THE WILSON BULLETIN 



A Quarterly Magazine Devoted to the Study of Birds. Official Or- 

 gan of the Wilson Ornithological Club 



Edited by LYNDS JONES 



PUBLISHED BY THE WILSON ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB, AT CHICAGO, ILL. 



Price in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, One Dollar a year. 30 cents a number, 

 post paid. Price in all countries in the International Postal Union, $1.25 a year, 40 cents' 

 a number. Subscriptions may be sent to Lynds Jones, Oberlin, Ohio, or to Mr. P. B. 

 Coffin, 32.32 Groveland Avenue, Chicago, III. 



OFFICERS FOR THE CURRENT YEAR 



President : Dr. T. C. Stephens, Morningside, Sioux City, Iowa. 



Vice-president : Geo. L. Fordyce, Youngstown, Ohio. 



Secretary : Thos. L. Hankiusou, Cliarleston, 111. 



Treasurer: P. B. Coffin, 32.32 Groveland Ave., Chicago, 111. 



Editor " The Wilson Bulletin " : Lynds Jones, Spear Laboratory, 

 Oberlin, Ohio. 



Business Manager : Gerard Alan Abbott, 8.53 Marquette Road, 

 Cbicago, 111. 



EDITORIAL 



Pressure of copy ^and of work has interfered with preparing and 

 printing notices of publications received. This feature will be re- 

 sumed in the next issue of the Bulletin. 



The unprecedented spring-like weather of middle February, which 

 the central regions of the country experienced, brought the first 

 group of migrants up to the lake region a full fortnight earlier than 

 normal. It will be interesting to study the effect of this early 

 movement upon the subseiiuent migrations. 



The value of the Christmas Census which Bird-Lore inaugurated, 

 and which, by the way, made unnecessary the New Year Census, 

 which the writer started and continued for a few years, will not be 

 questioned by any person who delves deeply into field studies. There 

 should be at least two other similar censuses during the period 

 of the vernal migration. One might well be made for the first 

 day of April, which usually comes in the spring holiday season for 

 teachers and pupils, and the other May 15. The first would occur 

 in the interval between the migrations of the earlier species, and 

 that of the later ones, and would furnish a basis for determining 

 the population of the earlier species, for not many of them have 

 gone north by that time. The Wilson Bulletin would gladly lend 

 its pages for the publication of such a census this year. The other 

 census would be made during the greatest flight of warblers and 

 other small birds. Such a census could be only approximate be- 

 cause of the numbers of the birds, but it would be none the less 

 interesting and valuable. 



