103 The Wilson Bulletin.— No. U. 



THE WILSON BULLETIN. 



A Quarterly Magazine Devoted to the Study of Living Birds. 

 Official Organ of the Wilson Ornithological Club. 



Edited by LYNDS JONES. 



PUBLISHED BY THE CLUB, AT OBERLIN, OHIO. 



SUBSCRIPTION RATES. 



Price in the United States, Canada and Mexico, Fifty Cents a year. Fifteen Cents a num- 

 ber, postage paid. 

 Price in all countries in the International Postal Union, Sixtv-Five Cents a year. Twenty 

 Cents a number. 

 Subscriptions may be sent to Lynds Jones, Oberlin, Ohio, or'to Mr. Frank L. Burns, Ber- 

 wyn, Penn., or to Mr. John W. Daniel, Jr., 3146 Q street, N.W., Washington, D. C. 



EDITORIAL. 



The editor spent July and the first half of August at that incom- 

 parable Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Holl, Mass. While 

 the islands of the region furnish perfect conditions for studying 

 the breeding habits of three species of terns and one species of 

 gull, the whole region is an exceptionally good one for the study 

 of the summer habits of at least a dozen species of warblers, the 

 Veery, and many other interesting birds, while on Martha's 

 Vineyard the last of the Heath Hens may still be found. 

 As a place for varied bird life it has few if any equals in our coun- 

 try. July and August are especially favorable months for bird 

 study Woods Holl. 



The July Auk contains the Twelfth Supplement to the A. O. U. 

 Check-List. Twenty-three new species and subspecies are added, 

 of which three are Otocoris and four Melospiza. It would be entire- 

 ly possible to dispense with any more forms in these two already 

 over crowded genera. The most marked feature of this revision 

 is the raising to generic rank of 23 subgenera, by which several of 

 our best friends assume a wholly unfamiliar name. But mere 

 temporary inconvenience furnishes no argument against such rad- 

 ical change. We must feel some misgivings, however, when we 

 reflect that in other departments of Zoology, speaking generally, 

 there are often far greater differences between species than there 



