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Bird - Lore 



A Bi-monthly Magazine 

 Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds 



OFFICIAL OKUAN OF THK Al'DUBON SOCIETIES 



Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN 

 Published by THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 



Vol. IV Published December 1, 1902 No. 6 



SUBSCRIPTION RATES 



Price ill 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 

 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. 



COPYRIGHTED, 190a, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



Bird-Lore's Motto: 

 A Bird in the Bush is IVorth Two in the Hand 



1902 



Each year, in reviewing the contributions 

 to the literature of ornithology made during 

 the preceding twelve months, it has not 

 seemed possible that a succeeding period of 

 equal time would witness the production 

 of so many and, in the main, such excellent 

 books and papers on birds. But one by 

 one they appear, and when we reckon the 

 sum total for 1902 we find no evidence 

 of a decrease in their number. 



In systematic ornithology the second vol- 

 ume of Mr. Ridgway's great work on the 

 ' Birds of North and Middle America " 

 takes first place ; and under this head are 

 to be included the third volume of Dr. 

 Sharpe's ' Hand-List ' of the birds of the 

 world and Mr. Oberholser's critical studies 

 of the Horned Larks. 



A text-book which will exert a marked 

 influence on the study of birds in our 

 western states is Mrs. Bailey's ' Handbook 

 of the Birds of the Western United States,' 

 a publication of the first importance. 



In original research Dr. R. M. Strong's 

 paper on the development of pigment in 

 feathers may be counted the year's most 

 valuable contribution to subjective orni- 

 thology : merited praise it gives us pleas- 



ure to bestow. Here, also, should be 

 mentioned Dr. Dwight's continued studies 

 of the molt. 



The most startling find of the year in the 

 field, is undoubtedly Professor Blatchley's 

 discovery of Great Auk's bones in Florida, 

 subsei}uently confirmed by Professor Hitch- 

 cock. In exploration, the results of Mr. 

 Preble's trip to the Hudson Bay region add 

 much to our knowledge of the bird- life of 

 that little-visited land. Mr. Brewster's 

 ' Birds of the Cape Region of Lower Cali- 

 fornia ' is also a welcome contribution to 

 the faimal and biographical literature of 

 ornithology and will long remain a standard 

 treatise on the birds of that region. Mr. 

 Grinnell's 'Check-List of California Birds,' 

 is a state list of exceptional value, and lists 

 have also been published of the birds of 

 Oregon and V'ermont by Woodcock and 

 Perkins, respectively. Mr. Silloway's 

 ' Summer Birds of Flathead Lake ' de- 

 serves mention here, and Mr. Burns' 

 ' Sectional Bird Census ' is a capital piece 

 of field work. 



Of original observation presented in 

 popular form and none the less valuable for 

 that, — in fact, more valuable in that it reaches 

 a wider audience — the camera-illustrated 

 books call for first mention, because they 

 convey their information through a graphic 

 medium more impressive and more instruc- 

 tive than written descriptions of the scene or 

 fact figured can possibly be. Mr. Job's 

 'Among the Water Fowl " is a good book 

 of this class, and Mrs. Wheelock's ' Nest- 

 lings of Forest and Marsh' shows how 

 much may be gleaned in old fields. Pos- 

 sessed of both popular and scientific value, 

 as well as beaut\- of make-up, is Mr. Key- 

 ser's ' Birds of the Rockies' which takes 

 the reader to new scenes among birds con- 

 cerning which there is much yet to learn. 



Of educational value is Professor Hodge's 

 ' Nature Study and Life.' with its generous 

 section devoted to birds, and Mr. Lord's 

 ' Birds of Oregon and Washington,' which 

 has been adopted for use in the schools of 

 those states. Both educational and practi- 

 cal is Neltje Blanchan's ' How to Attract 

 the Birds,' with its many hints to those 

 who wouKl have birds about their homes. 



