20 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 6-No. 3. 



ORNITHOLOGIST aiil OOLOGIST. 



A MONTHLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE STUDY 

 OF BIRDS, THEIK NESTS AND EGGS. 



JOS. M. WADE, 

 S. L. WILLARD, 



Editor 

 - Ass't Editor 



With the co-operation of able Ornithological 

 Writers and Collectors. 



Subscription. — $i.oo per annum. Foreign 

 subscription $1.25 including postage. Specimen 

 copies 10 cents each 



JOS. M. WADE, 



Kockville, Conn. 



Entered at the Rockvllle P. O. as second-class matter. 



EDITORIAL. 



Recent Publications. — The studj of or- 

 nithology has lately developed to such an 

 extent that we come naturally to look upon 

 its literature with a more critical eye than 

 a few years ago, when each new publication, 

 of whatever pretension, was hailed — and 

 justly — with much interest and cordiality. 

 Books were not written for the sake of the 

 author's fancied appreciation of seeing him- 

 self in print. We encountered little that 

 did not bear the evidence of true value; 

 because it was a lawful privilege, respected 

 by the younger students of the science, of 

 the ablest men to form the results of the 

 current investigation for public use. In 

 these days of rapid growth and increased 

 interest in the study of birds, and the grad- 

 ual lifting of popular misconceptions and 

 old and often taught errors, we look for a 

 higher scale in the literature from which 

 we must of necessity derive the bulk of our 

 information. We are quicker to discover 

 an imperfection than formerly. The rapid 

 perfection in book making and art in illus- 

 tration, have excited our discrimination to 

 such an extent that we are apt to discour- 

 age that publication which does not teach 

 us more than the one which preceded it. 

 To be sure we make all allowances for the 

 nature of the work. We can not criticise 

 books of fiction and books of science in the 

 same way ; the elements are too unlike. 

 But the latter must be read ; they must 

 consist of facts, and, unlike the former. 



must be exact : we can not tolerate errors. 

 There are several reasons for an increased 

 attention to this department of our jour- 

 nal. We believe that we are called upon 

 to guide, in a measure,. our readers' selec- 

 tion of bird publications. We owe it to 

 the coming generation of young ornitholo- 

 gists to keep before them a resume of the 

 current ornithological literature, the mass 

 of which is from the nature of the case, in- 

 accessible to all. We shall endeavor to 

 make this portion of the Ornithologist and 

 OoLOGiST of especial value by pronouncing 

 candidly, decisively, and when possible, at 

 length, upon all ornithological publications 

 that come to our notice. 



Rare Eggs. — We have just received from 

 Wilhelm Schluter, Halle on the Saale, Ger- 

 many, three sets of eggs which are rare in 

 this Country. They came through in per- 

 fect order and ase fine specimens. First a set 

 of six Snowy Owl, Nyctea scandiaca, (406) 

 These eggs are dated January 7th, 1880, 

 and are from Tornea in Lapland. Second 

 a set of four Great Gray Owl, JJlula cin- 

 erea, (339). This set is dated May 20th, 

 1880, and are from Kittil^, in Finland. 

 Third a set of six American Hawk Owl, 

 Surnia funerea, (407.) This set is dated 

 May 22d, 1880, and is from Labrador. 

 With the above we received an exceedingly 

 fine skin of the Eagle Owl, Bubo maxi- 

 mu8. It is a female and a very large fresh 

 skin. Although it is an expensive business 

 importing eggs, we must say that Wilhelm 

 Schluter has our entire confidence. 



Our Contributors, who have favored us 

 so liberally with valuable observations, and 

 whose articles do not immediately appear, 

 will please bear with us for awhile, and we 

 hope will still continue to supply us with 

 such observations as they may make during 

 the present collecting season. We would 

 earnestly request our readers while collect- 

 ing and when matters new come before them 

 to observe carefully and immediately note 

 down the facts for publication. 



