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Bird-Lore 



iSirti'Eore 



A Bi-monthly Magazine 

 Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds 



OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETIES 



Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN 

 Published by THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 



Vol. VII Published August 1. 1905 No. 4 



SUBSCRIPTION RATES 



Price in the United States, Canada and Mexico 

 twenty cents a number, one dollar a year, post- 

 age paid. 



COPYRIGHTED, 1905, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



Bird-Lore's Motto: 

 A Bird in the Bush is Worth Two in the Hand 



Feeding birds in winter not only yields 

 exceptional opportunities for bird study and 

 enables us to establish delightfully intimate 

 relationships with our feathered guests, but 

 is a practical means of bird protection 

 within the reach of every one who is within 

 the reach of birds. 



It is proposed, therefore, in the next issue 

 of Bird-Lore to devote especial attention 

 to this subject, and we shall be glad to re- 

 ceive from our readers notes on proper kinds 

 of foods and methods of feeding, with de- 

 scriptions, drawings or photographs of feed- 

 ing-tables, etc. The appearance of this 

 matter in Bird-Lore for October will enable 

 those who so desire to avail themselves of 

 the suggestions then offered before the sea- 

 son arrives when food is at a premium. 



The program of the Fourth International 

 Ornithological Congress which was pub- 

 lished in Bird-Lore for June (page i68) 

 was carried out so successfully that every one 

 in attendance formed a resolution to be 

 present, circumstances permitting, at the 

 Fifth Congress to be held in Germany, 

 probably at Berlin, in 1910 



There were papers on systematic, on eco- 

 nomic, and on bibliographic ornithology, 

 museum methods, migration, oology, nest- 

 ing habits, zoogeography, the significance 

 of certain plumages, aviculture, bird pro- 

 tection and legislation, all emphasizing the 

 breadth of the ornithological field and the 

 demand for many workers. 



A mere statement of the formal, scientific 



proceedings of a Congress of this kind is, 

 however, far from expressing its far-reach- 

 ing influence. One does not go to hear 

 papers, they can be read when published, 

 but to meet the men that write them ; and 

 the bounteous hospitality which character- 

 ized this Congress afforded the best oppor- 

 tunities for the development of the social 

 instinct. 



One of the essentials of an exhibition col- 

 lection of birds is that it contains features 

 which shall not only force the attention of 

 the casual visitor but that their influence 

 shall spread beyond the museum walls and 

 induce the presence of those whose interest 

 has been aroused by a description of them. 



In practice it has proved possible to 

 achieve this result by appealing to the ob- 

 jectless public through the universal love of 

 the beautiful ; not merely by the display 

 of cases of gaudily colored birds but by 

 carefully planned and executed groups 

 which, so far as is possible within museum 

 walls, shall represent the bird in nature or, 

 in other words, the living bird in its haunts. 

 We refer here not only to groups with nat- 

 ural accessories of branch, leaf and blossom, 

 representing the nesting habits of a single 

 species, but more particularly to those 

 which aim to portray some more striking 

 scene in bird-life where vast numbers of 

 birds of one or more species together form 

 what has become known as a bird colony. 



In reproducing such groups on a large 

 scale, it is possible to use a painted back- 

 ground so effectively that at a short distance 

 one cannot readily distinguish where the 

 group proper ends and the background be- 

 gins. Not only is the beauty and realism 

 of the group thereby greatly enhanced, but 

 the introduction of birds into the painting 

 make it possible to represent nature in a 

 way which would be impracticable if only 

 mounted birds were employed. 



In this issue of Bird-Lore we present 

 photographs of two such groups which have 

 recently been completed at the American 

 Museum of Natural History. While these 

 illustrations do scant justice to the originals, 

 they will at least serve to convey an idea of 

 the subjects they represent. 



