Sep., 1901 
THE CONDOR 
135 
the bird magazines to stimulate their interest 
by the interchange of thoughts and experi- 
ences. And again we ask; Have we suffered 
a decadence in our popular ornithological lit- 
erature ? 
The editors request of contributors wfio 
may in the future send in lists for publication, 
that when possible they send them in type- 
written form. This reduces the work of editing 
the manuscript to the minimum, and insures 
the saving of much time in proof-reading. 
Scientific names, at the best a bng-bear to com- 
positors, become subject to all sorts of con- 
structions when handed in in the form of hastily- 
prepared manuscript, such as results from the 
tedium of preparing a lengthy list. In the 
past it has usually been found preferable to 
typewrite lists rather than turn in the written 
cop3' with the risk of having to make copious 
alterations in the proof. The editors ask that 
they be spared this work, and that the type- 
writer be resorted to by correspondents in the 
preparation of future lists. 
From remarks made by members at a recent 
meeting of the Northern Division, it is a]ipar- 
ent that the work of bringing into the Club 
those ornithologists who are not affiliated with 
any organized movement for the study of 
birds has but begun. There are conscientious 
and competent workers, far removed from the 
influences of co-operative bird study, who have 
in their note books reliable records which 
should have long ago been published. A num- 
ber of occurrences, each a record, were men- 
tioned, and it rests with the Club members 
who are possessed of the location of this buried 
knowledge to become instrumental in bring- 
ing it to light. It was also stated that not a 
single recorded instance of the Snowv' Owl in 
California could be found, save for one or two 
stray notes which are not citable owing to the 
exclusive use of the vernacular name. There 
have been a number of Snowv Owls taken in 
the state and it now remains for the collectors 
to properly record them. 
The new constitution and by-laws of the 
Club have now been considered bv both Divis- 
ions and will be adopted and in effect by Jan- 
uary I, and the}’ will be printed and distributed 
to members. The present constitution has 
been carefully prepared with a view to meeting 
all re(|uirenients incident upon the increased 
growtli of the Club, and the provision for 
forming “chapters” where a number of mem- 
bers are conveniently grouped, will doubtless 
be taken advantage of by members far re- 
moved from the places of meeting. Beginning 
with 1902 the annual dues of active members 
will be $2., this action having been taken at 
the urgent recjuest of various members, who 
desire to see the Club increase its scope of 
work, as will be possible with its increased 
revenue. 
It is always a matter of felicitation to note 
improvement in our contemporary magazines. 
In this connection we congratulate Kditor 
Swain of Journal of the Maine Ornitholog- 
ical Society for the excellent table of contents 
and appearance of the July number of this 
journal. Notable articles are ‘Notes on the 
Pileated Woodpecker’ by C. H. Morrell, being 
a record of the domestic life of a pair of these 
birds which frequented a beech grove, and 
‘Some Prehistoric Cave and Cliff Dwellers and 
Their Descendants’ by Ora W. Knight, de- 
scribing the evolution in nesting sites and 
manner of nest-building of the various swal- 
lows. Other interesting notes and articles 
round out a distinctly valuable issue. 
With the passing of the summer months 
most of our field- workers have returned from 
their outings, and now comes the season of 
compiling notes and recording such occur- 
rences as may be of particular interest to their 
co-workers. In California much of the state 
has been covered by Club members, and we 
may therefore look for some good things in the 
line of collecting experiences. Let each mem- 
ber do his share of writing and we shall be 
surprised at the volume of material produced. 
As heretofore, illustrated articles are always 
desirable, esjrecially when the photographs 
portray birds or some of their characteristics. 
Photographs of mere nests and eggs, without 
detail and of no especial value, should be 
avoided. 
With a State List promised at an early date, 
and with so competent and energetic an ornith- 
ologist as Mr. Griunell in charge, it becomes 
the duty of every Club member to go through 
his notes and sift out all records which are 
likely to be of value and to assist in mapjfing 
the distribution of each species with which he 
is familiar. 
The September number of American Or- 
nithology contains an interesting article on the 
California Condor, together with some of the 
best photographs of its nests and nesting-sites 
which have yet aj)peared. The zeal which 
Mr. Reed is displaying is certain to draw to his 
magazine many valuable bird photographs. 
With the November issue of The Condor 
will be published a complete list of active 
Club members. It is desirable that the ad- 
dresses of members be brought down to date, 
and to this end we request the attention of each 
member to the matter. 
® ® ® 
Dr. R. W, Shufeldt announces to his friends 
his removal from Washington to 502 West 
142nd street, New York Cit}q N. Y. 
Official Minutes Southern Division. 
The May meeting was held at the residence 
of Burnell Franklin in South Pasadena, Pres- 
ident Daggett presiding, six members and sev- 
eral visitors present, H. A. Gaylord acted as 
