Editorial 



47 



2^irtr=1Lore 



A Bi-Monthly Magazine 

 Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds 



OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETIES 



Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



Contributing Editor, MABELOSGOOD WRIGHT 



Published by D. APPLETON & CO. 



Vol. XIX Published February 1,1917 No. 1 



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Price in the United States, one dollar a year; outside the 

 United States, one dollar and twenty-five cents, postage paid. 



COPYRIGHTED, 1917, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



Bird-Lore's Motto: 

 A Bird in the Bush Is Worth Two in the Hand 



Major All.an Brooks' observations 

 on birds in the war zone, which we are 

 privileged to publish in this issue of 

 Bird-Lore, have as much human as 

 ornithological interest. While he arouses 

 our fears for the safety of the Sandpiper 

 whose search for food is constantly inter- 

 rupted by the explosion of shells, we are 

 far more concerned for the safety of the 

 observer who, inadequately protected by 

 sandbags, is evidently giving his atten- 

 tion to the bird rather than to their com- 

 mon source of danger. 



When we realize what an irreparable 

 loss to ornithology might be inflicted by a 

 mere fragment from one of these shells, 

 we are sure that every admirer of Major 

 Brooks' paintings of birds (and that, we 

 know, includes all who have seen them) 

 will be relieved to hear that after serv- 

 ing a long period on the firing-line he is 

 now engaged in teaching others the use of 

 the rifle. It is a suggestive comment on 

 war valuations that he owes his present 

 comparative immunity from danger to 

 his skill as a marksman rather than to his 

 rare gifts as an artist. 



Evening Grosbeaks have again re- 

 turned to us, and bid fair to become regular 

 winter visitants to the northeastern states, 

 while the 'Acadian' Chickadee has been 

 reported from localities south of those it 

 has heretofore been known to visit. Up 

 to this time (January 15) the winter has 

 been far from severe and we cannot 



account for the presence of these and other 

 boreal birds through prevailing climatic 

 conditions. 



What then has induced them to extend 

 their winter wanderings to such compara- 

 tively low latitudes? The answer to this 

 question is surely not to be based only on 

 observations made in the region to which 

 the birds travel, but rather upon studies 

 made in the country which they have left. 



Failure of the normal food-supply in 

 the area where the bird commonlj' winters 

 is probably the prime cause which induces 

 birds to extend the limits of their winter 

 range, and the presence of food in the 

 territory invaded is a secondary factor 

 in their occurrence there. 



The number of 'records' of the Evening 

 Grosbeak and Acadian Chickadee, for 

 example, which have been made during 

 recent years, sometimes prompts the 

 question whether this is not a matter of 

 increase in the numbers of ornitholo- 

 gists rather than in the numbers of birds. 

 It goes without saying that the number of 

 observations made increases automati- 

 cally with the number of observers, and 

 beyond question more purely accidental 

 visitants are reported nowadays than were 

 seen when field students were less num- 

 erous. But it does not seem probable 

 that during the last forty years, at least, 

 such widespread incursions as those made 

 by the two birds mentioned could have 

 taken place unnoticed. In this issue of 

 Bird-Lore, for example, Mr. C. F. Stone 

 records the first Acadian Chickadee ob- 

 served by him at Branchport, New York, 

 during a period of twenty-six years' con- 

 tinuous observation, and we could cite a 

 number of similar cases. 



We strongly condemn the proposal to 

 organize Boy Scouts, or any other groups 

 of boys, into bands for the destruction of 

 English Sparrows. Such a plan has ab- 

 solutely nothing to commend it. If it 

 becomes necessary to reduce the numbers 

 of Sparrows the work should be entrusted 

 to trained and authorized agents of the 

 state who could do it humanely and with 

 a due regard to the safety of other birds. 



