Bird - Lore 



ilirti'Eore 



A Bi-Monthly Magazine 

 Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds 



OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE AUDOBON SOCIETIES 



Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



ContributingEditor.MABELOSGOOD WRIGHT 



Published by D. APPLETON & CO. 



Vol. XV Published June 1. 1913 No. 3 



SUBSCRIPTION RATES 



COPYRIGHTED, 1913. BY FRANK M. CHAPM,fl 



Bird-Lore's Motto: 

 the Bush Is Worlh Two in the Band 



A Bird 



The Colombian expedition of the 

 American Museum of Natural History 

 returned to New York City early in May 

 after an absence of about four months. 

 The expedition met with great success, 

 securing material for a Habitat Group of 

 the bird-life of the Magdalena Valley, and 

 a representative series of birds of the 

 Pogota region, but its leader, Mr. Frank 

 M. Chapman, contracted a relapsing 

 fever and, while convalescing, did not 

 suflaciently recover from the effects of his 

 illness to resume his editorial duties, and 

 the present number of Bird-Lore is there- 

 fore brought out under the supervision of 

 Mr. Waldron DeWitt Miller. 



To THE student of ornithology there is 

 still a wide field in the investigation of 

 various phases of our birds' life-histories. 

 Miss Sherman's memoirs of the Screech 

 Owl and the Flicker are among the best 

 examples of the valuable results that may 

 be obtained by patient and intelligent 

 observation. Of quite a different nature, 

 yet of great interest, is Mr. Burns' unique 

 sectional bird census which represents the 

 arduous work of three seasons. 



Not all of us, however, have the time or 

 the inclination for such research work, and 

 after all, to many, bird study is a recrea- 

 tion pure and simple. While we do not 

 believe that the making of a big list for 

 the day or the season should be the one 

 ambition of the field-glass student, yet 

 an occasional effort of this kind, stimu- 



lated, perhaps, by friendly rivalry, may 

 be a profitable as well as enjoyable pas- 

 time. 



Bird-Lore's Christmas Census has, we 

 believe, justified itself by the interest 

 awakened and the results secured, giving 

 us a clearer idea of the distribution of our 

 winter birds than would ever be obtained 

 from the reading of paragraphs on Range. 

 We have in mind at the present moment, 

 however, the spring migration one-day 

 bird-list. Such a list is no new idea, but 

 thus far, because of the large number of 

 species involved, no attempt has been 

 made to publish a migration census. In 

 certain respects the scientific interest of a 

 general spring census would exceed that 

 of the winter list, showing in a graphic 

 manner the northward movement of the 

 Warblers and Thrushes, and the extent of 

 latitude occupied by certain migrating 

 species on the day chosen. While Bird- 

 Lore has no present intention of under- 

 taking the publication of a spring census, 

 we fully expect that within a few years 

 some one will take up this work. 



Probably the largest one-day list ever 

 obtained, in this country at least, is that 

 of Prof. Lynds Jones who, with two assist- 

 ants, recorded in northern Ohio, on May 

 13, 1907, 144 species. In the Atlantic 

 States, a list of loo inland species could 

 doubtless be obtained by a combina- 

 tion of good fortune and hard work. 

 The element of luck in the spring is 

 a more important factor than in the 

 winter, particularly to one who cannot 

 choose his day, for only a wave of Warb- 

 lers and other migrants, among them many 

 of the rarer species, will make it possible 

 to secure a record list. The spring migra- 

 tion now closing in the vicinity of New 

 York City was somewhat lacer than u.-,ual, 

 great bird-waves arriving on the 13th and 

 1 7th. On the i8th, the writer's total for the 

 day reached 95. As is usually the case, 

 some common birds were not observed, 

 while among the rarities noted were a 

 Golden-eye Duck, the first local record, a 

 Long-billed Marsh Wren, a species seldom 

 met with as a migrant, and several of the 

 r.irerWarblersand Sparrows. — W.DeW.M. 



