52 



THE OOLOGIST 



Some allusions he makes reminds 

 me of a little dialogue I overheard at 

 a meeting of the A. 0. U. some twenty 

 years ago, just about the time the A. 

 O. U. began expanding its finances by 

 enlarging its associate membership 

 above the 300 mark by caging the 

 new arrival "lime-lights," with and 

 without university labels (former pre- 

 ferred), who, feeling a "chesty" pride 

 in the elevation, and hearing the con- 

 stant babble of "buwd" clubs every- 

 where, start on a "daddy-long-legs" 

 scramble over the heads o^ the old 

 "300", grabbing for the biggest wires 

 possible to land them right side up 

 somewhere above the associate rank. 



The dialogue referred to took place 

 immediately after the introduction of 

 the wives of two somewhat known 

 ornithologists of rank above associ- 

 ate membership, and was thus, except 

 that I use the name of Meriden for 

 convenience and to illustrate the 

 grace with which these dainty creat- 

 ures handled the English language: 



"Oh, ar' the' many buwds about 

 Mewiden, Mrs. So-and-so?" 



"Oh, yes, the' ar' a gweat many 

 buwds about Mewiden, Mrs. So-and- 

 forth." 



And so thus, the rare bit of scientific 

 information was settled, but not being 

 a party to the conversation, nor 

 clothed with any right to stand and 

 listen, I cannot say whether Crows, 

 Magpies or just plain Passer domesti- 

 cus made up the list of abundance. 

 Anyway, this all reads like a Christ- 

 mas bird census; but let me protest 

 against the ordinary "Quismas Buwd 

 Census" occupying the valuable pages 

 of the Oologist. What matters it if 

 "Gawge" did see more birds than Jose- 

 phine? Or if "Fwank" and "Gwace" 

 did have a "glo'ious time" in getting 

 lost from the rest of the "buwd 

 pawty"? Or, why grin if some bright 

 "lime-light" did report fat and plump 



"larvae-eating Warblers" frolicking in 

 zero weather 2,000 miles north of their 

 Christmas home? 



The most of us get from 35 to 50 

 pages of these Christmas lists in bird 

 lore, and the fad bids fair to spread 

 over more pages. 



We want the Oologist for what it's 

 for today, and for what it stood for in 

 yore, while a bunch of the present day 

 "big fellows" were still in their orni- 

 thological swadling garments and 

 eager to read, and yea, to contribute 

 to the pages of the little magazine. 



Vive La Oologist! 



Oh, it's all right to go out and ob- 

 serve the birds on Christmas, and any- 

 thing new or unusual is well worth 

 recording, but when you get back 

 home just sit right down and write, 

 for the Oologist, some short article 

 of your past experience, like Miller's 

 "Late Nesting of the Yellow-billed 

 Cuckoo," or the preceding article; or 

 the next one. Or, if the day has been 

 a good stimulant, then some longer 

 article of a more technical character; 

 but don't push the good old Oologist 

 into the fad of an annual "peek-a-boo" 

 day of mere figures and fancies. 



J. Warren Jacobs. 



Waynesburg, Pa., January 13, 1923. 



THE NEWS. 



There is a dearth of short crisp 

 news items relating to Oology. It is 

 your fault, Mr. Reader. Ye editor 

 cannot tell of rare, unusual, or inter- 

 esting finds unless you write them to 

 us. We want news relating to birds, 

 nests and eggs. Send us the results 

 of your exploration of meadow, tim- 

 ber, swamp and mountain this season 

 — not literally, but figuratively, by 

 writing a post card or short note of 

 every unusual observation. 



Editor. 



