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Bird -Lore 



ilirt) itore 



A Bi-monthly Magazine 

 Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds 



OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THF. AltDUBON SOCIETIES 



Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN 

 Published by THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 



Vol. Ill 



Published April 1, 1901 



No. 2 



SUBSCRIPTION RATES 



Price in the United States, Canada, and Mexico 

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

 age paid. 



Subscriptions may be sent to the Publishers, at 

 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, or 66 Fifth avenue. New 

 Vork 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 Company, Ltd., London. 



COPYRIGHTED, 1901, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN. 



Bird-Lore's Motto: 

 A Bird in the Bush is Worth Two in the Hand. 



'The Outlook' for December i, 1900, 

 published a series of ten short articles on 

 the ten books which have most influenced 

 the thought and activities of the past cen- 

 tury. The writers included James Bryce, 

 Edward Everett Hale, Henry van Dyke, 

 Arthur T. Hadley, Thomas Wentworth 

 Higginson and other representative men of 

 the day, each of whom presented a list of 

 the ten books produced during the past one 

 hundred years, which, in his opinion, had 

 been most potent in the advancement of 

 mankind. 



We do not propose to analyze the lists 

 given or even to mention the works contained 

 in them, but we cannot refrain from calling 

 attention to the fact that the only book 

 given in each of the ten lists was Darwin's 

 ' Origin of Species.' 



What an unparalleled tribute, this, to the 

 patient, tireless, conscientious, gentle natur- 

 alist, whose labors, in spite of continuous iii- 

 heaith and discouragements, which would 

 soon have disheartened a less courageous 

 seeker after truth, are thus virtually declared 

 to be the dominant factor of the nineteenth 

 century in the elevation of his race. 



With what satisfaction the naturalist 

 reails the estimate of these ten eminent men, 

 not one of whom is a biologist, of the value 



to humanity of ' The Origin of Species' ! 

 No matter how humble be one's part, how 

 insignificant one's achievements, what an 

 inspiration it is to feel that one is working at 

 the same structure of wiiich Darwin laid so 

 stable a foundation ! 



During the past few months the legisla- 

 tures of a large number of states have paid 

 unprecedented attention to proposed laws 

 designed for the protection of non-game 

 birds. The whole movement aptly illus- 

 trates Thoreau's remark, " What a wedge, 

 what a beetle, what a catapult is a man in 

 earnest; what force can withstand him?" 



The man, or rather men, in this case, are 

 William Dutcher, representing the commit- 

 tee on bird protection of the American Or- 

 nithologists' Union, and T. S. Palmer, of 

 the Biological Survey of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, in charge of 

 the enforcement of the Lacey law. It is due 

 to the energy of these gentlemen, anil the sup- 

 port of Audubon and other societies, as well 

 as of individuals, which they have enlisted 

 that the model A. O. U. bird law, with but 

 slight modifications, has been passed by 

 the legislatures of Maine, New Hampshire, 

 Delaware, Wyoming and in the District of 

 Columbia. The same admirable law, or 

 amendments to existing laws, have been in- 

 troduced into the legislatures of Massachu- 

 setts, Connecticut, New Jersev, North Caro- 

 lina, Michigan, California and Oregon, and 

 are still (March 16) under consideration. 



The New York state law has been so 

 amended that the " web-footed wild fowl " 

 of the old law are now defined as " Ducks. 

 Geese, Brant and Swan," thereby excluding 

 Gulls, Terns and Grebes from the list of 

 birds which may be legally killed between 

 certain dates and consequently bringing 

 them imder that section of the law applying 

 to birds which may not legally be killed or 

 possessed at any time. The passage of this 

 amendment is of far-reaching importance. 

 Supported by section five of the Lacey law, 

 its enforcement means that the plumage of 

 Gulls, Terns and Grebes cannot be sold in 

 New Vork state, while its influence on the 

 trade in the feathers of these birds will 

 doubtless be felt throughout the country. 



