EDITORIAL 143 



mane janitor, discovering the dead bodies beneath the window, 

 made it a point to lower the shades every afternoon. This king- 

 fisher struck the glass as the janitor was passing beneath, and 

 the warm yet apparently lifeless body was brought to the class 

 and the bird was laid upon the table as dead, but to our sur- 

 prise it soon recovered from the shock it had experienced and 

 in all its pulsing beauty sat upon my finger for its picture. 



Scarcely a school day passes in April or May without its 

 full quota of bird suicides brought in by the children. In such 

 cases, it seems a pity not to make use of these beautiful speci- 

 mens, usually unmarred by the fate they have experienced, and 

 the teacher who has learned to prepare and preserve a bird-skin 

 can build up an extensive collection from this source alone. A 

 sympathetic teacher proceeding thus openly with her class, plac- 

 ing emphasis upon bird life rather than upon taxidermy, will 

 be in no danger of encouraging the air-gun or the sling-shot. 



EDITORIAL NOTES 



Through the generosity of Mr. William Dutcher, President 

 of the National Association of Audubon Societies, we are able 

 to present to our readers in this issue colored plates of the pas- 

 senger pigeon and the mourning dove. These artistic repro- 

 ductions are most timely in view of the present continental 

 search for surviving members of that great race of pigeons 

 which only yesterday obscured with countless million wings the 

 sun. The present status of the investigation is given elsewhere 

 in this issue. Readers of the Nature-Study Review, and human- 

 itarians everywhere, will appreciate Mr. Butcher's kindness in 

 providing these two most admirable plates for publication in the 

 Review. 



:|: :!: * 



With this number, in accordance with our custom, we sus- 

 pend publication until September. This has been a good year 

 for nature-study in America. The fakers have been discredited; 

 sentimentalists have been losing ground; many scientific men of 

 note are becoming interested in problems of elementary educa- 

 tion; instructors in secondary schools are lending a helping 

 hand in the grades; scientific organizations are recognizing na- 

 ture-study values and co-operating with existing agencies in 

 promoting development in this field; and the membership of the 

 American Nature-Study Society is larger than ever before. It 



