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Bird-Lore 



A Bi-monthly Magfazine 

 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. V Published October 1. 1903 No. 5 



SUBSCRIPTION RATES 



Price in the United States, Canada and Mexico 

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

 age paid. 



Subscriptions may be sent to the Publishers, at 

 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, or 66 Fifth avenue. New 

 York City. 



Price iti all countries in the International Postal 

 Union, twenty-five cents a number, one dollar and 

 a quarter a year, postage paid. 



COPYRIGHTED, 1903, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



Bird-Lore's Motto: 

 A Bird in the Bush is Worth Two in the Hand 



Few families of birds exhibit more widely 

 varying habits than do the Cuckoos. Some 

 species are strictly arboreal, others almost as 

 markedly terrestrial ; some are nearly silent, 

 others surprisingly vociferous ; some are 

 extremely sedentary, others make prolonged 

 migrations. In their marital relationships 

 and nesting habits equally great diversity is 

 displayed, — Cuckoos being communistic 

 polyandrous, monogamous, and, possibly 

 polygamous. The European Cuckoo builds 

 no nest, but is parasitic, and is evidently 

 wholly lacking in parental instincts. The 

 Anis have a common nest in which half-a- 

 dozen or more females may deposit their 

 eggs and share the duties of incubaiion and 

 maternity. And now, to add to this list of 

 incongruities, Mr. Gerald H. Thayer tells 

 us, in this issue of Bird-Lore, that 

 Cuckoos are noctural as well as diurnal, 

 that our supposed recluse, the Black-bill, 

 is, at night, a gay cavorter in the heavens! 



Fortunately, Mr. Thayer's observations 

 relate to a common, widely distributed 

 species, and, in due season, bird students 

 in many parts of the country will have an 

 opportunity to confirm them. 



' Country Life,' for September, pub- 

 lishes some exceedingly interesting photo- 

 graphs of Baybirds (Knots, Turnstones, 



etc.), by Mr. A. Radclyffe Dugmore.' 

 Using the decoys and methods of the gun- 

 ner, Mr. Dugmore entered his blind armed 

 with a camera instead of a gun, and as a 

 result secured a series of pictures which 

 thousands may enjoy, instead of a ' bunch ^ 

 of birds of doubtful use to any one. 



The author of the text accompanying Mr.. 

 Dugmore's illustrations appears to have 

 had considerable experience in killing birds- 

 which he. knows very little about. It 

 would be instructive to learn on just what- 

 evidence he bases his statement that "mi- 

 grating snipe" raise "their young in the 

 neighborhood of the antarctic circle " andt 

 then "come north to spend the summer"! 



The twenty-first annual Congress of the 

 American Ornithologists' Union will be 

 held at the Academy of Sciences in Phila- 

 delphia, November 17-19, 1903. All bird 

 students, whether or not they be members- 

 of the Union, are welcomed to these annual 

 meetings; but we may repeat the opinion, 

 expressed here some years ago, that it is the 

 duty of every one interested in the study of 

 birds to identify himself with the American 

 Ornithologists' Union. Directly or indi- 

 rectly, personally or officially, we are all 

 indebted to the Union or its members for- 

 assistance in our studies, and the support 

 incident to membership is the smallest re- 

 turn we can be called upon to make. Any 

 earnest student of birds is eligible for elec- 

 tion as an associate member of the Union. 

 The annual dues are three dollars, in re- 

 turn for which one receives 'The Auk,' 

 the official organ of the Union. Write to 

 your member of Bird-Lore's Advisory 

 Council and ask him to propose your name, 

 at the November meeting, for associate ■ 

 membership. 



Thus far the agreement between the Au- 

 bubon Societies and the Millinery Mer- 

 chants' Protective Association appears to be 

 working satisfactorily. The members of 

 the association exhibit a commendable de- 

 sire to conform strictly to the terms of the 

 agreement, and when the status of certain 

 feathers is in doubt submit them to some - 

 one competent to render an opinion as to . 

 their eligibility in the trade. 



