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 io8 Bird- Lore jStrti-ilore A Bi-monthly Magazine Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETIE5 Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN Published by THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Vol. VIII Published June 1. 1906 No. 3 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Price in the United States, Canada and Mexico twenty cents a number, one dollar a year, post- age paid. COPYRIGHTED, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN Bird-Lore's Motto: A Bird in the Bush is Worth Two in the Hand This is the season for practicing, not for preaching ornithology; the season of plenty to which, during the winter, we look for- ward eagerly. Books and specimens now seem a sad substitute for the bird in its haunts, and we welcome the opportunity to go to Nature itself to see for ourselves phenomena with which we are familiar only through the descriptions of others, and with the always inspiring possibility of observing some fact which has escaped record. It may be only a new date for an old bird ; it may be some noted phenomenon in bird- life ; in either case the observation is origi- nal and possesses the incomparable force of a personal experience. Since the last number of Bird-Lore appeared, we have, for example, seen the Migrant Shrike at Englewood, N. J., for the first time in the spring (April 16), and have watched, un- der exceptionally favorable conditions, the ' booming ' Prairie Hen. The experiences differ widely in interest, but they possess, in common, the educative value attached to those things we see with our own eyes. No bird- protective law should be without a provision providing for the granting of permits to collect birds for scientific pur- poses ; and, be it said to the credit of the Audubon Societies, they have invariably advocated the inclusion of such a provision when urging the passage of bird-protective measures. These permits are usually issued by the State Forest, Fish and Game Com- mission, and the present tendency is not only to make it exceedingly difficult to se- cure a permit, but to restrict the number issued. The conditions under which a per- mit may be secured may well be determined by those who give it; but we believe it to be unwise so to restrict the number of per- mits in force that deserving applicants are denied the privilege of securing specimens legally. With purposeless collecting we are not in sympathy, but in this country at least, truly scientific collecting for a definite object has never, to our knowledge, per- ceptibly diminished the numbers of any species of bird, and it seems a poor policy to turn a reputable ornithologist into a law- breaker or law-hater by refusing to accord him permission to pursue his studies within the limits of the law. We have been much impressed recently with the character of the work being done by certain State Bird Clubs or Unions. The purely ornithological results which may ac- crue from cooperation of this kind are too obvious to require mention; it is rather the benefits derived by the ornithologist to which we would call attention. The knowl- edge that one's every-day observations are of interest and value to one's fellow mem- bers stimulates effort; while in the light of the records of others, one's own records often acquire a new significance. There is, too, the pleasure to be derived from contact with those who possess our tastes. In short, organizations of the kind we have in mind so widely increase the local ornithologist's possibilities for effective work, and so add to his enjoyment of it, that we wish every state had its own Bird Club. In addition to the opportunities for in- struction in bird-lore, offered by Camp Agassiz in the Sierras, mentioned in our last issue, we learn that Mrs. A. H. Wal- ters, joint author of ' Wild Birds in City Parks,' is offering a course on bird study at the summer session of the biological labora- tory of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, N. Y. Full information may be obtained from the director, C. B. Davenport, Station for Experimental Evolution, Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, N. Y. — Tucson, Arizona, May 12, 1906.