THE YOUNG OOLOGIST. 



139 



As we go to press, too late Tor this 

 months issue, Ave receive from Mr. Jose R, 

 Curtis, of Painted Post, N. Y., a "grand 

 scheme" to organize the collectors of 

 America interested in the study of birds, 

 their nests and eggs, into an Association 

 similar to the Agassiz, to be known as 

 "The Knights of Audubon." Full par- 

 ticulars next month. 



Errata:- — Under Jottings, in January 

 issue, the type setter not only added testi- 

 mony to the large size of the Moa egg, but 

 unconsciously (?) endowed it with a vorac- 

 ity, heretofore undiscovered by the most 

 eminent scientists, in saying : 



" There are but few collectors in this 

 country but what an egg or two of this 

 species would like to obtain." 



Our copy read : ' ' There are few collec- 

 tions in this country that an egg or two of 

 this species would not obtain." 



On January 32d, a bitter cold day ; brisk 

 west wind ; mercury at or near zero — we 

 recorded our first Horned Lark for 1885. 

 Once, twice, thrice we thought we recog- 

 nized his welcome notes, the last call being 

 too much for us, we started in search of 

 our early visitant. We soon found the 

 little fellow, only a few rods from our 

 office door, running and skipping merrily 

 over the frozen ground, now and then 

 picking up a stray seed, apparently, in 

 spite of the cold, enjoying himself as 

 heartily as if it was a warm, sunny day in 

 April. On Dec. 1st, 1884, while going to 

 West Kendall, we saw four of these birds; 

 we have observed them every month since 

 last February; can we not soon have them 

 recorded as an occasional winter resident in 

 Western New Yoi*k? 



Shall we make the Young Oologist 

 A thirty-two page magazine? — For the 

 past few months we have been struggling 

 heroically with the above query, and to- 

 day are as far from a definite answer as the 

 day when it first confronted us. We have 

 decided to let our readers answer the ques- 

 tion, and upon their answers depends 

 whether The Young Oologist — upon the 



first of May next (the initiiil number of 

 Vol. II,) — shall consist of thirty-two pages, 

 " chuck full " and running over with inter- 

 esting items nnd articles on Birds, their 

 Nests and Eggs, (this issue is only one-half 

 of a fair sample of what we would make 

 it,) or whether it shall be issued, as at pre- 

 sent, with only sixteen pages. If we en- 

 large to thirty-two pages, our subscription 

 price will necessarily be increased to fl.OO 

 per annum. But where could the student 

 of birds obtain mf)re information bearing 

 directly on their hobby for $1.00, than ui 

 twelve numbers of a thirty-two paged 

 Young Oologist? 



Let us hear from each and every reader 

 of this article at once. Write short and 

 to the point. A postal will hold your 

 answer. We will tell our friends in the 

 March number how tJiey are going to have 

 Vol. II, of The Young Oologist pub- 

 lished. 



A collector from Mass. writes us as fol- 

 lows : ' ' Different authors use entirely 

 different Latin names; now why do they? 

 For instance, the cat-bird Linnaeus has 

 muscicapa carolwA^jms ; Swainson has 

 orjiheiis felirox ; Wilson has turdus Uvidus. 

 Audubon, Gray, and many others have 

 names more or less like these. Has any 

 one who knows nothing about Latin got to 

 go to work and learn them all? If there 

 was some standard it would be all right, 

 for we could easily remember one, but if 

 we must remember a dozen for each bird, 

 the now classical part of the collectors, I 

 am afraid, will get badly left." 



The above is in tone about the same as 

 ninety-nine one-hundredths, if not all of 

 the collectors would express their thoughts 

 in regard to this subject, were they to give 

 them to the public. As for ourselves, we 

 are in for "plain English," and avoid the 

 use of the Latin terms as much as possible. 

 To young students we would say, become 

 familliar with the English names first, then, 

 if you have time, or desire to learn the 

 Latin names, learn them as given in Ridg- 

 way's Nomenclatui'e, which is the "stand- 

 ard " for America. ( Our correspondents 



