2IO 



Bird -Lore 



BIRD -LORE FOR 1905 



Bird-Lore believes in expansion. It 

 wishes to become not only a better, but a 

 larger magazine. Many inviting opportu- 

 nities for improvement and development, 

 valuable communications, interesting photo- 

 graphs, are of necessity refused, and the 

 publication of accepted contributions is, 

 often long delayed all for the same old, tire- 

 some reason ' lack of space ' — an excuse 

 infinitely more irritating to us than to those 

 to whom we are obliged to make it. We 

 most earnestly hope, however, that Bird- 

 Lore will be found worthy of sufficient sup- 

 port to permit us to carry out our plans for 

 the coming year. 



Prof. T. Gilbert Pearson, of the Nor- 

 mal College at Greensboro, North Carolina, 

 who has been so remarkably successful in 

 Audubon work in the South, has assumed 

 the editorship of the Young Observer's De- 

 partment, and under his care we are assured 

 that this department can be made extremely 

 attractive and stimulating to Bird-Loj^e's 

 younger readers. 



Mr. Witmer Stone, whose post as 

 Conservator in the Academy of Sciences in 

 Philadelphia, the cradle of American orni- 

 thology, is perhaps responsible for his un- 

 usually keen and sympathetic insight into 

 the lives of early American ornithologists, 

 will contribute to Bird-Lore during the 

 coming year a series of biographical 

 sketches of these pioneer bird students. 

 Illustrations for these articles will be sup- 

 plied by Mr. Ruthven Deane, who has 

 kindly placed his unrivaled collection of 

 ornithologists' portraits at Bird-Lore's 

 disposal for this purpose. 



The February issue of Bird -Lore, as 

 we have previoulsy announced, will be 

 largely devoted to articles on Bird Houses. 



This number will also contain the results 

 of the Christmas Bird Census and the list of 

 prominent ornithologists, composing Bird- 

 Lore's Advisory Council, who have con- 

 sented to aid bird students throughout the 

 country with information and advice. 



In succeeding issues we expect to present 

 a paper by John Burroughs on ' Birds in 

 Books' and also contributions from Brad- 



ford Torrey and Ernest Thompson Seton. 



Prof. William Morton Wheeler has 

 written a most interesting article on the 

 structure of birds' wings, which, among 

 other illustrations, will contain a restoration 

 of the Archccopteryx by Charles R. Knight, 

 and C. William Beebe will tell us of his 

 experiences last winter in Mexico. 



Our files are overflowing with photo- 

 graphs awaiting publication, and some of 

 them are of unusual interest, notably those 

 of dozens of Cormorants nesting in a single 

 tree, in North Carolina, by T. Gilbert Pear- 

 son, and a unique set recording the growth 

 of a bird, day by day, by E. R. Warren. 



Bird-Lore's attempt to provide good, 

 reliable colored plates of birds has not only 

 been pronounced an artistic and scientific 

 success, but it has brought that measure of 

 practical endorsement which ensures the con- 

 tinuance of this popular feature. All the 

 Warblers plates have been drawn, and we 

 trust that circumstances will warrant our 

 placing enough plates in each number of 

 Bird-Lore to complete the series in the 

 next volume. 



We pafticularly want to give Mr. 

 Dutcher colored plates for his Educational 

 Leaflets. Already widely used, they would 

 have an even greater educational value if 

 colored figures of the birds of which they 

 treat were included in each number. 



It is also our ardent desire to publish 

 Mr. Butcher's Annual Report as Chairman 

 of the National Committee of Audubon 

 Societies in Bird-Lore. This important 

 document gives in detail, state by state, the 

 work for bird protection during the year. 

 Reports from the wardens employed, infor- 

 mation concerning legislative, educational 

 and other allied matters are set forth at 

 length, and the report is not only of present 

 interest but is valuable for reference. A 

 single number of this report is double the 

 size of Bird-Lore, but we hope that during 

 the present month our subscribers will vote 

 so unanimously in favor of its publication 

 that we may include it in our February 

 issue. May we add that you will find a 

 pink ballot placed in this number of Bird- 

 Lore. Vote earlv ! 



