Nov., 1883.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



85 



Plain English 



" We desire not the prostration of science, but we would 

 strip from it the robe of omnipotence improperly assumed, 

 and 

 That cold, repulsive skeleton anew would dress, 

 Then warm it into life andlovehness." — Prof. Hosford. 



Is not always pleasant but it is sometimes 

 necessary to bring' us to our senses, and 

 we have a small dose of it which we will 

 administer sugar-coated in behalf of the 

 little fellows that are growing up and will 

 soon be among us giving us old stagers 

 ideas of observations we never dreamed of. 

 Some years ago there was an ornitho- 

 logical association formed in Cambridge, 

 Mass., which has not accomplished the task 

 it set out to do, and for several reasons — 

 1st. It has been too exclusive — too much 

 of the Pharisee order — it has ignored the 

 "bone and sinew" of our beautiful science, 

 and it could not saw its own wood. 2d. 

 It has hung out false colors. It advertised 

 year after year that it was the " only, &c.," 

 until we gently reminded them that the 

 world would notice it when the sign was 

 taken in. 3d. It has announced as its 

 editors. Prof. S. F. Baird and Dr. Elliott 

 Cones. We, as a corresponding member, 

 have ventured to protest against this de- 

 ception. We were told that Prof. Baird 

 would not like it if his name was removed, 

 and that it had a good effect abroad, &c., 

 &c. One member informed us that "a/Z" 

 the proof was submitted to Dr. Coues. 

 We cannot contradict this, but oiitsiders 

 don't believe it, and all of this is a load 

 that the Nuttall Club has failed to carry to 

 its destination. A lueeting of the most 

 exclusive kind has recently been held in 

 New York. And this convention of sci- 

 entists have named their new society " The 

 American Ornithological Union." The mis- 

 take is, it is not American, and it is formed 

 too much on the principle of our city so- 

 cial clubs where each member carries a 

 Yale key. It won't work in science, gen- 

 tlemen ; all natiire belongs to all men. You 

 sadly mistake the importance of this mis- 

 sion. It matters little what you call him, 



the Blue Jay screams just as loud for rich 

 and poor, for boy and man alike. It is a 

 mystery to us why the names of our bii'ds 

 should be such a bone of contention. It 

 always reminds us of a lawyer discovering 

 during a trial a nice point of law and for- 

 getting that he has a client to look after. 

 We are told that great harmony prevailed 

 and that the disturbing element that has 

 existed so long in our science has calmed 

 down like a bright May morning. 



Boston has six members while the State 

 of Yale and Dr. Wood, Coe, Sage and 

 Clark were ignored. K. I. was too small to 

 be remembered ; all birds passing through 

 K. I. will be expected to stop at Cambridge 

 and register, and yet the State of Rhode 

 Island is big enough to hold our friend 

 Jencks, and occasionally a rare bird 

 gets one wing over the State. There 

 were six members from Mass., four from 

 Washington, seven from New York, one 

 each from Oregon, Louisiana, Iowa, and 

 Maine, two from Canada, and J. M. Whea- 

 ton from Ohio, whose last work should be 

 read by all seeking advanced knowledge. 

 Prof. Maynard seems to have been over- 

 looked, and yet he was studying bird life 

 when many of the present members were 

 toddling around in petticoats. We do not 

 agree with Maynard, but we recognize his 

 right all the same, and fortunately no 

 Union can curtail that right. We are sor- 

 ry to say he is not well and will winter in 

 the tropics, and as the Union is not rep- 

 resented south of New York the birds will 

 not have heard of it. This purely Ameri- 

 can"? Union did not consider the editor of 

 this paper and all his correspondents as 

 worthy of a seat in the gallery even — but 

 we believe some of them were elected cor- 

 responding members, which means that they 

 will be allowed to study bird life and send 

 their notes to some member who will con- 

 descend to assume the honor of editing? 

 and yet the birds come and go with the 

 season. 



The convention was unique. It brought 

 together a remarkable body of men 



