20 BULLETIN NO. 34. 



of vakiahle data without which no great principle can be en- 

 volved. It has also encouraged specialism and co-operative 

 study as most certain to give satisfactory results, holding that 

 no one person can be fully competent to study a bird from every 

 standpoint and individually obtain complete knowledge of its 

 life. To those in sympathy with the work and purposes of the 

 Chapter, we appeal for aid and encouragement. This is not a 

 money making venture, but it is kept in existance by the pride 

 and sacrifice of the members. Like all scientific journals, back 

 numbers increase in value as time passes and no ornithological 

 library is now complete without a file of the publications of the 

 Wilson Ornithological Chapter. 



As formerly the membership dues should be sent to the 

 Treasurer — Prof. Lynds Jones, Oberlin, Ohio, and applications 

 for membership to the President — Reuben M. Strung, Cam- 

 bridge, Mass., but subscriptions, exchanges, manuscript, and 

 other business communications should be addressed to the Edi- 

 tor — Frank^L. Burns, Berwyn, Penna. 



In another page we publish a communication from Mr. 

 Benj. T. Gault, and would be pleased to hear from any of our 

 readers pertinent to the suggestions he has offered and in due 

 time the additional notes, comments and corrections, of which 

 we already have a few, will be placed in the form of a suppli- 

 ment to be placed inside the covers of BULLETIN No. 31, or 

 published in somi future number of General Notes, according to 

 the wishes of of the readers, hi connection with the above we 

 would enquire whether anyone has discovered the adult Flicker 

 in the act of removing the excrement of the young while 

 in the nest cavity; and to those who may have examined one 

 or more broods in the nest, we would be pleased to know in 

 what condition the nest was found. Under the head of Young 

 the statement was made that the parent bird does not clean the 

 nest. This is undoubtedly too broad an assertion as the writer 

 has found some nests with the young singularly clean while 

 other cavities were far from cleanly. Several nests of the 

 Downy Woodpecker containing large young were examined and 

 found to be perfectly clean. This subject will bear further in- 

 vestigation. 



