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Editorials 169 A Bi-monthly Magazine Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THF. AIDUBON SOCIETIES Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN Published by THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Vol. 1 October, 1899 No. 5 subscription RATES. Price in the United States, Canatia, and Mexico, twenty cents a number, one dollar a year, post- age paid. Subscriptions may be sent to the Publishers, at Englevvood, New Jersey, 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 quatter a year, postage paid. Foreign agents, Macmillan and Company, Ltd., London. Manuscripts for publication, books, etc., for re- view, should be sent to the Editor at Englewood, New Jersey. Advertisements should be sent to the Pub- lishers at Englewood, New Jersey, or 66 Fifth avenue. New York City. COPYRIGHTED, 1899, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN. Bird-Lore's Motto : A Bird in the Bush is Worth Two in the Hand. At first thought there seemed to be little connection between the 'closet' orni- thologist, minutely examining his series of specimens and describing differences which, to the untrained eye, do not exist, and the bird-lover in the fields and woods with heart atune to nature's songsters. But one has onh^ to read Dr. Allen's article on the American Ornithologists' Union in order to appreciate the close relationship existing between scientific and popular ornithology. The organization of the Union brought isolated bird students throughout the country in touch with the leaders in ornithology and, perhaps, for the first time, made them aware that there were successors to Wilson and Audubon. This result was due largely to the work of the Union's Committee on Migration, which, under the direction of its chair- man, Dr. C. Hart Merriam, sent out thousands of circulars calling for ob- servers to supply it with data on migra- tion. Circumstances have thus far per- mitted the publication of only a small portion of the vast amount of information secured by this committee, but even if not another word is set in type, it can be said to have created a new era in the history of American ornithology. It asked for assistance, but it gave far more than it received. Its chairman and his superintendents of districts became, a, it were, instructors in ornithology, with pupils in nearly every state in the Union and throughout Canada. The value of the advice they gave to students who had been plodding in the dark, prompted only by an innate love of birds, cannot be over- estimated, but we believe it to be a demonstrable fact that the popularity of bird-study in this country to-day is due more to the aid and encouragement given students by the members of the Ameri- can Ornithologists' Union's Committee on Migration than to any other influence. In connection with the publication of a plate of 'Quills to Avoid,' we would add to Mrs. Wright's plea for the Eagle an appeal for the preservation of the Brown Pelican. The feathers of this bird are now worn so commonly — hundreds may be seen in New York City daily — that every one knowing of the ease with with the bird may be killed and its compara- tively restricted range, must feel that at the present rate of destruction its early extinc- tion, at least in the United States, is assured. From Texas reports come to us of the slaughter of Brown Pelicans in large numbers, and we have also heard rumors that they are being killed for their feathers in Florida. If the residents of the last- named state could be made to realize how infinitely more valuable to them a live Pelican is than a dead one, we do not for a moment doubt that its destroyers would speedily receive their deserts. This apparently ungainly, but in reality singularly graceful bird is the most pictur- esque element in the life of Florida's coasts, where its size and familiarity render it conspicuous to the least observing. To the tourist it is as much an object of interest as the alligators or cabbage palms. It is dis- tinctly strange and foreign, audits presence lends a character to the view given by no other bird in Florida. Its loss would, there- fore, be irreparable, and we appeal to every lover of Florida to aid in its protection.