Editorial 41 
Bird: Lore 
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 D. APPLETON & CO. 
Vol. XII Published February 1,1910 No. 1 
SUBSCRIPTION RATES 
Price in the United States, Canada and Mexico twenty cents 
a number, one dollar a year, postage paid. 
COPYRIGHTED, 1910, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN 
Bird-Lore’s Motto: 
A Bird in the Bush is Worth Two in the Hand 
BOWDLER SHARPE, one of the leading 
ornithologists of the world, died at his 
home in Chiswick, England, on December 
25, 1909. He leaves as an enduring mon- 
ument the collection of birds in the British 
Museum, which grew to unrivaled propor- 
tions under his charge, and the great ‘Cat- 
alogue’ of the birds of the world, unques- 
tionably the most valuable contribution 
ever made to systematic ornithology. 
Wirs this number the connection be- 
tween the Macmillan Company and Brirp- 
Lore ceases, and the magazine will here- 
after be published by D. Appleton & Co. 
It will still be printed by the J. Horace 
McFarland Company, to whose sympa- 
thetic codperation it owes so much, and, 
as before, will be mailed from their office 
in Harrisburg, where all notices of change 
of address, removals, etc., should be sent, 
addressed simply Birp-Lor®£, Harrisburg, 
Pa. 
Axsout the middle of February, the 
editor, accompanied by Mr. Louis Agassiz 
Fuertes, expects to sail for Mexico, to 
gather data and material for a Habitat 
Group representing the bird-life of the 
tropical portions of Vera Cruz. The 
painted background, for which Mr. 
Fuertes will make studies, is planned 
to show Mt. Orizaba with its snow-crown; 
and to explain the significance of perpetual 
summer and perpetual snow in the same 
scene will be one of the objects of the 
group. Further work in Mexico will 
doubtless extend the trip until late in 
April, and during this period the editor: 
begs the indulgence of his correspon- 
dents. 
THE Twenty-seventh Annual Congress. 
of the American Ornithologists’ Union, 
which was held at the American Museum 
of Natural History on December 7-9, 1909, 
was more largely attended than any of its. 
predecessors, over 130 members register— 
ing. 
A. C. Bent was elected a Fellow, and 
Allan Brooks, Bradshaw H. Swales, Harry 
S. Swarth and Percy Taverner, were 
elec ed Members; there were also 121 new 
Associate Members elected. The program. 
contained a number of papers of much 
sc entific interest, and various social 
functions offered opportunity for that 
personal intercourse which constitutes- 
so pleasant and so important a part of 
gatherings of this kind. 
AFTER sending the manuscript of the- 
Christmas Bird Census to the printer, 
we received three lists from England; two. 
from H. F. Witherby, to both of which,. 
breaking our rule, we gladly give space, 
and one from Wm. Farren. These lists. 
illustrate admirably the educational value- 
of records of this kind, for they are directly 
comparable with lists which we may make- 
here under similar conditions. They show,. 
too, in the most interesting way, the influ- 
ence of the mild winter climate of southern 
England on the bird-life of that season. 
The most abundant species observed: 
are doubtless permanently resident as. 
individuals in England, and, aside from 
this evidence of their adaptability to sea-- 
sonal changes, their abundance is probably 
in no small measure to be attributed to- 
their escape from the perils of migration. 
It is to the great numbers of these birds, 
which enter into the bird-life of every 
day, and, indeed, of every outing in Eng-- 
land, that we may attribute, in part at 
least, the fact that one sees so many more 
individual birds in England than in this. 
country. 
