tionships, is our profound conviction; that it occasionally outruns the development of 

 the bird and points the way to new ends, as in the Passerine forms, is an hypothesis of 

 attractive probability. But that we have here a quasi-independent line of evidence is 

 undeniable. The relationships of birds can only be determined finally in the light of 

 the egg; and so the assembling of the data and the reading of the story is a matter of 

 legitimate interest, and one which, in the writer at least, awakens the protoundest en- 

 thusiasm. 



And, of course, if we are aide to correct our vision of the bird by the light of the 

 egg, we have learned something momentous about Life itself. We shall not be able 

 to employ this method of research in the realm of, say, mammalogy, but we may 

 safely be guided by the conclusions already reached in a more favored realm. We shall 

 have learned something of permanent value', something which is bound to modify our 

 entire conception of the course of the living. This, I submit, is profoundly worth while, 

 and this is the serious task of the Museum of Comparative Oology. 



If we speak, lastly, of the teaching function of the M. C. O., we are only placing 

 ourselves in line with the best of modern museum practice. And to this conception of 

 the museum as a teaching institution, we heartily agree. It is not enough to point out 

 that the material in the M. C. O. will be arranged and labelled with a view to its imme- 

 diate teaching value. It is not enough, either, to point out that our system of provid- 

 ing personal conductors for all museum parties is in itself assurance of the exercise of 

 the teaching function. A facile speaker is able to offer a good deal of information in 

 the guise of entertainment in the course of an hour; and our experience shows that 

 nine out of ten are impressed with the value and significance of what they see, as well 

 as with its absorbing beauty. 



It goes without saying that the presence of the museum confers special benefits 

 upon the community of Santa Barbara. Work is carried on in cooperation with the 

 public school system; and arrangements are being perfected whereby every boy and 

 girl will have had systematic and progressive instruction in bird lore and in field methods 

 by the time of graduation from the high school. In addition, the museum is the natural 

 home and gathering place for Audubon Societies, bird-clubs, and various related activi- 

 ties. Upon the completion of a contemplated auditorium with projection facilities, we 

 shall be able to extend our service to the community still further. 



But our plans do not stop here. We owe a responsibility to the country at large 

 and to Science. This responsibility we propose to meet by the progressive publication 

 of several magazines, of which this double number of "The Journal of the Museum of 

 Comparative Oology" is the forerunner. The broadest field of service will be sought 

 through the medium of publication; and special papers will be published from time to 

 time under the auspices of the institution, as the results of research appear to justify. 

 In this way, especially, we hope to fulfil our three-fold task of entertaining, teaching, 

 and conducting scientific inquiry. Such use we believe will justify an enormous accumu- 

 lation and the most careful preservation of all significant material, whether of eggs, 

 nests, or bird-skins, entrusted to the Museum of Comparative Oology. 



THE SEASON OF 1916. 



We plan to give in these pages a succinct account of the field research carried out 

 each season by the M. C. O. staff or its regularly appointed collectors. Inasmuch, how- 

 ever, as three seasons have already passed without report, the earlier reviews must be 

 correspondingly condensed. 



The season of 1916 opened with the arrival in March of an assistant, A. G. Vrooman, 

 of Santa Cruz, well known to oological fame as the discoverer and sole exploiter of the 

 little colony of nesting Black Swifts, Cypseloides (nee Nephcecetes) niger borealis. 

 "Bert" was willing to try his hand in "fnrrin parts," and after a few days spent at Santa 

 Barbara getting into practice, we dispatched him to Santa Crux Island on the 16th ol 

 March, together with a volunteer working on shares, Fred Truesdale, of Shandou. 



The ensuing twelve days were profitable ones for the M. C. O., and we wish to take 

 this occasion to thank the genial manager of the Santa Cruz Island Company. Mr. 

 Arthur J. Caire, for his courtesies on this and subsequent occasions. Mr. and Mrs. 

 Caire, visited the Museum on the 17th of March. 1917, and their esteemed promise of 

 cooperation, together with the privileges of "the island," we count one of the valued 

 assets of the institution. 



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