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 Jan., 9o7 EDITORIALS THE CONDOI An Illustrated Magazine of Western Ornitholog Published Bi-Monthly by the Cooper Ornltholofi- al Club of California JOSEPH GRINNELL, Editor. Pasadena H. T. CLIFTON. Business Manager. Box 404. Pasadena WILLIAM L. FINLEY } Associate Editors JOSEPH MAILLIAR. D Pasadena, California: Published Feb. 4, 1907 SUDSCP,,IPTION RATES One Dollar per Year it] the United States, Canaria, Mexico, and U.S. Colonies, payable iu advance, Twenty Cents the single copy. One Dollar and a (}uarter per Year in all other countries in the International Postal Union. Claims for misstuff or imperfect numbers should be made within thirty {lays of date of issue. Subscriptions should 1)e sent to the Business Manager. Manuscripts and Exchanges shoald be sent to the Editor, Advertising Rates on application. EDITORIALS Thru a series of unforeseen contingeucies, the second and third parts of Finley's condor article will not appear until later in the year, tho both will surely be run iu our present vol- ume. The delay, however, will be beneficial in the long run; for it will enable Mr. Finley to tufther perfect the material on hand, and also to gather additional data from outside sources. It will be remembered that Mr. Lee Cham- bers, of Santa Monica, has for several years been accumulating in{ormation respecting the Calitornia coudor. A surprisingly large num- ber of records have been authenticated, and the literature of the subject thoroly overhauled. Now that Mr. Finley has so good a foundation, Mr. Chambers has very generously insisted upon turning all the results of his own work over to Finley, to be incorporated with the lat- ter's "Life History." This will all appear in due time in "THe; CONDOR." The California Academy of Science's ex- pedition to the Galapagos Archipelago, which left San Francisco June a8, 9o5, returned sately to the home port the first of December last. All members of the party were in good health, tho glad to get home. Mr. R. H. Beck, who headed the expedition, considers the collections obtained by far the most exten- sive and complete of any that have ever been taken from that group ot islands. These large quantities of material, in almost every branch of natural history, await the work of specialists before the actual scientific results become fully known. The most important local record in our pres- ent issue is the new one for the English spar- row, which has at last made its appearance in Los Angeles County. The approach of this in- vader along the railroad lines from the north has been slow but steady, and its ultimate es- tablishment here has been expected for years. It will now be interesting to see how the native linnet fares in competition. Yet it will prob- ably be several years before the pestiferous in- terloper begins to affect our native bird fauna. Mr. R. C. McGregor calls our attention to the following rich sample of popular ornithology taken from a no less substantial current period- ical than the Cenlury J/faffazie (March, 9o6, page 788). "In the feathered world of the West there is an analogous case of the utilization of the cac- tus-plant for the protection of progeny. Singu- larly enough, though in a dry country, it is a wading bird, one of the varieties of the curlew, with a long bill and long slender legs, which, like the antelope, uses the cactus as a home and defense for her nest and young. "She will carry sticks in her long bill and drop them in poiition as uearly as possible in the center of a cactus-patch while hovering over it. When she has accunmlated enough, alighting on the heap, she arranges her nest, wherein she lays four beautiful turquoise- colored eggs about as large as those of a domes- tic hen, and then comes and goes from her nest at will, knowing that it cannot be molested." McGregor asks, "Did you ever hear of such a stunt by a curlew? Does any curlew lay 'beautiful turquoise-colored eggs'?" /Fewould like to know, too ! Mr. W. L. Finley was recently appointed lecturer for the National Association of Audu- bon Societies. He lectured in Baltimore, Chi- cago, Grand Rapids, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis, St. Paul and other cities in the in- terests o[ the Audubon work. During the spring he will make a lecture tour thru Oregon and Washington for the National As- sociation. We are in receipt of a cordial letter from Dr. D'Evelyn, the new president of the Cooper Or- nithological Club. He enters upon his new duties enthusiastically, and we trust that a new era of activity will be inaugurated in the North- ern Division of the Club, where interest in birds has been rather feeble since the "quake." Dr. D'Evelyn hints o[ certain plans for the spread ot the Club's influence, especially along the lines of bird protection and educational work.' The Fish Commission steamer /Ubalross re- turned to 8an Francisco, 1)ecember H, after a very snccesstul scientific cruise along the North Pacific coast of Asia. Dr. C. H. Gilbert, of Stanford University, was in charge of the work, and Professor J. O. Snyder was one member of the party. Marine forms of life were the chief objects of interest, and vast quantities of speci- mens were properly preserved. The fishes re- ceived most attention and these will be worked