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Bird - Lore 



2Strb=lLore 



A Bi-Monthly Magazine 

 Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds 



OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE At'Dl'BON SOCIETIES 



Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



Contributing Editor, MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT 



Published by D. APPLETON & CO. 



Vol. XXII Published June 1. 1920 No. 3 



SUBSCRIPTION RATES 



Price in the United States, one dollar and fiftv rents a year; 

 outside the United States, one dollar and seventy-five cents, 

 postage paid. 



COPYRIGHTED. 1920, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



Bird-Lore's Motto: 

 A Bird in the Busb Is Worth Two in the Hand 



In our more northern and eastern states, 

 the Robin and House Wren have estab- 

 lished more intimate relations with man 

 than any other of our native birds. Civi- 

 lization has reduced the number of their 

 enemies and increased their available 

 supply of food, and, of recent years, man 

 has become a friend rather than an enemy. 

 Beyond question, the Wren population 

 has been greatly increased by the erection 

 of houses for their nests, while the Robin 

 needs but slight encouragement to become 

 semi-domesticated. 



It follows, then, that in this part of 

 our country these two birds have made 

 more human friends than other com- 

 mon but less trustful species, and the 

 pleasure of this association, on our side 

 at least, is reflected in the numerous 

 accounts Bird-Lore receives of the hab- 

 its of these two birds. Several of them 

 are published in this issue of Bird-Lore, 

 which might, indeed, be called a Robin- 

 Wren number. 



On April 23, an expedition led by J. O. 

 La Gorce, associated with Louis Agassiz 

 Fuertes and Norman McClintock, sailed 

 from Miami for the Bahamas in search of 

 Flamingoes. Fuertes' object is to secure 

 additional life studies of these birds on 

 which to base certain murals he has in 

 mind, while McClintock seeks new chan- 

 nels for his well-known skill with the 

 motion-picture camera and telephoto lens. 

 It is to be hoped that a nesting colony of 

 Flamingoes will be found. 



The Annual Report of the Chevy 

 Chase Club, of Washington, contains a 

 statement which we wish might be brought 

 effectively to the attention of the officials 

 of all other golf clubs in this country. It 

 reads "land not needed for golf or bird cover 

 has been cultivated . . .," etc., indicat- 

 ing that those in charge of the grounds of 

 this club consider cover for birds second 

 only in importance to golf, the main object 

 of the club's existence. 



As a result, the grounds of the Chevy 

 Chase Club have become a sanctuary where 

 birds find not only protection from man 

 but cover which gives them concealment 

 from their natural enemies. A Martin- 

 house is thronged with cheerful tenants; 

 Mockingbirds and Robins, representing 

 respectively the South and North, here 

 meet in safety on common ground; Wood 

 Thrushes abound about the clubhouse; 

 there are Cardinals in the nearby woods, 

 Flickers and Red-headed Woodpeckers are 

 everywhere, and Bob-whites, Meadow- 

 larks, and Killdeer mingle with the golfers. 



One need not be an ornithologist to 

 derive keen pleasure from the presence of 

 these and many other birds which make 

 their home at Chevy Chase. By the exer- 

 cise of both sense and sentiment the club 

 has added immeasurably to its assets. We 

 commend its example to the authorities of 

 golf clubs everywhere. If their grounds are 

 too restricted to afford 'bird cover,' at 

 least they may erect bird-houses, and, in 

 the absence of 'water hazards,' a bird-bath 

 will prove both an attractive and accept- 

 able substitute. 



The League of Wild Life Photographers 

 was organized at the American Museum of 

 Natural History, with the following officers: 



President, George Shiras, 3d; Vice- 

 President, Frank M. Chapman; Secretary, 

 J. T. Nichols; Treasurer, E. R. Sanborn. Di- 

 rectors, Clinton G. Abbott, Carl E. Akeley, 

 Arthur A. Allen, Ernest Harold Baynes. 



The objects of the League are not alone 

 to promote the interests of genuine wild- 

 life photography, but to expose the makers 

 of spurious 'nature' photographs. 



The Secretary's address is, care of the 

 American Museum of Natural History. 



