Editorials 



249 



A Bi-monthly Maeazine 

 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 October 1. 1905 No. 5 



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 IVorth Two in the Hand 



Mr. Edward Howe Forbush, of Ware- 

 ham, Mass., ornithologist of the Massachu- 

 setts State Board of Agriculture, is prepar- 

 ing a volume on useful birds and bird 

 protection, which will be published as a 

 special report of the Board. He desires 

 information on the following subjects: 



The decrease or increase in numbers of 

 birds ; the destruction of birds and its causes ; 

 devices for protecting, attracting and feeding 

 birds; birds feeding on important insect 

 pests ; protective laws and their operation ; 

 the breeding or migration of the Purple 

 Martin in Massachusetts or adjacent terri- 

 tory. Correspondence is particularly desired 

 with those who have been able to increase 

 the number of birds about their homes. 



accept of our bounty and are perhaps de- 

 pendent on us for continued existence, is no 

 small part of the return we may expect to 

 receive from our care for the birds. 



It might be supposed that a discussion 

 of this subject would be more timely in 

 December than in October, but, as Mr. 

 Forbush says, "if you wish to attract the 

 birds about the house next winter, do not 

 wait until the ground is covered with snow, 

 but begin now, when," as he adds, "you 

 may hold birds that might otherwise pass 

 on to the South." 



Much to our surprise, the figure of the 

 female Black-and-White Warbler published 

 in the last issue of Bird-Lore (frontispiece) 

 appeared with a pronounced yellow mark 

 below the eye, a feature not shown in the 

 proof of the plate in question. This mishap 

 prompts the statement that without experi- 

 ence no one can realize the difficulty of se- 

 curing accurately colored plates of birds. 

 The plate in the present number of Bird- 

 Lore, for example, after having been 

 shipped from the engraver in New York to 

 Bird-Lore's printer in Harrisburg, was 

 found not to conform to the standard we have 

 tried to establish for this series of plates. 

 The whole edition was, therefore, returned 

 to New York for alteration, and, after being 

 received a second time in Harrisburg, it was 

 found essential to go over each plate and 

 make additional corrections by hand. 



The Bird - House number of Bird - Lore 

 (February, 1905) was so well received that 

 it is now virtually out of print, and we are 

 trying to secure copies to complete our sets 

 of the magazine. 



We trust that this Winter-Feeding number 

 will meet with an equally cordial reception. 

 Our contributors assuredly invest this sub- 

 ject not only with a personal interest but a 

 public importance. It is not alone our 

 pleasure and privilege to feed the birds at 

 our doorstep but our duty to remember those 

 of the field. 



It is rather difficult to say who benefits 

 most by a practical, sympathetic association 

 of this kind — bird or man. The humani- 

 zing influence exerted by creatures which 



Within the next two months two meet- 

 ings of great interest to bird students will be 

 held at the American Museum of Natural 

 History in New York. The National Asso- 

 ciation of Audubon Societies holds its first 

 meeting on October 31, as announced on 

 the following page, and the Twenty-third 

 Annual Congress of the American Orni- 

 thologists' Union convenes on November 14. 

 We understand that this Congress will be 

 of exceptional Interest and will well warrant 

 an unusual effort on the part of bird stu- 

 dents to be present. 



Information in regard to membership in 

 the Union may be obtained from its treas- 

 urer, J. Dwight, Jr , 2 East 34th St., New 

 York City. 



