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 7« Bird -Lore ilirt) itore A Bi-monthly Magazine Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THF. AltDUBON SOCIETIES Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN Published by THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Vol. Ill Published April 1, 1901 No. 2 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Price in the United States, Canada, and Mexico twenty cents a number, one dollar a year, post- age paid. Subscriptions may be sent to the Publishers, at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, or 66 Fifth avenue. New Vork City. Price in all countries in the International Postal Union, twenty-five cents a number, one dollar and a quarter a year, postage paid. Foreign agents, Macmillan and Company, Ltd., London. COPYRIGHTED, 1901, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN. Bird-Lore's Motto: A Bird in the Bush is Worth Two in the Hand. 'The Outlook' for December i, 1900, published a series of ten short articles on the ten books which have most influenced the thought and activities of the past cen- tury. The writers included James Bryce, Edward Everett Hale, Henry van Dyke, Arthur T. Hadley, Thomas Wentworth Higginson and other representative men of the day, each of whom presented a list of the ten books produced during the past one hundred years, which, in his opinion, had been most potent in the advancement of mankind. We do not propose to analyze the lists given or even to mention the works contained in them, but we cannot refrain from calling attention to the fact that the only book given in each of the ten lists was Darwin's ' Origin of Species.' What an unparalleled tribute, this, to the patient, tireless, conscientious, gentle natur- alist, whose labors, in spite of continuous iii- heaith and discouragements, which would soon have disheartened a less courageous seeker after truth, are thus virtually declared to be the dominant factor of the nineteenth century in the elevation of his race. With what satisfaction the naturalist reails the estimate of these ten eminent men, not one of whom is a biologist, of the value to humanity of ' The Origin of Species' ! No matter how humble be one's part, how insignificant one's achievements, what an inspiration it is to feel that one is working at the same structure of wiiich Darwin laid so stable a foundation ! During the past few months the legisla- tures of a large number of states have paid unprecedented attention to proposed laws designed for the protection of non-game birds. The whole movement aptly illus- trates Thoreau's remark, " What a wedge, what a beetle, what a catapult is a man in earnest; what force can withstand him?" The man, or rather men, in this case, are William Dutcher, representing the commit- tee on bird protection of the American Or- nithologists' Union, and T. S. Palmer, of the Biological Survey of the United States Department of Agriculture, in charge of the enforcement of the Lacey law. It is due to the energy of these gentlemen, anil the sup- port of Audubon and other societies, as well as of individuals, which they have enlisted that the model A. O. U. bird law, with but slight modifications, has been passed by the legislatures of Maine, New Hampshire, Delaware, Wyoming and in the District of Columbia. The same admirable law, or amendments to existing laws, have been in- troduced into the legislatures of Massachu- setts, Connecticut, New Jersev, North Caro- lina, Michigan, California and Oregon, and are still (March 16) under consideration. The New York state law has been so amended that the " web-footed wild fowl " of the old law are now defined as " Ducks. Geese, Brant and Swan," thereby excluding Gulls, Terns and Grebes from the list of birds which may be legally killed between certain dates and consequently bringing them imder that section of the law applying to birds which may not legally be killed or possessed at any time. The passage of this amendment is of far-reaching importance. Supported by section five of the Lacey law, its enforcement means that the plumage of Gulls, Terns and Grebes cannot be sold in New Vork state, while its influence on the trade in the feathers of these birds will doubtless be felt throughout the country.