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THE OSPREY. 



THE OSPREY. 



An Illustrated Magazine of Popular Ornithology 

 Published Monthly except in July and August 



EDITED BY- 

 WALTER ADAMS JOHNSON 

 ASSOCIATED WITH 



Dr. ELLIOTT COUES 



Subscription: In the United States, Canada and Mexico, 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, Mershani, Surrey, England. 



Advertising rates sent on request. 



Official Organ Cooper Ornithological Club of the Pacific Coast 



Notes and News of a relevant nature, and original contribu- 

 tions are respectfully solicited, and should be addressed to 

 the editor at the office of publication. 



Copyright, 1897, by The Osprey Co. Entered as second-class 

 mail matter at the New York, N.Y., Postoffice, March 2, 1898. 



THE OSPREY COMPANY. 



Removed December, 1897, from Galesburg, III. to 



141 East 25TH Street, - - - - New York City. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



At the eve of the commencement of a third volume 

 and year of publication we wish to thank The Os- 

 prey's subscribers for their past support, and espe- 

 cially the senders of numerous pleasing testimonials 

 that have come to us during the past year. The 

 magazine has been a unique one. We shall continue 

 it much in the same lines, though there are expected 

 improvements, and it will be our endeavor, more 

 than ever, to make it interesting and altogether a 

 magazine that will be acceptable — and we hope indis- 

 pensable — to the increasing ranks of those persons 

 interested in birds and the welfare of our feathered 

 friends. We solicit the prompt renewals of subscrib 

 ers whose subscriptions fall due with this number. 



A decisive step was taken by the Illinois Audubon 

 Society of Chicago when they induced State Game 

 Warden Loveday to sieze the stock of native Illinois 

 song birds owned by one of the large dealers in song 

 birds. The game warden took the matter into court 

 for a test case, and at Justice Underwood's decision 

 the birds were turned over to him to be disposed of 

 according to law. One Chicago dealer declared that 

 he handled each year $10,000 worth of one single 

 species of native Illinois birds. He also said he could 

 buy at the rate of ftio a hundred all the Indigo Bunt- 

 ings he wanted They are sold at retail for 75 cents 

 each. 



There sailed from Seattle, Wash., on May 16 an 

 expedition bound for Alaska and the Arctic regions 

 for the purpose of scientific research, and, incident- 

 ally, the location of new gold fields. The Osprey 

 has a friend among the prominent members of the 

 expedition in Mr. George H. Clarke. Mr. Clark has 

 intended for The Osprey a series of articles on the 

 birds observed during the Peary Expedition of 1893-4, 

 of which his article in the May number was to be 

 the first ; but they are now postponed while he goes 

 again within the Arctic Circle for two winters We 

 expect to speak further of this expedition in the next 

 number of The Osprey. 



Mr. Herbert K. Job, of North Middleboro, Mass., 

 is spending two months in North Dakota. It is his 

 plan to take a series of photographs, especially of 



water birds nesting, and others of unusual interest. 

 These are to be used in illustrating with the stereopti- 

 can his lectures on birds. Mr. Job is an expert photog- 

 rapher of birds as his several photographs of the 

 Shearwater, which will appear in a future number of 

 The Osprey, attest. 



We learn that Mrs. N B. DeGraff Doubleday 

 (Neltje Blanchan) is at work on a companion volume 

 to 'Bird Neighbors,' which will be entitled 'Birds 

 that Hunt and are Hunted.' The two volumes will 

 make a complete popular ornithology with colored 

 plates, and without doubt the most magnificent and 

 satisfactory one the beginner can buy for $4.00. The 

 marvelous sale of 'Bird Neighbors' has no doubt in- 

 duced Mrs. Doubleday to write the second volume. 



There is a larger business in the sale of bird 

 houses than most people would think. The rustic 

 bird houses are made in a great variety of styles and 

 shapes and sizes and sold at prices ranging from $2 

 to $150, the highest price being for a very large 

 bird or dove house. Probably the greatest number 

 sold cost $4 and $5 each. For $15 a birdhouse of 

 considerable size can be bought, with a pole to sup- 

 port it. 



We learn that not long ago Mrs. L. M. Stephenson 

 sent out 2,000 copies of a printed notice warning the 

 people of Arkansas not to shoot song and insectivor- 

 ous birds They were to be posted up in post offices 

 throughout that state. She is becoming quite well 

 known for the really gallant service she has rendered 

 the cause of bird protection in her state. 



Prof. Lawrence Bruner, professor of ornithology 

 and entomology in the University of Nebraska, has 

 recently returned from the Argentine Republic, 

 where for the past year he has been employed by the 

 Argentine government in lessening the locust plague. 

 He brought back a fine collection of the birds, eggs, 

 insects, etc., of that country. 



'Science' in the review of Miss Merriam's recent 

 book, 'Birds of Village and Field,' speaking of the 

 beautiful illustrations the work contains, cites that 

 of the Long-billed Marsh Wren by Louis Agassiz 

 Fuertes as one of the few best. This picture first 

 appeared in The Osprey and was loaned to appear 

 in the book. 



We learn from ' Forest and Stream ' that Martha's 

 Vineyard has been stocked with Pinnated Grouse, 

 which have been put out to replace the native Heath 

 Hen. The Heath Hen, is practically extinct on the 

 island, one chief cause leading to this result being 

 woods fires which have swept over the breeding 

 grounds. 



Dr. Jonathan Dwight, Jr., in the last number of 

 'The Auk' writes a letter which proves the observa- 

 tions of Mr. Edwin Irvine Haines to be untrustworthy. 

 Mr. Haines' papers have been read before the Amer- 

 ican Ornithologists' Union and the Linnesen Society 

 and published in 'The Auk' and The Osprey. 



Dr. Henry T. Fernald has been appointed to the 

 position of economic zoologist of the State of Penn- 

 sylvania. He holds the doctorate of Johns Hopkins 

 University, and is at present professor of zoology in 

 the Pennsylvania State College. Dr Fernald is a 

 son of the eminent entomologist. Professor C. H. 

 Fernald, of the Massachusetts Argicultural College. 



The Audubon Society of Philadelphia lately held 

 a noteworthy exhibition of hats and bonnets Being 

 trimmed without feathers, and in honor of their 

 beauty, they were termed Audubonnets. 



Mr. Geo. G. Cantwell has left Juneau, .Alaska, for 

 a photographing trip along the Yukon trail. 



