16 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 16-No. 1 



Wc uiiclerstaiul that a (icali'i- lias made a 

 frautii' effort to seeuie a eoiiier in the White 

 Owl inarket. Comiiij; down as tliey have by 

 tlie tlumsauds, he lias had a bioad lield to 

 practise in. 



W. H. Lucas, of Brid<;ej)oit, Conn., reiioits 

 tindins a vunt efig of the Ued-winged Bhick- 

 bird last year, which only measured .40x.42. 

 It is almost round. 



Editorial. 



In greeting our fiiends with this our fu^t 

 number for l.siU, we call attcntiin to a desire 

 that we have expressed in the pasl. to make 

 the (». it O. a little more general. We wish 

 to have the matter that is presented done so, 

 as far as possible, in a manner to he alliactive 

 fo those who do not take as scientific a view 

 as their neighbors. In doing this it will in no 

 way interfere with the tnilli and solid facts. 

 We also open the columns to any articles of 

 sporting interest. In carrying out this pro- 

 gramme the O. & O. will not suirender its 

 scientific prestige, while by an interest and 

 attention of many who, while thoroughly en- 

 ioying the study of nature, are not enabled 

 through previous education, or from lack of 

 resources to obtain one, will he attracted, and 

 may not be deterred from becoming both 

 readers as well as coutributors because of its 

 being so scientific that nnudi of it is Greek to 

 them. To this end we ask the earnest co- 

 operation of our friends, both in the field as 

 well as in the library, to extend the cordial 

 relations we have so long enjoyed and continue \ 

 their contributions, and desiie to say to any 

 whom we have not yet known in our columns 

 that they will he open to all. and we will fc<'l 

 vinder great obligations for any assistauie in 

 this line. 



of tlie feather trade. First, because the 

 volume of .\meiican birds never was moie 

 than a droi> in the bu<-ket any way in the tiade, 

 the great bulk being foreign bird skins, at once 

 more attractive and much less in i)rice, 

 and secondly, the feather millinery simply 

 went out of fashion. B\)r two seasons past 

 Grouse, Pigeon, Plover, in fact any kind of a 

 wing, was all that was calh d for. We dcudit 

 if any number of American skins conld be 

 sold at almost nny ]uice in Xew Vfirk. As a 

 matter of fact we have been told several times 

 within two years by large dealers that there 

 was no market f(u- Ihem: so all these claims 

 are like all others madi' in this line — simply 

 hiiiiihiKi. 



New Publications. 



At the last, Xovember, meeting of the A.O. V. 

 an address was delivered upon the work of the 

 union which showed a, remarkable hicdc of in- 

 telligence on a subject which the orator 

 claimed as being the result of the beneficent 

 labors of the union, viz. : the i>rotc<'tion of 

 North American birds. Had he taken the 

 pains to have obtained a list unmerieally of 

 North American birds destroyed by paid cnl- 

 li'Gtnrs for members of the union, nay, even for 

 some of the committee, and of the officers, 

 not to speak of members, the public wiudd 

 get a better insight into the '' lihiiiiniitai-iiiii" 

 point of its claim. It is simply absurd foi- 

 the A. O. U. or anyone else to claim that any- 

 thing it, as an organization or as individuals, 

 ever did had anvtliing to <lo with the downfall 



Urochure 1 of the Kochester (N. Y.) Acad- 

 emy of .Sciences contains no notes of interest 

 to the ornithologist, but Fairmau's paper on 

 "The Fungi of New "S'ork." and '•Howell cm 

 Meteorites" are both valuable ;uMiliims t<i 

 science. 



The journal of the C'incinnali ((lhi(.i) .Society 

 of Natural History for i.sOO <'ontains, among 

 other good things, "Notes on Ohio Itirds," by 

 Dury. 



The New York .\cadcmy of .'^ci( nccs iiubli^h, 

 in No. () and 7, an abstract of Mi-. 1 "wight's 

 paper on "The Horned Larks of North Amer- 

 ica," and the "Annals,'" just out, contain 

 matter which is indispensable to tlie entomol- 

 ogist: Mr. HeutenmuUer's pajjcr on the food 

 plants of the Lejiiil<i}ilcr(i of New York is 

 especially notable, as it will be of great assis- 

 tance to collectors in this sectiim. 



We have, by the hand of the author, a, cojiy 

 of a. reprint from the Traiixarlicjiis nf Ihr 

 A''ir(( Scotiau Instituir of Xatiiral Science, on 

 "Notes of Nova Scotian Zoology," by Sir. 

 Harry Piers of Halifax, N. .S. In this pai)er 

 he notes the capture of a specimen of Vir- 

 ginia Deer, an animal hitherto noted as being 

 unknown in this province, a fact as strange 

 as true, since it has been often taken in Xew 

 Brunswick, near the boundry line. He also 

 notes some of the habits of the Purjile (Jalli- 

 nule now kept in captivity liy Mr, Andrew 

 Downs, a hitherto unaccomplished achieve- 

 ment. The breeding habits of other little- 

 known birds are also touched upon, as are 

 also some reptiles and fishes. 



Mr. Piers, though a comparatively young 

 man, is doing some very fine work in Natural 

 Histiuv. 



