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Bird - Lore 



iltrti Hore 



A Bi-monthly Masazine 

 Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds 



OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETIES 



Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



Contributing Editor, MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT 



Published by D, APPLETON & CO. 



Vol. XIII Published December 1. 1911 No. 6 



SUBSCRIPTION RATES 



Price in th; United States, Canada and Mexico, twenty cents 

 a number, one duUar a year, postage paid. 



COPYRIGHTED. 19II, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



Bird-Lore's Motto: 

 A Bird in the Bush Is fVorth Two in the Hand 



Looking at the lengthening row of 

 bound volumes of Bird-Lore, it is diffi- 

 cult for us to realize that there are among 

 its readers many who have entered this 

 world since Bird-Lore itself was born. 

 As a matter of fact, however, we prefer to 

 dwell on the magazine's growth in size 

 rather than in years; and we are free to 

 admit that, -^ ignoring the little matter of 

 dates, a comparison of Volume I with 

 Volume XIII affords us no small satis- 

 faction. 



In view of the circumstance that we 

 concluded our introductory editorial in 

 the first number of Bird-Lore (February 

 I, 1899) with a hope "that the near 

 future will witness a material increase in 

 the size of each number," we trust that 

 we may be pardoned for calling attention 

 to the fact that our first volume contained 

 206 pages, while the volume which the 

 present issue concludes numbers 400 

 pages; and, we may add, is illustrated 

 with twelve full-page colored plates, or 

 exactly twelve more than appeared in 

 Volume I! 



Since this increase in size has been made 

 possible only by the loyal support which 

 bird students have given Bird-Lore, it 

 goes without saying that the magazine's 

 growth is in truth a material expression 

 of the growth of interest in the study of 

 birds and of the movement for their better 

 protection. It is pertinent, for example, 



to recall that when the first number of 

 Bird-Lore was published there was no 

 National Association of Audubon Socie- 

 ties, and only fifteen State Societies had 

 been organized; while the Directory of 

 State Societies on a succeeding page of 

 this issue, shows that no less than thirty- 

 eight State Societies are now in existence, 

 and the Annual Report of the National 

 Association, which follows, supplies elo- 

 quent testimony of the numerous and 

 effective activities of that body and its 

 state allies. 



Certainly, we have abundant cause for 

 thanksgiving; but, we are chiefly con- 

 cerned with the past, as it it throws a 

 light toward the future. Does this light 

 give us any reason to believe that the 

 birds will continue to attract a growing 

 attention? 



In our opinion, this question may be 

 answered emphatically in the affirmative. 

 The birds' claims are too real to be denied, 

 and we believe that they will be exerted 

 in an even wider and more potent degree 

 as they become better known. 



It was a pleasure to hear so experienced 

 a teacher as Mrs. Comstock, in her recent 

 address at the annual meeting of the 

 National Association of Audubon Socie- 

 ties, say that children's interest in nature 

 could always be more readily aroused 

 through birds than through any other 

 forms of life. Thus we have proof of a 

 widespread, inherent interest in birds, 

 and also of what may be termed their 

 pedagogic value. As the Nature-Study 

 mov^ement gathers force, and as the 

 National and State Audubon Societies, 

 through cooperation with educational 

 boards, and in other ways aid in its 

 development, so a knowledge of birds 

 will be brought within the reach of 

 every student. And as the birds them- 

 selves, responding to protection and 

 encouragement, become more numerous 

 about our homes, and at the same time 

 become real things in place of names. Just 

 so will their appeal to our interest be- 

 come more definite, more personal and 

 more powerful. 



