Editorials 



99 



^trti^Eore 



A Bi-monthly Magazine 

 Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds 



OFFICIAL 0R(;AN of THE AUDUBON SOCIETIES 



Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN 

 Published by THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 



Vol. 1 



June, 1899 



No. 3 



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COPYRIGHTED. 1899, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN. 



Bird-Lore's Motto : 

 A Bird in the Bush is Worth Tuio in the Hand. 



It has recently been remarked that the 

 field ornithologists of to-day are of two 

 kinds : first, those who collect ; second, 

 those who observe. The status of these 

 two types of ornithologists, and the parts 

 they play in the advancement of the 

 science of ornithology, is a subject of the 

 utmosf importance to every one interested 

 in the study of birds. 



A consideration of it leads us to review 

 briefly the progress which has been made 

 in our knowledge of North American 

 birds during the past twenty-five years. 

 At the beginning of this period the Smith- 

 sonian Institution contained the only large 

 collection of North American birds in the 

 world, and our data concerning the e.xact 

 distribution and relationships of even our 

 commonest species was of the most meager 

 character. Since that date the publication 

 of Baird, Brewer and Ridgway's ' History 

 of North American Birds', of Coues' 

 'Key' and Ridgway's 'Manual'; the 

 organization of the American Ornitholo- 

 gists' Union and of the Biological Survey 

 of the Department of Agriculture, and 



the establishment of several natural his- 

 tory museums, have given a wonderful 

 impetus to the collecting of birds. Natur- 

 alists have explored every corner of the 

 eastern United States, and, with almost 

 equal thoroughness, the western states, 

 and the fruits of their labors are shown in 

 the large series of birds now possessed by 

 our leading museums. In fact, we have 

 now reached a point where only a thor- 

 oughly trained ornithologist or his person- 

 ally directed assistants can make collec- 

 tions which will be of real scientific value. 

 Indiscriminate collecting, therefore, par- 

 ticularly in the eastern United States, in 

 ninety-nine cases out of a hundred will 

 only result in the duplication of material 

 already e.visting. 



Not only has there been a great advance 

 in the requirements of collecting, but in 

 the study of the specimens collected, and 

 the systematic ornithologist who would 

 hope to add anything to our knowledge of 

 the distribution and relationships of any 

 group of North American birds, must 

 possess advantages which can be afforded 

 only by well-equipped museums. 



Turning, now, to the other class of orni- 

 thologists, the collectors of facts, we find 

 that they have been far less active than 

 collectors of skins. Thus, while we rarely 

 or never refer to Wilson or Audubon or 

 Nuttall for information concerning the 

 systematic position of a species, these 

 early writers are still authorities on facts 

 connected with the life histories of many 

 of our birds. 



This subject has been brought very 

 forcibly to our mind by two papers pub- 

 lished in this number of Bird-Lore, and, 

 without going into details, we wish collect- 

 ors of birds and their eggs would read 

 carefully the articles entitled 'The Cardi- 

 nal at the Hub' and ' Home-Life in a Chim- 

 ney,' and then tell us frankly whether they 

 do not think that the facts therein set forth 

 constitute a more valuable contribution 

 to the science of ornithology than a Cardi- 

 nal's skin and five white egg-shells. If 

 they are both discriminating and sincere, 

 we believe they will admit the truth. of 

 Bird-Lore's motto. 



