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Birds and Seasons
FIRST SERIES

BEGINNING with this number, Bird-Lore inaugurates an out- hne course of bird-study for the year, which it is hoped will be of assistance to both teachers and students. ' Keys ' and ' Manuals ' for identification of at least the more common species are now so readily accessible it is assumed that the student is well equipped in this respect, but we believe that the value of these books can be greatly increased by the addition of exact infor- mation in regard to the manner and times of occurrence of the birds of definite localities. That is, given a text-book for the purpose of identifying, and the student can have no other more desirable book than a companion volume which will tell him just what birds he may expect to find and just when he may expect to find them. In other words, the ideal manual would be one on the birds of your own immediate vicinity. In the first place, therefore, Bird-Lore will attempt to secure for its readers information in regard to the birds about their homes, and, as a contribution toward this end, it will present lists of birds from six localities in the United States, namely, Boston, Mass., by Ralph Hoffmann ; New York City, by the Editor ; Philadelphia, by Witmer Stone; Oberlin, Ohio, by Lynds Jones; Glen Ellyn, Ills., by B. F. Gault ; San Francisco, by Charles Keeler. These lists, of course, cover only a small portion of the ground, but it is further proposed to aid students in this respect by enabling them to secure copies of desirable local bird-lists which have been published. Authors often have duplicate copies or 'extras' of such lists, reprinted from some scientific publication, difficult in itself to secure, which they would be glad to dispose of, and we invite, indeed urge, them to send us the titles of such local lists, or other papers on birds in nature, with the prices asked, and these titles will be published in Bird- Lore without charge. The learning of a bird's name, however, is only the first step in bird-study, and as a means of directing the student into certain definite lines of work, we shall suggest appropriate subjects for study through- out the year. Migration is undoubtedly the most striking phenomenon of bird- life, and to its influences are due those marked changes in our bird