114 



THE OSPREY. 



THE OSPREY. 



An Illustrated Monthlj- Mag-azine Devoted 

 Exclusively to the Interests of 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



EDITED BV 



WALTER ADAMS JOHNSON, 



associated with 



Dr. EEEIOTT COUES. 



Subscription: In the United States, Canada and Mexico, 

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



Foreif^n Subscription: One Dollar and Twenty -five Cents. 

 Postaare paid to all countries in the Postal Union. 



British ag^ent: Frank A. Arnold, Mersham, Surrey, Eng-land. 



Advertising rates sent on request. 



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

 butions are respectfully solicited, and should be ad- 

 dressed to the editor at the office of publication. 



Copyright 1897 by The Osprey Company. Entered at the 

 Galesburg Postoffice as second-class mail matter. 



THE OSPKEY COMPANY. 



61 N. PRAIRIE ST. GALESBURG, lEL. 



Of all pictures, that it has been our privilege 

 to publish among' the illustrations of The Os- 

 PKEV, we know that the portrait of Dr. Coues, 

 which appears as the frontispiece of this num- 

 ber, will be of the greatest interest to our 

 readers. 



It is eminently fitting that we should take 

 this occasion to also present within our pages 

 the likeness of Mrs J. O. Wright. Mrs. Wright 

 needs no introduction,— she is already known to 

 tis as Mabel Osgood Wright, the author of 

 "Birdcraft," "Heart of Nature," etc. Besides 

 being a charming lady, she is a pleasing writer 

 and, fortunately for bird lovers, a sincere orni- 

 thologist. Her work, which, we trust, is only 

 begun, ranks with the best, and much may be 

 expected of her in the future. Nor will we have 

 to wait long, for Mrs. Wright is co-author with 

 Dr. Coues of "Citizen Bird." a book for begin- 

 ners in ornithology, which will be shortly is- 

 sued by the Macinillan Company. This will 

 contain 111 plates by E. A. Fuertes. The few 

 words regarding Mrs. Wright in January OS- 

 PREY, p. 70, will be of interest in this connec- 

 tion. The photograph which is printed on page 

 103 was taken in November, 1893. 



The Illinois Audubon Society is now an ac- 

 complished fact. The work for bird protection, 

 so well carried on by the Chicago Women's 

 Club, and largely reflected b3' the local press, 

 has resulted in the organization of this society 

 in Chicago by over 200 of the leading- women. 

 It is considered only a matter of time when the 

 organization will extend to many of the cities 

 and towns of the state. We are led to believe 



this, for the ladies declare their motto to be 

 "Work," and with the energy with which their 

 aim is prosecuted it can hardly be thought that 

 this movement will fo'low the road of the many- 

 defunct Audubon Societies. Mr. Ruthven 

 Deane and the Rev. Geo. B. Pratt are the 

 prominent ornithologists who havetaken active 

 part in the formation of the society. These 

 names also of interest to us are found on the 

 list of officers: Prof. D. G. Elliot, Dr. Emil G. 

 Hirsch, Mrs. Irene Rood, and Edward B. Clark. 



Mr. W. E. Scott thinks that most ornitholo- 

 gists stuft" birds in positions as dissimilar to 

 their life attitudes as a mummy's is to a real 

 man's. In his article called "Bird Pictures," 

 in Scribner's Maffa~iue for April, he scores the 

 conventional method of bird-stuffing, and fur- 

 nishes eight pictures of birds which are 

 mounted according to his own ideas. They do 

 not look like the ordinary stuffed birds. He 

 says: "Do not imitate Copy no other man's 

 idea of how a bird looks. It is at its best how 

 he thinks it looks. His itnpression, not j'ours. 

 The bane of this work has been copying and 

 imitating, not observing and originating." 



The death of Heinrich Gatke occurred Jan. 1, 

 1897, at his home on the island of Heligoland. 

 Gatke's name has been familiarized to ornithol- 

 ogists through his great work on the birds of 

 Heligoland. The German edition of his book 

 appeared May 19, 1890, — the date of his 77th 

 birthday: and the English translation was ptib- 

 lished in 1895. It would be difficult to over- 

 estiitiate the value and importance of Gatke's 

 work. It is the result of more than 50 years 

 experience and study in the best ornithological 

 observatory on the west coast of Europe by one 

 of the most careful and reliable observers. 



We are greatly pleased with the many inter- 

 esting notes that have been kindly sent to us 

 of late. Though all can liot be published im- 

 mediately we hope our contributors will not 

 discontinue to thus favor us, for their arrival 

 is one of the pleasures accorded the editor. 



Important — If True. 



The "peculiar hybrid" in the March OSPREv, 

 p. 95, suggests the above heading of this para- 

 graph. A cross between the Chaparral Cock 

 and domestic poultry, if such could be sub- 

 stantiated, would be the most remarkable in the 

 annals of ornithology, and go far toward sup- 

 porting Garrod's view of the genetic relation- 

 ships between cuculine and gallinaceous birds. 

 But where are the specimens upon which Mr. 

 Webster predicates such an extraordinary case 

 of hybridization? — Elliott Coues. 



[We regret most sincerely that this article 

 was admitted to publication without the corrob- 

 orative evidence of its truth that we would 

 have demanded at any other time than during 

 the haste and pressure of going to press, at 

 which time it was inserted hastily and without 

 the requisite scrupulosity. We trust no such 

 oversight will occur again. — Ed] 



