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 94 THE .CONDOR [ Vol. II THE CONDOR. Bulletin of the COOPER ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB Published bi-monthly at Santa Clara, Cal., in the interests mid as Official Organ of the Club. CHESTER BAI,.I,O'0, ', Santa Clara, Cal., Editor-in-Chief. HENRY REED TAYLOR, Alameda, Cal. HOWARD I.OBERTSON, Box 55, Sta. ^., I, os Angeles, Associates. DONALD A. COHEN, - Alatneda, Cal., H. ,,. ,qV'ARTH, 25 Commonwealth Ave., Los Angeles. Business Managers. Submriptioa, (in advance) One Dollar a Year. Single Copies, - ...... 25 Cents. Six Copies or more of one issue, x2 Cents Each. Foreign Subscription, - ..... $L25. Free to Honorary Members and to Active Members not in arrears tbr lues. Advertising rates will be sent on application. Advertisements mid subscriptions should be sent to the Business Maaagers. Exchanges should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief. Entered at the Santa Clara Post-office a second class nmtter, his issue of The Condor wa mailea July x4. EDITORIAL NOTES. To the activity of the A. O. U. Conlnlittee on Bird Protection and the Audubon Society is largely- due the agreement which the Millinery Protective Association was forced to enter into recently. This agreement, although ahnost entirely prohi'bitive of the use of 'the plumage of American birds for millinery purposes, is probably a more generous concession than the Millinery Association would have secured had they not conciliated the efforts of the bird pro- tectionists. The public is falniliar with the text of the Lacey Act introduced by Hon. John F. Lacey of Iowa during the last session of Congress and which was calculated to protect and restore the wild birds of America. The bill conrained sweeping clauses prohibiting the interstate shipment of all birds killed in viola- tioll of an 5 ' state or territorial law and the pressure brought to bear upon Congress for the passage of the hill was so wide-spread that its fate was never in doubt. Tile mill!nery fraternity, observing this, lost no time iu makilig ternis with tile A. O.U. Committee ou Bird Protection and an agree- meut was gntered into by both parties. By its terms the ulilliners agree not to "kill or buy any lnore North Alnerican birds from hunters or such people who make it a business to de- stroy North American birds." The dealers will be allowed until Jan. , 9o=, to dispose of the stock of birds now on hand and they claim in return the privilege of using "the plumage or skins of barnyard fowl, edible birds or gane birds killed in their season and birds of foreign countries not of the species of North American birds." While the Millinery Association has consent- ed to terms, it is equally evident that the ac- tion as brought about not because they recog- nized a wrong or desired to correct it. Previ- ous to this time the 5, have, as a body, persist- ently ignored the protectionists, and now when their trade is threatened with annihilation, they are forced to consent to anytiling which will admit of the enormous stock now on haud being utilized. The protectionists have scored a signal victory and the arch-enemy of the Audubonians has met with a complete rout! Without doubt a great mass of sentiment in favor of the Lacey Act came from the constitu- ents of the senators and congressmen through- out the Union. All were not Auduhonians-- perhaps but a small percentage--but the fact remains that through the constant agitation of the question of bird protection, the public has become inspired with au interest in wild birds, and the influence has been wide-spread. To this was directly due the pussaga of the act and the forcing of the milliners into an agree- ment. The Audubonians and all other bird protec- tionists have won a victory worthy of their ef- forts, and havc secured pro:ection for the hirds in a manner so thorough and sweeping that its acconplishment seems' little short of nmrvelous. To the Hon. John F. Lacey be- longs a vast amount of credit for his persistent work in Congress iu behalf of bird legislation, and the fund now being created by leecreation of New York City with which to purchase an appropriate testimonial for Congressnlan Lacey should be generously patronized by ornith- ologists. June has been productive of another aspir- ant to the field of ornithological journalisnl, in the form of The ]3ittern, published by Glen M. Hathorn at Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The in- itial nunlber consists of twenty pages, well printed, tile leading articles being "My Bittern Bog," by P. B. Peabody, "Ptarmigans" by Morris Gibbs and "A Day Afield" by Glen M. Hathorn. We extend to The I3ittern ore' well wishes for its success as a luagazine of the middle west. Those who have whilet[ away weeks or even days in the great timber-belt of the higher Sierras, Will find their uatures chording invol- untarily with the seutiment which nmrks Mr. Belding"s Sierra l)OeUl on another page. Mr. Belding is easily the veteran ornithologist aud naturalist of this great region, aml little won- tier it is that after many sumlners sl)ent'in its great forests of couifers aud along its Uloun- rain streams, that his lmture gives expression to some of the impressive beauties it 'has ab- sorbed.