Editorial 



41 



iSirti Hore 



A Bi nionlhly Magazine 

 Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds 



HFKRIAI. ()Ri,A\ OF lllh: Al'Dl.'HON SOCIETIES 



Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN 

 Published by D. APPLETON & CO- 



Vol. XII Published February 1. 1910 No. 1 



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Price in ths United States, Canada and tiexico twenty < 

 number, one dullar a year, postage paid. 



COPVKIGHlED,l9IO, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



Bird-Lore's Motto: 

 A Bird in the Bush is IVorth Two in the Hand 



BowDLER Sharpe, One of the leading 

 ornithologists of the world, died at his 

 home in Chiswick, England, on December 

 25, 1909. He leaves as an enduring mon- 

 ument the collection of birds in the British 

 Museum, which grew to unrivaled propor- 

 tions under his charge, and the great 'Cat- 

 alogue' of the birds of the world, unques- 

 tionably the most valuable contribution 

 ever made to systematic ornithology. 



With this number the connection be- 

 tween the Macmillan Company and Bird- 

 Lore ceases, and the magazine will here- 

 after be published by D. Appleton & Co. 

 It will still be printed by the J. Horace 

 McFarland Company, to whose sympa- 

 thetic cooperation it owes so much, and, 

 as before, will be mailed from their office 

 in Harrisburg, where all notices of change 

 of address, removals, etc., should be sent, 

 addressed simply Bird-Lore, Harrisburg, 

 Pa. 



About the middle of February, the 

 editor, accompanied by Mr. Louis Agassiz 

 Fuertes, expects to sail for Mexico, to 

 gather data and material for a Habitat 

 Group representing the bird-life of the 

 tropical portions of Vera Cruz. The 

 painted background, for which Mr. 

 Fuertes will make studies, is planned 

 to show Mt. Orizaba with its snow-crown; 

 and to explain the significance of perpetual 

 summer and perpetual snow in the same 

 scene will be one of the objects of the 



.•^roui). Further work in Mexico will- 

 doubtless extend the trip until late in 

 .\pril, and during this period the editor 

 begs the indulgence of his correspon- 

 dents. 



The Twenty-seventh Annual Congress- 

 of the American Ornithologists' Union, 

 which was held at the American Museum 

 of Natural History on December 7-9, 1909, 

 was more largely attended than any of its~ 

 predecessors, over 130 members register- 

 ing. 



A. C. Bent was elected a Fellow, and 

 .\llan Brooks, Bradshaw H. Swales, Harry 

 S. Swarth and Percy Taverner, were- 

 elec ed Members; there were also 121 new 

 Associate Members elected. The program 

 contained a number of papers of much 

 sc entific interest, and various social, 

 functions offered opportunity for that 

 personal intercourse which constitutes- 

 so pleasant and so important a part of: 

 gatherings of this kind. 



After sending the manuscript of the- 

 Christmas Bird Census to the printer, 

 we received three lists from England; two- 

 from H. F. Witherby, to both of which,, 

 breaking our rule, we gladly give space,., 

 and one from Wm. Farren. These lists- 

 illustrate admirably the educational value- 

 of records of this kind, for they are directly 

 comparable with lists which we may make ■ 

 here under similar conditions. They show,, 

 too, in the most interesting way, the influ- 

 ence of the mild winter climate of southern ■ 

 England on the bird-life of that season. 



The most abundant species observed' 

 are doubtless permanently resident as- 

 individuals in England, and, aside from 

 this evidence of their adaptability to sea- 

 sonal changes, their abundance is probably 

 in no small measure to be attributed to- 

 their escape from the perils of migration. 

 It is to the great numbers of these birds, . 

 which enter into the bird-life of every 

 day, and, indeed, of every outing in Eng- 

 land, that we may attribute, in part at- 

 least, the fact that one sees so many more- 

 individual birds in England than in this^ 

 country. 



