:N'ov. 1890.] 



a:nt) oologist. 



175 



THK 



ORNlTHOLOGIST.^^OdL0GIST 



A Monthly .>I:it;azine ol' 



NATURAL HISTORY, 



TiKler the Editorial MaiiaKenicnt of 



FRANK J!. WEIJSTER, Hoston, Mass. 



J. PARKER XORKIS, Philadelphia, Pa. 



FRANK A. BATES, Hoston, Mass. 



I'lHLISIIEn AT 



FRANK B. WEBSTER'S 



N A T U R A r. 1 S T ti' 8 IT P P I. Y D E P O T, 



Ho.STox, Mass., U. S. A. 



The O. & O. is mailed each issue to every paid siib- 

 sc^-iher. If you fail to receive it. notify us. 



Editorial. 



KASTKIiX DKMOCHATIC ROOSTER. 



We note tlie n|)pcaiance of tliis l)ii(I in un- 

 usual nunilx'is ill the east, durino- tlie last few 

 (lays. It i.s not a new si)e('ies, but the recent 

 tiiiiht bids fair to place it in future under the 

 head of "ahundant.'" A year since, wlien the 

 Killdeer visited us, the (juestion was, "The 

 cause?" Tiiere can l)e little reason for any 

 one to question the cause of the present case. 

 The way in whi(di the best interests of New 

 England and other sections has been ignored 

 by s('heinin<;- politicians in the IJeiJublican 

 party has forced many of theii- strontf friends 

 to cut clear of it: and it will only be by a 

 short tack fioni tlieir present course that they 

 will save themselves from beino; swamped. 

 The rushinji through of the McKinley bill has 

 met with a sharp rebuke. It is not necessary 

 for us to point out every item ot interest in 

 which it affects our naturalists: they will have 

 a full chance to discover that in the future, as 



they scrape the bottom of their pockets for 

 the extra dollars that it will call forth. The 

 duty on glass eyes has been increased to sixty 

 per cent. The reader can appreciate this when 

 he stops to think that for every ten dollars' 

 worth of eyes that he gets (European value) 

 he has to pay the government a tax of six 

 dollars, and for what ? To force him to buy a 

 poorer gi-ade, manfactured by some Bohemian 

 at Pawtucket, Rhode Island. 



Thanks to the interest of one member of 

 congress, the duty was removed from birds' 

 skins for scientific use. But that was not 

 going far enough. The duty should have 

 been removed from skins imported for milli- 

 nery puiposes; not that Ave are in the slightest 

 degree interested in that industry, but that 

 the protection of our native birds would be 

 increased by it; also, nearly all the bright 

 plumaged birds used by our taxidermists are 

 imported by the millinery houses. 



In this state the naturalists have received 

 very little from the Republican party for whicli 

 to feel thankful. For the last five years we have 

 called attention to the fact that there should 

 be a permit law that would enable our natural- 

 ists to collect. There is such a law, but it 

 has been a dead letter, by the management of 

 the Game Commissioners, who hold their 

 office under the wings of Republican monopoly. 

 In our last issue we gave reasons why the nat- 

 uralists and taxidermists should not overlook 

 the way they had been ignored when they 

 went to the polls, and we believe it was one of 

 the straws that helped to break the camel's 

 back. 



It remains for the future to decide whether 

 the naturalists will receive any consideration 

 in this state. If not they will stand ready to 

 lend their force to tip someone overboard. 



