Editorial. 115 



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 CLLIB, AT OBERLIN, OHIO. 



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

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EDITORIAL. 



We come to the close of another year, the fifteenth since our 

 organization, the first since our reorganization as The Wilson Orni- 

 thological Club, with a largely increased membership, with a firmer 

 grasp upon the future, and with greater confidence m the value of 

 field work such as we seek to do. We look out upon a twelve- 

 month of larger attainment than any past, with the expectation of 

 helping many into a better knowledge and a keener appreciation 

 of the birds about them — into a life fuller of the joy of living. We 

 believe that it is worth anybody's while to study birds intensively 

 while they are living and striving; to get among them at consid- 

 erable inconvenience and expense, if necessary, in order to im- 

 bibe something of their contentment and happiness. It is worth 

 while to watch every bird keenly, especially the winter birds. Let 

 no opportunity pass to learn what they are doing and how they do 

 it. It is better to regard them as birds, not trying to see in them 

 human characteristics and motives. Let them be birds. It is only 

 after the accumulation of a great mass of facts that we may hope 

 to know why they act as they do, if we are ever to know that ex- 

 actly. Formulate no theory, for if you do it is pretty certain that 

 your facts will bend to the theory. It is only the fully open-minded 

 who really advance knowledge. 



