Correspondence 339 



I'ressure of work has prevented any extended review of the lit- 

 erature which has come to the Editor's tal)le, nor will it be pos- 

 sible to prepare such copy for the Septeml>er issue. It is hoped 

 that after the new school year begins this phase of the Bulletin 

 may be resumed. 



The absence of the Editor for the summer, and luitil the time 

 for the issue of the September number, will cause a delay of two 

 or three AA'eeks in the appearance of the September number. The 

 Editor begs for so nuich of the indulgence of the readers of tlie 

 Bulletin. 



Tlie account of the second annual meeting of the Wilson Ornitho- 

 logical Club was crowded out of the March issue, where it should 

 have appeared. It is i)resented at this late date as a matter of 

 record. Tlie time of the next meeting has not yet been decided 

 upon. 



CORRESPONDENCE 



Editor, Wilson Bullet in. 



Dear Sib: — An article* in the last volume of your publication 

 contains statements subject to correction. This article is a criti- 

 cism of a review which the writer published of four papers on field 

 observations upon the feeding of nestling birds, prepared by stu- 

 dents of the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory. 



The review to which Professor Stephens objects was published 

 in the Aitk for July, 1914 (pp. 420-421). It was intentionally made 

 brief and mild in tone. Professor Stephens, however, refers to the 

 " captious reviewer," a trite phrase that slips readily from the pen, 

 but which in the present instance is unjustified. That the reviewer 

 was reluctant to criticize the papers considered is shown by the 

 fact that the earliest one was published two years before the re- 

 view. The overconfidence exhibited by its writer in recording the 

 identity of items of food fed to liestlings 'was thought to be only 

 one of the defects to be expected in an early scientific essay. It 

 was hoped that succeeding papers would be. more conservative. 

 However, the repetition of the same kind of work made me decide 

 to protest. 



* Stephens. T. C, A Rejoinder. Wilson Bull. XXVI, No. 3. Sept. 

 1914, pp. 157-161. 



