﻿CONTENTS. 



The Tendency in Birds to Vary their Hakits David Scott. 107 



DoRYPHpltA DliCEMLINEATA S. S. Rathvoit. 1 14 



Museum Godefrpy at Hamburg E. Forman. 116 



Mosses of the. District of Columbia Rudolph Oldberg. 118 



Notes on the Trap-door Spider Rural Carolinian. 120 



Field Record 121 



An Ancient Apple Tree. — A Congress of Birds. — A " Stand off" between 



Snake and Frog. 



Gleanings in Foreign Fields. .• 123 



Caterpillars.* — The Locust in England. 



Editorial Pencillings 125 



Our Book Shelf 126 



rROSPECTUS. 



For some time past there has been a need for a medium through which students of 

 Natural History and the kindred sciences could communicate with each other the re- 

 sults of CURRENT OBSERVATION in the field and laboratory, and, at the same time, place 

 on record notes of any new facts of general interest to the scientific world that might 

 come under their notice, as it is believed that many valuable facts bearing upon the Nat- 

 ural History of our land are lost to science, because not deemed of sufficient importance 

 for publication in our larger magazines. 



To meet this want, at the Nation's Capital, Field and Forest was projedied, and 

 in June 1S75, the initial number was published. The limited number of its pages how- 

 ever, proved a serious drawback to full success, and so it lias been thought advisable, 

 with the opening of the second volume to double the number of its pages, and to enlarge 

 its scope and field of usefulness. 



Still under the patronage of the Potomac-side Naturalists' Club — a natural history 

 society founded twenty years ago — with a corps of Contributors- composed mainly of gen- 

 tlemen of recognized authority in the various branches of science, many of whom are em- 

 inent in their specialties, its tone and standing need not be questioned. 



It is not intended, however, that it shall be exclusively the bulletin of any society, 

 or the record of any particular locality, but that it shall be devoted to the fields and 

 forests of our whole country. We shall aim to make it popular by giving fresh and in- 

 teresting articles on various topics, notes relative to the birds, animals, fish, insects, 

 plants, &c, of our American fauna and flora, as well as carefully selected extracts from 

 the foreign scientific publications. 



A monthly record of the proceedings of the Naturalists' Club will be given, and ab- 

 stracts of papers read before the club will be published when upon subjects of special 

 interest. 



In short, our aim is that Field and Forest shall occupy a middle ground in scientific 

 literature, by making it a journal of information for the student and observer, as well as 

 a repository for notes and observations, that might otherwise remain hidden between the 

 covers of an unpublished journal or note book. To "that end we invite brief contri- 

 butions from all students of nature upon topics of general scientific interest, as field 

 notes, brief accounts of experiments or investigations, and information in regard to Soci- 

 eties, as well as communications upon subjects more technical. 



