78 



THE OSPKEY. 



name of a great botanist is selected with ref- 

 erence to that department in which he excelled. 

 and was generally acknowledged to excel, the 

 scope of a periodical named after him may be 

 inferred or at least guessed at from the title. 

 It is a pity that ornithologists have not adopted 

 such a system, if a short title must be regarded 

 as essential, rather than that to which the}' 

 have so frequently resorted. 



A peculiar style for uninomial ornithological 

 journals was early inaugurated. The name of 

 a bird — Rhea — was selected as far back as ls4o. 

 for a periodical devoted to ornithology; this, 

 however, had little influence. But in 1863 a 

 quarterly periodical was commenced by several 

 eminent British ornithologists and the name 

 selected was The Ibis — still surviving, and 

 long may it flourish! There was some reason 

 for taking the name of a bird formerly and for 

 a long time regarded as sacred and around 

 which a copious literature had grown up. But 

 the principle was liable to abuse, and, in fact, 

 has been flagrantly abused. Many are the 

 journals that have been named after birds since 

 then, but not witli the taste or propriety mani- 

 fest in the case of the Ibis. We need not 



mention any of them except our own magazine, 

 The OSPREY. What is there in the Osprey that 

 its name should be tacked on to a magazine? 

 Nothing whatever! There is no aptness and 

 nothing suggestive. The system is a bad one 

 calculated to bring' ridicule on the science and 

 should no longer be continued. 



There is certainly an advantage in a short 

 title for purposes of citation and if one is 

 deemed necessary, the latinized name of a 

 master of the science assuredly is more sugges- 

 tive and more appropriate than that of a bird. 



An ornithological periodical was named after 

 the manner in vogue among the botanists as 

 early as 1849; it was called after the em- 

 inent ornithologist. J. F. Naumann, Naumannia. 

 This procedure was eminently proper and the 

 example might be followed with advantage. 

 Why should not such titles as The Wilsonia, The 

 Audubonia, Tin- Bairdia, or some other on the 

 same model be used for a magazine devoted to 

 American Ornithology? If a wider field is to be 

 covered, such names as The Sclateria, The New- 

 tonia, The Sharpia, and The Cabanisia suggest 

 themselves. At any rate, we hope the senseless 

 naming after birds may be abandoned. 



Notes. 



Mimicry AMONG Birds will be a subject for 

 investigation of a zoological expedition to the 

 Malay peninsula that by the. time this number 

 of the OSPREY is out will have arrived there. 

 Tlie scientific members of this party will be Mr. 

 N. Annandale and Mr. H. C. Robinson, the 

 former was one of the Skeat expedition to the 

 Siamese Malay States in 1899, and the latter is 

 an honorary research assistant in the Zoological 

 Department of the University College of Liver- 

 pool. "They intend to settle for a year in the 

 native State of Jalor, near the east coast of 

 Lower Siam, and to explore the neighborhood of 

 Patani and Biseret. Collections will be made in 

 all branches of natural history, while one of the 

 special objects of the expedition is the study of 

 the pre-Malayan tribes of Negrito stock who in- 

 habited the center of the peninsula. A thorough 

 investigation will also be made of the fauna — 

 both living and extinct — of certain very large 

 limestone caves which are found in the district, 

 and are said to extend for great distances un- 

 derground. The birds of the district will also be 

 studied, and observations made on mimicry and 

 allied phenomena. The ethnographical work 

 ought to be interesting, since Jalor is on the 

 borderland in which the Siamese and Malay 

 race meet." 



A Collection of the Birds oe Ohio has 

 been g-iveu by Mr. W. L. HaA'den of Columbus 

 to the Ohio State University. It will be under 

 the charge of the Department of Zoology and 

 Entomology. According to a note in Science, 



"it includes representatives of a large number of 

 native birds and is noteworthy from the fact 

 that the different species are shown with their 

 natural surroundings, nests, eggs and often 

 young, as well as old. birds of both sexes. 

 Some particularly striking effects are produced 

 with the nests of owls and woodpeckers included 

 in sections of the trees in which they were con- 

 structed. The collection is arranged in forty- 

 two handsome cases, finished in oak, and is 

 stated to have cost over one thousand dollars in 

 its preparation, not counting the time, ingenuity 

 and skill which Mr. Havdeu has lavished upon 

 it." 



Birds at a Church Service. Trinity Meth- 

 odist Church, one of the leading churches of this 

 city, used as Easter choristers on Sunday sixty 

 Canaries and fifty Mocking Birds. The idea 

 originated with Miss Rose White Steighagen, 

 the organist. She sugg-ested to the pastor that 

 it would be a novelty if the birds could be made 

 to render the music. He agreed with her and 

 they set to work on last Thursday to secure the 

 birds. They visited the various members of the 

 congregation and the bird storesof the city, and 

 asked for all the birds they had — Canaries or 

 Mocking Birds -they did not care which, they 

 said. 



Many of the parishioners were curious to 

 know what they wanted with the songsters, but 

 no amount of questions was sufficient to draw 

 the secret either from the organist or the 

 preacher. When the congregation filed into 



