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Bird - Lore 



way dependent on man's bounty, is 

 surely a striking illustration of how quickly 

 a truly wild creature may lose its fear of 

 man, once it realizes that no ground for 

 fear exists. 



In the death of Bradford Torrey, which 

 occurred at Santa Barbara, California, on 

 October 7, 191 2, the group of American 

 literary naturalists loses one of its most 

 distinguished figures. Torrey's work was 

 marked by its high literary excellence as 

 well as by its scientific accuracy. His out- 

 look on nature was sane and normal and 

 his studies presented her everyday moods. 

 With no attempt to compel attention 

 through the exceptional or unusual, or 

 through the humanization of his sub- 

 jects, Torrey holds one's interest because 

 of his power of observation, his sincerity, 

 his gift for expression, and because, with 

 no hint of egotism, his writings, neverthe- 

 less, clearly reveal the quaint and attrac- 

 tive personality of their author. 



Going to California several years ago 

 for a season's visit, Torrey yielded to the 

 charm which this state has for the nature- 

 lover and prolonged his stay to the time 

 of his death. In our regret that he was 

 not spared to do for California what he 

 has done for New England, it is at least 

 some consolation to know that the results 

 of his observations during the period of 

 his residence on the Pacific Coast were 

 left in form for publication. 



Of great ornithological interest is 

 Bird-Lore's discovery of a score of 

 negatives recording the appearance in 

 many poses, including even that of in- 

 cubation, of the Passenger Pigeon. The 

 birds, it is true, were photographed in 

 captivity; but, they were in such excellent 

 health and plumage that, so far as appear- 

 ance and actions go, they might well 

 have been wild birds. 



To BE impressed with the value of the 

 facts which the bird photographer is 

 filing for reference by future ornithologists, 

 one has only to think with what eagerness 

 bird-students of today would examine 



photographs of Passenger Pigeon roosts 

 or nestings or, particularly, of a migration 

 flight of these birds, when the passing 

 myriads are said to have partially ob- 

 scured the sky for hours. 



Not only have we no such records, but, 

 so far as we are aware, few if any adequate 

 photographs of even captive Passenger 

 Pigeons have been published. Bird 

 artists of this generation, therefore, look 

 in vain for authoritative material on which 

 to base drawings of this lost species, and 

 there is consequently cause for congratu- 

 lation in the existence of these camera 

 portraits, most of which will be published 

 in Bird-Lore during the coming year. 



For the use of students there have been 

 deposited in the Howard Memorial 

 Library of New Orleans 'Bird Migration 

 Records' from 1903 to the present. 



These were principally made by Mr. 

 H. H. Kopman and Messrs. A. and W. B. 

 Allison, and others. 



So little has been written on the birds 

 of Louisiana that these form an important 

 contribution on the natural history of the 

 state. 



A Portland, Maine, paper reports the 

 slaughter by two local gunners of twenty 

 'Jack Curlew,' which it states are worth 

 two hundred dollars, and 'warmly con- 

 gratulates' the hunters, Clinton T. Swett 

 and George Darton, on their good for- 

 tune. Later it was discovered that the 

 birds were not the "rarer Eskimo Curlew;" 

 but it was evidently not the fault of the 

 'sportsmen' that they did not do their 

 best to bring a fast-vanishing bird near 

 to the verge of extinction, while the atti- 

 tude of the paper in question toward the 

 subject of bird-protection is well ex- 

 pressed by the following paragraph: 



"A few Jack Curlews have been shot 

 every year by gunners along the New 

 England coast, but it is believed that 

 they will soon follow the Eskimo bird to 

 extinction or near extinction, and it is 

 doubtful if ever another bag such as that 

 brought in by Messrs. Darton and Swett 

 will be brought into this city." 



