Part 22

Notes on the Flammulated Screech Owls, Harry C. Oberholser; Three Years' Migration data on City Hall Tower, Philadelphia, Wm. L. Baily; A Quantitative Study of Variation in the Smaller American Shrikes, Reuben M. Strong; The Habits and Structure of Harris' Cormorant, R. E. Snodgrass and F. A. Lucas; Bering Sea Arctic Snowflake (_Passerina hyperborea_) on its breeding grounds, C. Hart Merriam; On the Plumages of Certain Boreal Birds, Frank M. Chapman; On the Perfected Plumage of _Somateria spectabilis_, Arthur H. Norton; The Summer Molting Plumage of Eider Ducks, Witmer Stone; An Oregon Fish Hawk Colony, Vernon Bailey; Exhibition of a series of field sketches made from absolutely fresh birds, showing the true life colors of the soft parts, mostly in the breeding season, Louis Agassiz Fuertes; The Sequence of Plumages and Molts in Certain Families of North American Birds, Jonathan Dwight, Jr.; The Ranges of _Hylocichla fuscescens_ and _Hylocichla f. salicicola_, Reginald Heber Howe, Jr.; On the occurrence of the Egyptian Goose (_Chenalopex ægyptiaca_) in North America, Frank C. Kirkwood; Notes on the Habits of the Great Mexican Swift (_Hemiprocne zonaris_), Sam'l N. Rhoads; Further remarks on the Relationships of the Grackles of the Sub-genus _Quiscalus_, Frank M. Chapman; Audubon's Letters to Baird--compiled from Copies of the originals kindly furnished by Miss Lucy H. Baird, Witmer Stone; A Peculiar Sparrow Hawk, William Palmer; The Requirements of a Faunal List, W. E. Clyde Todd; Report of the A. O. U. Committee on Protection of N. A. Birds, Witmer Stone; An account of the Nesting of Franklin's Gull (_Larus franklinii_) in Southern Minnesota, illustrated by lantern slides, Thos. S. Roberts; Bird Studies with a Camera, illustrated by lantern slides, Frank M. Chapman; Home Life of some Birds, illustrated by lantern slides, Wm. Dutcher; Slides--series of Kingfisher, Gulls, etc., Wm. L. Baily; The Effects of Wear upon Feathers, illustrated by lantern slides, Jonathan Dwight, Jr.; Exhibition of lantern slides of Birds, Birds' Nests and Nesting Haunts, from Nature, members; Language of the Birds, Nelson R. Wood; A New Wren from Alaska, Harry C. Oberholser; The Molt of the Flight feathers in various Orders of Birds, Witmer Stone; Some Cuban Birds, Jno. W. Daniels, Jr.; On the Orientation of Birds, Capt. Gabriel Reynaud, French army; On the Habits of the Hoatzin (_Opisthocomus cristatus_), George K. Cherrie.

=Book News and Reviews=

A Dictionary of Birds. By Alfred Newton, assisted by Hans Gadow, and others. Cheap issue, unabridged. London, Adam and Charles Black, 1893-96. [New York, The Macmillan Co.] 8vo, pp. xii + 1,088, numerous line cuts. Price, $5.

Bird students should be grateful to the publishers of this invaluable work for issuing it in an edition which places it within the reach of all.

It is not necessary for us to add our meed of praise to what is universally conceded to be "the best book ever written about birds." To those of Bird-Lore's readers who have not had the fortune to examine this or the preceding edition, we may say that the work is based on Professor Newton's article 'Birds' in the Encyclopædia Britanica which, with the coöperation of eminent specialists, has been enlarged and augmented to make an ornithological dictionary of over 1,000 pages; an indispensable work of reference to every student of ornithology who will find in its pages an immense amount of information not elsewhere obtainable.--F. M. C.

Wabeno, The Magician. The Sequel to Tommy-Anne and the Three Hearts, by Mabel Osgood Wright. Illustrated by Joseph M. Gleeson. New York, The Macmillan Company, 1899. Price, $1.50.

This pretty green and gold covered book, with its mystical sign of three interlaced hearts, will be a treasure to the army of little folks who have so enjoyed its predecessor 'Tommy-Anne.' Not only will they meet in its pages the delightful Tommy-Anne herself, but several other old friends: Obi, the almost too-human Waddles, the unfortunate Horned Owl, and others. In this volume Anne--having dropped the Tommy from her name, pushes her "whys" into the several kingdoms of earth and air. She interviews the "Man in the Moon," learns the story of the red man from a talkative Indian arrow head, and the secrets of the hive from a friendly honey-bee. Through her magic spectacles life at the bottom of the sea becomes visible, and the past history of the earth comes to light. It may readily be seen that the author has not forgotten her own childish "wonderments," and is therefore eminently fitted to satisfy those of children to-day, and although the imagination has full play in the manner of conveying it--the "how"--the information given is trustworthy. The book, with all its charm of fantasy may be put into the hands of children with the assurance that it will let them into the secrets of many interesting things in Nature, and leave no sting of false statements to be corrected as the years pass on.

The book, as usual with the publications of the house of Macmillan, is fully illustrated, beautifully printed and altogether a pleasure to look at and handle.--Olive Thorne Miller.

The Birds of Eastern North America. Key to the Families and Species. By Charles B. Cory. Part I, Water Birds, pp. i-ix, 1-130; Part II, Land Birds, pp. i-ix, 131-387. 4to. Numerous illustrations. Special edition printed for the Field Columbian Museum, Chicago, Ill., 1899.

Mr. Cory has spared neither pains nor expense to lighten the labors of young ornithologists in the matter of identification. Arbitrary 'Keys' arranged on apparently the simplest plans, a careful use of distinguishing type, and numberless illustrations characterize this work, which will doubtless rank as its talented author's most valuable and important contribution to the literature of ornithology.

The present volumes contain only the analytical keys to families and species, and apparently are to be followed by others giving detailed descriptions of plumage and biographical matter. A list of the birds of Eastern North America, with the ranges of the species, is appended to the second volume.--F. M. C.

Dickey Downy; the Autobiography of a Bird. By Virginia Sharpe Patterson. Introduction by Hon. John F. Lacey, M.C. Drawings by Elizabeth M. Hallowell. Philadelphia, A. J. Rowland, 1899. 16mo, pp. 192, full-page coloro-types, 4.

In this little volume the Bobolink recounts the history of his life with particular reference to his experiences with man. Due regard has been paid to the known habits of the bird, and the book seems well designed to arouse the interest and enlist the sympathy of children in bird-life. The colored illustration of the Scarlet Tanager facing page 64 is wrongly labeled "Summer Tanager," but beyond this slip we notice no errors.

Congressman Lacey's introduction shows that its writer has an adequate conception of both the economic and æsthetic value of birds, of the evils of wantonly destroying them, and of the need for their protection.--F. M. C.

Book News

In the October number of 'The Osprey,' the announcement is made that Dr. Gill, the editor-in-chief, will hereafter be assisted by the following associate editors: Robert Ridgway, Leonhard Stejneger, Frederic A. Lucas, Charles W. Richmond, Paul Bartsch, William Palmer, Harry C. Oberholser, and Witmer Stone. Surely here is "a multitude of counsellors" whose coöperation is an assurance that 'The Osprey' will not only return to its former high plane, but will doubtless reach a level of excellence before unknown. We note with pleasure that the somewhat too appropriate yellow cover, used during the preceding editorial administration, has been changed for one of Bird-Lore's hue.

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From the announcement of the Massachusetts Audubon Society of the Audubon Calendar, issued by them for 1900, we quote the following: "The calendar consists of twelve large plates of exquisite drawings of birds, one for each month, reproduced in colors with all the spirit and fidelity of the original water-color paintings. Descriptive text of the birds on each plate. Frank M. Chapman, Olive Thorne Miller, Florence A. Merriam, Abbott Thayer, Mabel Osgood Wright, Wm. T. Davis, William Brewster, Ralph Hoffmann, Bradford Torrey, M. A. Wilcox, Harriet E. Richards, H. E. Parkhurst, have contributed original paragraphs. Size 9-1/2 by 12-1/2 inches. In paper box. Price 75 cents. Address orders to Taber-Prang Art Company, Springfield, Mass."

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That the editors of St. Nicholas realize the importance of developing children's interest in nature studies, is evidenced by the establishment in their magazine for 1900, of a department of 'Nature and Science.' It will be in charge of Mr. E. F. Bigelow, formerly editor of 'The Observer,' and now of 'Popular Science.'

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Lists of the birds of the Middle Gulf States are so few in number that bird students will welcome a fully annotated catalogue of the birds of Louisiana, by Prof. Geo. E. Beyer, of Tulane University, shortly to be published by the Society of Louisiana Naturalists.

=Bird-Lore=

A Bi-monthly Magazine Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETIES

=Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN= =Published by THE MACMILLAN COMPANY=

===================================================== Vol. 1 December, 1899 No. 6 =====================================================

=SUBSCRIPTION RATES.=

Price in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, twenty cents a number, one dollar a year, postage paid.

Subscriptions may be sent to the Publishers, at Englewood, New Jersey, or 66 Fifth avenue, New York City.

Price in all countries in the International Postal Union, twenty-five cents a number, one dollar and a quarter a year, postage paid. Foreign agents, Macmillan and Company, Ltd., London.

Manuscripts for publication, books, etc., for review, should be sent to the Editor at Englewood, New Jersey. ----------------------------------------------------- Advertisements should be sent to the Publishers at Englewood, New Jersey, or 66 Fifth avenue, New York City. ----------------------------------------------------- COPYRIGHTED, 1899, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN. ----------------------------------------------------- Bird-Lore's Motto:

_A Bird in the Bush is Worth Two in the Hand._ -----------------------------------------------------

We have thus far avoided all mention of the financial side of the conducting of Bird-Lore, nor do we now propose to adopt the course which circumstances, alas! have so often forced upon popular natural history journals, of turning the editorial page into a plea for subscriptions.

We trust, however, that in this concluding number of our first volume we may be permitted to make several statements in which we hope our subscribers will have a mutual interest.

In the first place, replying to the inquiry as to whether Bird-Lore will not soon be issued at monthly instead of bi-monthly intervals, let us say that the management of Bird-Lore is with us an avocation to which we can devote only the margin of time left from fully occupied days. To publish it each month would involve greatly increased labor, which, under the circumstances, we cannot assume, and we have attempted to bridge this difficulty by printing as much matter in each number as is ordinarily contained in two numbers of any popular ornithological journal.

In the end, therefore, the subscriber receives quite as much for his money, and in support of this statement we may be pardoned for calling attention to the fact that the present volume of Bird-Lore contains some 200 pages of text with over 70 illustrations, more, we believe, than is offered by any other bird magazine for the sum of one dollar.

To continue with this unpleasant subject: being perfectly familiar with the sad fate which has befallen so many of our predecessors--and of which when this journal was in contemplation our friends rarely failed to remind us!--we did not establish Bird-Lore as a money making enterprise, but as a means of popularizing a study, the advancement of which is foremost in our desires, and as an aid to the cause of the Audubon Societies.

We believe, therefore, we may venture to say, that our relations with our subscribers are of a wholly different and more intimate nature than those which exist between the publishers and purchasers of magazines which yield an adequate money return for labor expended.

We have common interests to the furtherance of which we, for our part, are willing to devote no little time and thought, as we trust is shown by our announcements for 1900. To properly carry out our plans, however, it will be necessary to increase the size of Bird-Lore, a step not as yet warranted by our subscription list. We would, therefore, ask the coöperation of every reader who has at heart the interests of bird study and bird protection. This coöperation may be shown in one or both of two ways: First, you may aid in increasing Bird-Lore's circulation by securing new subscribers, by presenting a year's subscription as a Christmas gift to some friend who is interested, or whom you want to interest in birds, or by suggesting this course to others. Second, you may assist us by promptly renewing your subscription when it expires, or in the event of your not caring to re-subscribe, we ask, as a means of regulating our edition, that you kindly send us a postal to that effect.

Bird-Lore for 1900

Bird-Lore for 1900 will, we think, reach a standard of excellence not before attained by a journal of popular ornithology. No effort has been spared to secure authoritative articles of interest to the general reader, as well as those of practical value to the teacher and student.

There will be papers by John Burroughs, recording the rarer birds he has observed about his home; by Bradford Torrey, describing his methods of attracting winter birds; by Robert Ridgway, on song birds in Europe and America; by Otto Widmann, on a visit to Audubon's birthplace; and also contributions from William Brewster, E. A. Mearns, C. Hart Merriam, T. S. Roberts, and other well-known ornithologists.

* * * * *

A valuable contribution to the study of bird migration will be a paper by Captain Reynaud, in charge of the Homing Pigeon Service of the French Army, who will write of his experiments in this branch of the service.

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Attention will be paid to the bird-life of countries made prominent by recent events: L. M. McCormick, who has lately returned from the Philippines, writing of the birds of Luzon; H. W. Henshaw, of the birds of Hawaii, where he has long been a resident; Tappan Adney, who passed a year in the Klondike, of the birds of that region; and F. M. Chapman, of the birds of Cuba.

* * * * *

A. J. Campbell, the authority on Australian birds, will also contribute a paper on foreign birds, describing the remarkable habits of the Bower Birds, with photographs of their bowers from nature.

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For teachers there will be a series of suggestive articles on methods of teaching ornithology, by Olive Thorne Miller; Florence A. Merriam; Marion C. Hubbard, of Wellesley; Lynds Jones, of Oberlin, and others, who have made a specialty of instruction in this branch of nature study.

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Students will be glad to avail themselves of the assistance offered by Bird-Lore's Advisory Council, a new idea in self-educational work, the details of which are announced on another page. Among papers designed more especially for students will be Ernest Seton-Thompson's 'How to Know the Hawks and Owls,' illustrated by the author, F. A. Lucas' 'Tongues of Birds,' also illustrated by the author, and Professor Pinchot's 'A Method of Recording Observations.'

* * * * *

A paper of unusual value to those who study birds with the aid of a camera will be by John Rowley, of the American Museum of Natural History, who will describe a recently invented camera which opens new fields in bird photography.

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For 'Young Observers' there will be articles by other young observers, and poems and jingles all designed to arouse and stimulate the child's interest in birds.

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The illustrations will, if possible, be of even higher quality than those for which already Bird-Lore has become distinguished.

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The Audubon Department, under Mrs. Wright's care, will, as heretofore, print reports of the great work which is being done in the interests of bird study and bird protection, and the series of helpful articles by its Editor will be continued.

* * * * *

This outline of the leading features of Bird-Lore for the coming year will, we trust, be deemed sufficient warrant for the belief expressed in our opening sentence. It will be seen that our difficulty is not lack of material, but lack of space, and this difficulty we hope our subscribers will help us to overcome by seconding our efforts in their behalf.

=The Audubon Societies=

"_You cannot with a scalpel find the poet's soul, Nor yet the wild bird's song._"

Edited by Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright (President of the Audubon Society of the State of Connecticut), Fairfield, Conn., to whom all communications relating to the work of the Audubon and other Bird Protective Societies should be addressed. Reports, etc., designed for this department should be sent at least one month prior to the date of publication.

DIRECTORY OF STATE AUDUBON SOCIETIES

With names and addresses of their Secretaries.

=New Hampshire= Mrs. F. W. Batchelder, Manchester. =Massachusetts= Miss Harriet E. Richards, care Boston Society of Natural History, Boston. =Rhode Island= Mrs. H. T. Grant, Jr., 187 Bowen street, Providence. =Connecticut= Mrs. Henry S. Glover, Fairfield. =New York= Miss Emma H. Lockwood, 243 West Seventy-fifth street, New York City. =New Jersey= Miss Anna Haviland, 53 Sandford Ave., Plainfield, N. J. =Pennsylvania= Mrs. Edward Robins, 114 South Twenty-first street, Philadelphia. =District of Columbia= Mrs. John Dewhurst Patten, 3033 P street, Washington. =Wheeling, W. Va.= (branch of Penn Society) Elizabeth I. Cummins, 1314 Chapline street, Wheeling. =Ohio= Miss Clara Russell, 903 Paradrome street, Cincinnati. =Indiana= Amos W. Butler, State House, Indianapolis. =Illinois= Miss Mary Drummond, Wheaton. =Iowa= Miss Nellie S. Board, Keokuk. =Wisconsin= Mrs. George W. Peckham, 646 Marshall street, Milwaukee. =Minnesota= Mrs. J. P. Elmer, 314 West Third street, St. Paul. =Tennessee= Mrs. C. C. Conner, Ripley. =Texas= Miss Cecile Seixas, 2008 Thirty-ninth street, Galveston. =California= Mrs. George S. Gay, Redlands.

The Law and the Bird

During the past ten months Bird-Lore has printed interesting statistics concerning the organization of the various State Audubon Societies, as well as significant reports of the progress of their work. So far so good. There are, of course, slight differences in the platforms of these societies regarding by-laws, methods, fees versus no fees, etc. Upon one point, however, they all agree--that while they deplore the use of the feathers of wild birds in millinery, the great point is the education of children to have the proper regard for bird life.

It is, however, necessary to go a step behind even this. _A priori_ the bird must be given a legal status before it can be protected with any general success, even by those most willing so to do. In appealing to the average child of the public school, it should be remembered of how many races this average child is compounded,--races with instincts concerning what are called the lower animals, quite beyond the moral comprehension of the animal-loving Anglo-Saxon. To make this average school child respect the rights of the bird, the bird must be given a legal status to command, and not to beg respect. This child may be appealed to in other ways and may readily assent to all that you say, _while your personal influence is with him_, but he goes away and forgets; he does not feel the weight of a merely moral penalty.

Game birds have this legal status, in a greater or less degree, in all states, with perhaps the single exception of Mississippi, and sportsmen are always on the alert for infringement of the game laws.

It would seem to me wise for Audubonites to turn more attention to the legal status of the class of birds that they specially seek to protect.

Legislation in this respect is, of course, difficult to obtain, because many sportsmen are afraid of weakening the game laws by stirring up discussion regarding song birds, etc.; but much more can be made of the existing laws. That these are by no means adequately enforced, is evident to anyone who notices the hordes of men and boys prowling, these autumn days, about woods and meadows, where legitimate game birds are unknown, and Robins, Flickers, and even the smaller migrants are the only game. It makes one feel that the song bird protectionists must often "pass by on the other side," not having the honesty of their convictions in as militant a degree as the sportsmen, even when they have the law to back the bird.

It will doubtless be interesting to open these 'pages,' during the coming year, to a presentation and discussion of this legal status. We should like to receive the condensed bird laws of every state possessing such, as well as opinions as to what birds should be excluded from protection in the best interests of the Commonwealth, to the end that there may be a federation of Audubon Societies regarding the best method of obtaining legislation for the protection of desirable birds not covered by the game laws.

Be the roads many--illustrated lectures to arouse public sentiment, birdless bonnets, leaflets, thousands of pledge cards signed by ready sympathizers--the goal must be conservative, well thought out legislation, free from any taint of emotional insanity. If we are to keep the bird it must be by the aid of the law, the only voice that _must_ be listened to, speaking the only language understood by all the races that go to make up the people of the United States.--M. O. W.

Reports from Societies

RHODE ISLAND SOCIETY