Editorial 



38l 



2^irti=1Lore 



A Bi-Monthly Magazine 

 Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds 



OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETIES 



Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



ContributingEditor.MABELOSGOOD WRIGHT 



Published by D. APPLETON & CO. 



Vol. XIX Published October 1,1917 No. 5 



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Price in the United States, one dollar and fifty cents a year; 

 outside the United States, one dollar and seventy-five, cents, 

 postage paid. 



COPYRIGHTED,. 1917, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



Bird-Lore's Motto: 

 A Bird, in the Bush Is Worth Two in the Hand 



The Editor desires gratefully to acknowl- 

 edge the many cordial expressions of good- 

 will and appreciation which have come to 

 him indirectly from contributors to Bird- 

 Lore's 'Conference.' Our errors rarelj^ 

 pass unnoticed, but whatever may be es- 

 pecially worthy of commendation is usu- 

 ally taken for granted. Contact of Editor 

 with reader is, therefore, apt to be of a 

 somewhat discouraging nature, and it is 

 consequently most reassuring to receive 

 this unexpected outpouring of loyal sup- 

 port of the magazine and warm-hearted 

 endorsement of its efforts to "promote the 

 study and protection of birds." 



A CIRCULAR letter recently issued by 

 E. W. Nelson, Chief of the Biological 

 Survey of the United States Department 

 of Agriculture, to the field naturalists of 

 the Survey, deserves far wider circulation 

 than, as an official document, it is likely to 

 receive. While it relates primarily to 

 mammals, Mr. Nelson states that "as re- 

 gards the desirability of giving more atten- 

 tion to studying the habits of the species" 

 what he writes about mammals applies 

 "with equal force to birds." Mr. Nelson 

 calls attention to our ignorance of many 

 important phases of the life-histories of 

 even our commonest mammals and urges 

 the field naturalists of the Survey 

 to "make special efforts to obtain all 

 the information possible concerning the 

 habits of the species in the territory 

 visited." 



"The study collection of the Biological 

 Survey," he writes, "has now become so 

 well supplied with series of specimens rep- 

 resenting the commoner species that a con- 

 siderable part of the time of the field in- 

 vestigators will be more profitably spent 

 in obtaining more detailed information on 

 the life-habits of these species than in 

 largely increasing the number of speci- 

 mens." 



This is an epoch-making sentence in 

 the history of North American mam- 

 malogy and ornithology. Specimens, 

 more specimens, and then more specimens 

 has heretofore been the motto of museum 

 expeditions, whether sent out by govern- 

 ment or private institutions. That the 

 collecting and classifying of specimens is 

 the first step in the study of the species is 

 beyond question. But the gratification of 

 the collecting instinct, the fascination of 

 the hunt, and the necessity of securing 

 some tangible result in return for the time 

 and money expended have all combined to 

 turn the field naturalist into a collector 

 rather than an observer. 



The capture of the specimens left 

 neither time nor opportunity for a study 

 of the species; while their preparation 

 often required the effort that might have 

 been employed in recording the observa- 

 tions one had chanced to secure. 



With the issuance of Mr. Nelson's letter 

 we see the dawn of a new era in the study 

 of the birds and mammals of regions 

 which have been more or less thoroughly 

 'collected.' 



Coming from the head of an important 

 Government Bureau, where strict account- 

 ing must be made of funds appropriated 

 by a none too generous Congress, it may 

 be accepted by those responsible for alhed 

 institutions, as an authoritative statement 

 that not only the 'skins' of birds and 

 mammals, but also a knowledge of their 

 habits, has an actual cash value. 



Hereafter, let us hope, the success of 

 the field naturalist, even in countries the 

 fauna of which is still imperfectly known, 

 will be measured, not by the size of his 

 collections, but by the contents of his 

 note-books. 



