58 



THE OS PEE Y. 



THE OSPREY. 



An Illustrated Magazine of Popular Ornithology. 



Published Monthly, except in July ;ind August, 



By the 



OSPREY PUBLISHING COMPANY. 



ELLIOTT COUES and THEODORE GILL, Editors. 



WALTER ADAMS JOHNSON. Associate Editor. 



LOUIS AGASSIZ FUERTES, Art Editor. 



Coutributious of a relevaut nature are respectfully soli- 

 cited, and should be addressed to Dr. CouES, ITCIi N Street 

 N. W., Washington. D. C. 



Subscription : In the United States, Canada and Me.xico, 

 One Dollar a year, in advance. Single Copies. Ten Cents. 



Foreign Subscription; One Dollar and Twenty-five Cents. 

 Postage paid to all countries in the Postal Union. 



British agent : Frank A. Arnold. Mersham, Surrey, Eng- 

 land. 



Advertising rates sent on request. 



Copyright, 189S. by the ThbOspbey Publishing Company, 

 Entered as secoid-class matter at the Washington, D. 

 C, Post OlHce. 



DECEIVIBEK, 1898, 



No, 4. 



Editorial Eyrie. 



Modesty beiuff a virtue with which we have 

 been afflicted from our tenderest years, we have 

 been put to the editorial blush by the plaudits 

 which our last number has evoked from our en- 

 thusiastic friends. We withstand the shock 

 with philo.sophical resig'nation, however, and 

 utilize our emotions as a stimulus to renewed 

 endeavor to please our rapidly enlarg'ing' circle 

 of subscribers and contributors. Yet it remains 

 less t(i nur credit than to our contributors' that 

 The O.si'kky appears in such fine plumes. The 

 editorial function is a humble one in compari- 

 son with that of the writers for a first class 

 illustrated monthly magazine of popular oriii- 

 tholog:}', such as ours is universally conceded 

 to be. The Osprey is already sufficiently at- 

 tractive, entertaining- and instructive; our aim 

 shall always be to make it imiispotsahle. "As 

 well be out of the bird-world altogether as out 

 of The Osprey" writes one of our friends; and 

 this sentiment expresses the heig-ht of our am- 

 bition — already realized to some extent, and, 

 we hope, to be perfectly realized in the near 

 future. 



We do not profess to be very "technical" in 

 The Osprey. Technicalit}% and nomenclature, 

 and classification, and synonymy, and all that 



.sort of thing, are well enough in their way, but 

 are not in our way. Yet we are not less "scien- 

 tific" for being- popular and pleasing. What is 

 science? It is nothing more than accurate in- 

 formation employed with precision, and infor- 

 mation is neither less accurate nor less precise 

 for being conveyed in plain easy terms. We 

 know that this is what our subscribers desire, 

 and shall feel confident of our ability to meet 

 their wants, if they will themselves contribvite 

 to the desired result. 



So we say. scud in your cotitribiitions. If with 

 good illu;;,trations, so much the better. Make 

 them fresh, brigi-ht, crisp — and not too long'-. 

 We can always find a place for a short article, 

 if it is a g-ood one; a long one may have to 

 await its turn in the make-up. We wish espec- 

 ially to keep our "Pigeon Holes" full of inter- 

 esting new finds and facts in bird-life. Send 

 your notes of all sitch; and most likely you will 

 read them in the next number of The OsprEY'. 

 One other point: please write only on one side 

 of the paper, and write legibly, especially in 

 cases of all proper names. Editors may know 

 a g'-ood deal, and be good guessers, but they are 

 not omniscient, and not .gifted with the faculty 

 of second sig-ht, to read your mind and discover 

 what it was that you meant to write but forgot 

 to put on paper. 



We promised a Fuertes plate for this number, 

 and were going to beg pardon for its non- 

 appearance, when it reached us barely on time. 

 We have .several of these beautiful illustrations 

 in hand. So look out for the January number. 

 We have plenty of good things with which to 

 greet you and wish you a happy new year. 



Parable of the Clever Kid and his Aged Sire. 



"My sen," said the Aged Ornithologist, with 

 one foot in the grave and the other almost 

 there, "can you spell the name of that genus 

 whose type is the Bay-wing-ed Bunting?" 



"'Course I can," replied the Clever Kul — 

 "P o-o-e-c-e-t-e-s." 



"Tis well; and how do you spell the name of 

 that genus which contains the White-fronted 

 Dove?" 



"Same way Thompson spells his name— with 

 a p — L~e-p-t-o-p-t-i-l-a." 



"Now Heaven be praised," said the Aged Or- 

 nithologist, while tears of joy coursed down his 

 furrowed cheek; "the Clever Kid can spell bet- 

 ter than a majority of the members of the Com- 

 mittee on Nomenclature and Classification of 

 the American Ornithologists' Union." 

 \_To be continued. '\ 



