Editorials 



ilirti'itore 



A Bi-monthly Magazine 

 Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds 



OFFICIAL OKC^AN OF THF. AIIDVISUX SOCIETIES 



Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN 

 Published by THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 



Vol. 1 December, 1899 No. 6 



SUBSCRIPTION RATES. 



Price in thelhiited States, Canada, and Mexico, 

 twenty cents a number, one dollar a year, post- 

 age paid. 



Subscriptions may be sent to the Publishers, at 

 Englewood, New Jersey, or 65 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 CoMPAiNv, Ltd., London. 



Manuscripts for publication, books, etc., for re- 

 view, should be sent to the Editor at Englewood. 

 New Jersey. 



Advertisements should be sent to the Pub- 

 lishers at Englewood, New Jersey, or 65 Fifth 

 avenue, New York City. 



COPYRIGHTED. 1899, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN. 



Bird-Lore's Motto : 

 A Bird in tke 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 sub- 

 scriptions. 



We trust, however, that in this con- 

 cluding number of our first volume we 

 may be permitted to make several state- 

 ments in which we hope our subscrib- 

 ers will have a mutual interest. 



In the first place, replying to the in- 

 quiry 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 oc- 

 cupied days. To publish it each month 

 would involve greatly increased labor, 

 which, under the circumstances, we can- 

 not 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 popu- 

 lar 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 be- 

 lieve, than is offered by any other bird 

 magazine for the sum of one dollar. 



To continue with this unpleasant sub- 

 ject ; 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 So- 

 cieties. 



We believe, therefore, we may venture 

 to say, that our relations with our sub- 

 scribers are of a wholly different and 

 more intimate nature than those which 

 exist between the publishers and pur- 

 chasers of magazines which yield an 

 adequate money return for labor ex- 

 pended. 



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, there- 

 fore, ask the cooperation of every reader 

 who has at heart the interests of bird 

 study and bird protection. This coopera- 

 tion may be shown in one or both of 

 two ways : First, you may aid in increas- 

 ing 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 sug- 

 gesting this course to others. Second, 

 you may assist us by promptly renewing 



