.
The chairman of the committee on free lectures reported the great success of the undertaking. The two lectures, "Birds about Home," by Mrs. Wright, and "Some Facts about Birds that Concern the Farmer," by Willard G. Van Name, having been out over fifty times since early spring. These lectures, accompanied by sets of colored slides and oil-lanterns, are loaned free to any responsible person within state limits, and the Granges have lately taken them up with results most gratifying to the Society.
A few changes were made in the management as the election of officers. Mrs. H. S. Glover, the first corresponding secretary and treasurer, having resigned, received a hearty vote of thanks for her work, and Mrs. Wm. Brown Glover was elected as general secretary in her stead, Mrs. Howard H. Knapp being elected treasurer.
The event of the meeting was the lecture by Mr. F. M. Chapman, upon Photography as an Aid to Bird Study, all the beautifully colored slides used as illustrations having been photographed from life.
The detailed annual report of the Society's work will be mailed upon application.
Helen W. Glover, _Sec'y._
TENNESSEE SOCIETY
It is with great satisfaction that we report the organization in the court house at Ripley on May 26, of the Audubon Society of the State of Tennessee. Without the assistance of the southern states, the work of the northern section of the country must necessarily be hampered by the inability to protect the birds in their winter haunts and during the migrations.
It is also gratifying to note the common sense basis upon which the society is founded, the president, having stated in his initial address, that "the society had for its leading object the creation of a public opinion that would secure legislation in the interest of bird protection, that would spare our birds from threatened extinction."
_... JUST READY. PRICE, $1 NET ..._
Nature Study For Grammar Grades
_A Manual for the Guidance of Pupils below the High School in the Study of Nature_
BY
WILBUR S. JACKMAN, A.B.
Dep't of Natural Science, Chicago Normal School
Author of "Nature Study for the Common Schools," "Nature Study and Related Subjects," "Nature Study Record," "Field Work in Nature Study," etc.
REVISED EDITION
In preparing this Manual, it has been the author's aim to propose, within the comprehension of grammar school pupils, a few of the problems which arise in a thoughtful study of nature, and to offer suggestions designed to lead to their solution.
That pupils need some rational and definite directions in nature study, all are generally agreed. But to prepare the outlines and suggestive directions necessary, and to place these within the reach of each pupil, is more than any ordinary teacher has time to do, even granting that she is fully prepared for such work. The utter futility of depending upon oral suggestions during the class hour, when the pupils are supposed to be doing individual work, is easily apparent on a moment's reflection. With a manual of directions in hand, each pupil may be made strictly responsible for a certain amount of work, either in the field or in the laboratory. This removes all occasion for that interruption in his work, which is, otherwise, due to the pupil's attempt to _think_ and at the same time _hear_ what the teacher says.
* * * * *
"Practical, complete, and, all in all, is the best manual we know to fit the student to do really effective science work in the high school.... Altogether both teacher and pupils who use this book are to be congratulated, for we are sure that through its use the whole field of nature study will assume new definiteness, practicality and interest."
--_Southern Educational Journal._
* * * * *
"It is decidedly practical, and will be welcomed by many teachers who wish to respond in an intelligent way to the demand for nature study."
--_Inland Educator._
PUBLISHED BY
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, New York.
* * * * *
VOL. 1 20c. a Copy No. 5 OCTOBER, 1899 $1 a Year
=Bird-Lore=
Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN
The Macmillan Company ENGLEWOOD, N. J.
NEW YORK LONDON
_R. Weber_
COPYRIGHT, 1899, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN
=Bird-Lore=
October, 1899
CONTENTS
PAGE Frontispiece--Founders of the American Ornithologists' Union 142 The American Ornithologists' Union. Illustrated. _J. A. Allen_ 143 American Bitterns. Photographed from nature by _E. J. Tabor_ and _F. M. Chapman_ 149 The Angler's Reveille. Illustrated by _E. W. Smith._ _Henry van Dyke_ 150 The Prairie Horned Lark. Illustrated. _Robert W. Hegner_ 152 Screech Owl. Photographed from life. _A. L. Princehorn_ 154 A Pleasant Acquaintance with a Hummingbird. Illustrated. _C. F. Hodge_ 155 A Peculiarity of a Caged Skylark. _H. M. Collins_ 157
FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS On the Ethics of Caging Birds--Letters to the Editor. {_Anna Harris Smith_ 158 {_C. F. Hodge_ 160
FOR YOUNG OBSERVERS Oliver Twist--Catbird. _Isabella McC. Lemmon_ 163
NOTES FROM FIELD AND STUDY 166 Birds and Caterpillars, _Caroline G. Soule_; An Odd Nesting Site, _L. H. Schwab_.
BOOK NEWS AND REVIEWS 167 Mrs. Miller's 'The First Book of Birds;' Knoble's 'Field Key to the Land Birds;' Hodge's 'Suggestions for the Study of Our Common Birds;' Book News.
EDITORIALS 169
AUDUBON DEPARTMENT 170 Editorial: Illustration, Quills to Avoid; Audubon's Seal, illustrated; Report of the Society of the District of Columbia.
×*× _Bird-Lore is published on the first of the month, at Englewood, New Jersey, where all notices of change of address, manuscripts intended for publication, books, etc., for review, and exchanges should be sent._
PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT
Bird-Lore for December will contain, among other interesting articles, 'The Story of a Pet Sea Parrot,' by E. W. Nelson; 'A Search for the Reedy Island Crow Roost,' by Witmer Stone; 'A Large Family,' by Frank M. Chapman, all illustrated. An account of How the Central Park Chickadees were Tamed by Anne A. Crolius, one of Garrett Newkirk's admirable bird poems for children, etc., and a detailed Statement of the Plans of the Magazine for 1900, including an announcement of special interest to all bird students.
=Bird-Lore=
A BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE
DEVOTED TO THE STUDY AND PROTECTION OF BIRDS
Official Organ of the Audubon Societies
======================================= Vol. 1 October, 1899 No. 5 =======================================
The American Ornithologists' Union
BY J. A. ALLEN
(First President of the Union)
During the sixteen years that have passed since the founding of the American Ornithologists' Union, in August, 1883, the study of North American birds has advanced with constantly accelerated strides. That this progress has been due largely to the founding of the Union is beyond denial, as will become evident from the following brief history of its work and the causes that led to its formation.
In all lines of human endeavor, the union of kindred interests and individual effort toward a common end is the key to success. Before the founding of the American Ornithologists' Union, its nucleus existed in a local organization of bird students in Cambridge, known as the Nuttall Ornithological Club. At first its meetings were informal, and its membership was limited to a few individuals living in the immediate vicinity of Cambridge. Later it became regularly organized as a club, with both resident and corresponding members, the latter embracing most of the leading ornithologists of this country. The papers presented at its meetings were often of permanent value, and were later published in scientific journals. In 1876 these had become sufficiently numerous and important to warrant the club in establishing its own medium of publication, the first number bearing date April, 1876, with the title 'Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club.' As years passed it served not only as the official organ of the club, but as a medium of communication between American ornithologists at large.
This led to the consideration of the desirability of organizing a national society of ornithologists as a means of bringing the workers in this field into more intimate association and more thoroughly consolidating their interests. The advantages of such consolidation seemed so evident that a call was issued August 1, 1883, dated Cambridge and Washington, for "a convention of American Ornithologists, to be held in New York city, beginning September 26, 1883." The call was signed by the editor of the 'Nuttall Bulletin' (J. A. Allen), associate editor of the 'Nuttall Bulletin' (Elliott Coues), and the president of the Nuttall Club (William Brewster). The response to the call, sent to forty-eight of the more prominent ornithologists of the United States and Canada, was most cordial; twenty-five expressed their intention to attend the convention, and twenty-one were actually present, including several who came a thousand miles or more to attend the convention. Not only were by-laws adopted and officers duly elected, but, as will be noticed later, important lines of work were laid out and assigned to committees, the principle of coöperation being applied in a broad sense.
The Nuttall Ornithological Club is still an active and widely known organization, although upon the founding of the Union, it generously voted to discontinue its 'Bulletin' and to place its subscription list and good will at the service of the Union, which was already considering the desirability of establishing an official medium of publication. As a result, the 'Nuttall Bulletin' became 'The Auk,' which, in recognition of the generous action of the Nuttall Club, was officially designated as the _second series_ of the 'Nuttall Bulletin.'
Between isolated workers in any field, jealousies and misunderstandings arise which personal contact tends to obliterate. Such was the case with our ornithologists for some years prior to the founding of the Union. There were two rival check-lists of North American birds, each perhaps equally authoritative though differing in important details, which led to confusion, and a tendency to array our ornithologists into two somewhat hostile camps. This being recognized as a threatening evil of considerable gravity, one of the first acts of the Union was to appoint a committee on the Classification and Nomenclature of North American Birds, so constituted as to include the most competent authorities on the subject and at the same time safeguard all conflicting interests. The work of this committee long since became a matter of history. It was conducted with the utmost conscientiousness and care; personal interests and personal bias were generously waived, differences of opinion were settled by appeal to facts and the evidence, with a result that agreement was established in respect to all points of nomenclature and other technicalities, and a new impetus given to systematic investigation. Thus, through the work of this committee alone one of the primary objects in view in founding the Union was most happily accomplished. Not only a new check-list of North American birds was substituted for all previous check-lists, but a new 'Code of Nomenclature' was devised and adopted as the basis for determining the names to be used in the check-list. After more than two years of work by the committee the check-list, with its code of nomenclature, was given to the world in 1886, and became at once the accepted standard of authority with all American writers on North American birds; the 'Code' included important innovations in respect to certain principles of nomenclature, which have since become very generally accepted the world over. It is, therefore, to be regretted that a small faction has recently arisen in the ranks of the Union, that, objecting to certain rules of the 'Code,' is seeking to foment a break in the good feeling and harmony that have marked the last ten or twelve years of the history of American ornithology.
A second purpose of the Union was, as already intimated, to bring into coöperation and into personal acquaintanceship as many as possible of the workers in ornithology. In effecting this, the appointment at the first congress of the Union of a Committee on the Migration of North American Birds proved a most efficient means. This committee, with Dr. C. Hart Merriam at its head, began at once to issue circulars of instruction and schedules for the return of data to all bird observers known to the committee, whether members of the Union or not. Thousands of circulars were thus issued annually, reaching hundreds of earnest bird students who had before been working alone and without contact with the leaders in the science, who were thus not only stimulated and encouraged to fresh endeavor, but were placed in communication with a central bureau ever ready to aid their efforts. In a short time the work of this committee outgrew the financial resources of the Union, and led to the founding of a distinct division of the United States Department of Agriculture, designated the Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy, of which the chairman of this committee was invited to become the official head, and which has since become the United States Biological Survey. The data on the migration and geographical distribution of North American birds gathered by this committee was turned over to this new Division of the Department of Agriculture for collation and publication, and the work of collecting further data was continued on an increased scale by the Chief of the Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy. This has resulted in the accumulation of an immense amount of valuable material, but little of which has as yet been published. In 1888 a preliminary report on 'Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley,' prepared by Prof. W. W. Cooke and Mr. Otto Widmann, under the direction of the chief of the division, was published, forming one of the most important contributions to the subject of bird migration that has yet appeared. A second report on 'The Land Birds of the Pacific District,' by Mr. Lyman Belding, was published in 1890, and, though issued by the California Academy of Sciences, was the outcome of the work of this committee. Eventually all of the vast accumulation of data inaugurated by the Union, and later carried on under the auspices of the United States Department of Agriculture, relating not only to the migratory movements of birds but to their distribution, will doubtless be published, with proper map and other graphic illustrations.
To another important committee appointed at the first congress of the Union was delegated the investigation of 'The Status of the European House Sparrow in America.' This committee issued circulars of inquiry, and made an elaborate preliminary report to the Union, which report was later, as in the case of the data accumulated by the Migration Committee, turned over to the Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy of the United States Department of Agriculture. Under Dr. Merriam, the investigation was prosecuted with renewed activity, and a final and authoritative report was issued by the Department of Agriculture in 1889. It is needless to say that this impartially conducted report was strongly condemnatory of this burdensome pest.
At the second congress of the Union it appointed a Committee on Protection of North American Birds, which has been continued to the present time, and has been the guiding influence in this great economic and humanitarian work. It has done much to arouse and enlighten public opinion respecting the enormity of the destruction of birds for millinery purposes, and to guide legislation for the better protection of our birds. It early published two important 'bulletins' on the destruction of birds, and was the origin of the original Audubon Society, whose president, Dr. George Bird Grinnell, was long one of the most active members of this committee; through this society, with chapters throughout the country, the cause of bird protection was for several years immensely aided. Of late it has become practically the advisory committee of the existing Audubon Societies which have recently multiplied so gratifyingly throughout the country, and it publishes in 'The Auk' an annual report summarizing the work of bird protection for the year.