BULLETIN No. 34. 25 



some discrimination of species. The demand for an expert in 

 this hne led to the appointment of Dr. B. Harry Warren, of 

 Chester County, as State Ornithologist, newly created and with 

 a fair salary attached. Of this gentleman, Dr. C. Hart Mer- 

 riam has said, that his investigations, more than anyone per- 

 sons had led to a better knowledge of the food habits of these 

 birds. Evidently no one in the State was better qualified to 

 serve in the interest of Economic Ornithology than the ap- 

 pointee. To the credit of the people be it said that as soon as 

 they become better informed on the subject, the hunting and 

 killing merely for the bounty ceased to a large extent before the 

 Legislature met and repealed this injudicious law which was un- 

 questionably born of ignorance. Anxious to atone for their 

 blunder and feeling the need of more light on the subject In its 

 entirety to prevent a repetition of such vicious legislation, a 

 bill v.as passed, and signed by Governor Beaver authorzingthe 

 preparation and publication of a Report on the Birds of Penn- 

 sylvania. The appropriation was $12,000, for an edition of 

 6000 copies. This appeared in 1888. It was 200 pages and 

 I 36 colored illustrations, the text by the State Ornithologist, 

 and the plates after Audubon. The edition was so limited and 

 the demand so great that in 1889 the Governor signed the bill 

 authorizing the State Printer to issue 19,000 additional copies. 

 This appeared rewritten and enlarged as the second edition in 

 1890, a handsome volume of 434 pages, 100 colored plates and 

 bound in hi If morroco; a credit to the great State of Pennsyl- 

 vania. Previous to compiling this edition, the Author sent out 

 a request for information, accompanied by a provisional list of 

 birds found in the State, for checking or annotating. Seventy- 

 six Ornithologists or Oologists complied, among them the 

 writer sent in his meagre list, fully expecting to receive a copy 

 of the work from the Author's allotment of three hundred, but 

 after vain attempts in all possible quarters, secured a copy in 

 perfect condition for $3.50 at a book store in Philadelphia, 

 where they were to be had at prices varying from $3.00 to 

 $4.50 and $5.00. This was in 1894, long after Governor Patt- 

 ison had vetoed a bill to issue a third edition, and all hope of re- 

 ceiving a free copy had passed. Outside of the small number 



