THE OOLOGIST 



85 



have the right, on being admitted, and 

 thereafter once a year, if they remain 

 members, to a free 25-word advertise- 

 ment in the Bulletin and they can al- 

 so advertise in the Bulletin at any 

 time at the rate of one cent per word 

 per insertion. 



The subscription for the current 

 year, expiring on the 31st December 

 next, will be one dollar, and for the 

 whole of next year 1% dollars (five 

 shillings). Subscriptions will always 

 run for the full calendar year. There 

 will be no reduction to those wfiu join 

 in the later months of a year but such 

 new members will receive the back 

 numbers of the Bulletin for the year 

 in which they join. On the renewal 

 of subscriptions each year a complete 

 list of members will be published, 

 probably in the February issue. 



It is hoped that the first issue of 

 the Bulletin will be on 1st June, 1919, 

 and thereafter as near the first day of 

 each month as may be possible. 



Every effort will be made to restrict 

 membership of the Union to the most 

 reputable collectors and members will 

 be asked to maintain the status of the 

 Union by reporting in confidence any- 

 thing prejudicial to its interests. The 

 founder of the Union reserves the 

 right to refuse membership without 

 giving a reason or to defer admission 

 to membership until satisfied as to 

 bona fide. 



The nucleus of the membership will 

 be formed by collectors of undoubted 

 position in the egg world who respond 

 to the founder's request for support 

 in establishing the Union. Candidates 

 for membership with whom the found- 

 er has not had relations will be re- 

 quired to give satisfactory references 

 or to be proposed and seconded for 

 membership by existing members. It 

 will be seen that this condition must 

 be enforced in the common interest. 



Those wishing to join should send 



in their names and addresses, and 

 copy for their free 25-word advertise- 

 ment, with a Money Order for one dol- 

 lar accompanied by the names of two 

 leading collectors who would be pre- 

 pared to vouch for their good faith. 

 They should also give an undertaking 

 to treat the contents of the Bulletin 

 as confidential, for it will be seen that 

 if the information be available to non- 

 members the purposes of the Union 

 will not be served. In a word, mem- 

 bers will be asked to guard jealously 

 the information secured to them and 

 the safeguards with which it is treat- 

 ed in their own interests but, at the 

 same time, to do their best to extend 

 the membership by the introduction of 

 reputable new members. 



All communications to K. L. Skin- 

 ner, Brooklands Estate Office, Wey- 

 bridge, England. 



An Interesting Ornithological Enter- 

 prise 



As one of the patrons of the Com- 

 mittee of the Belgian Order of St. 

 John of Jerusalem, I am taking the 

 liberty of quoting a few paragraphs 

 from a letter received by me under 

 the date of the 24th of December, 

 1918, from the Order's Honorable Sec- 

 retary, Dr. J. G. Smets-Mondez. Amer- 

 ican ornithologists will be especially 

 interested in what this organization 

 has planned, and in the fact that it 

 has issued a general request to the 

 members of the American Ornitholo- 

 gists' Union for books and other 

 works on birds for the library it aims 

 to establish. 



Doctor Smets-Mondez states that 

 "Our Order contemplates erecting a 

 hospital near Brussels, in order to at- 

 tend, with an English speaking staff, 

 Americans or Britishers, who happen 

 to be ill during their stay in Belgium, 

 and who would thus avoid crossing 



