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May, 1911 LITERARY PRINCIPLES IN ORNITHOLOGICAL WRITING 85 plishments ? I can see no need for this endeavoring to take away the literary valu from ornithological writing, for I consider it a decided asset. I have read articles on subjects of little range, and that usually are of a rather dry nature, yet written in such an entertaining way that they were equally as interesting as some exper- iences in the field, and yet not a whir of their scientific value was lost. The writer who inspires, instructs; and he is one who possesses true enthusiasm, accurate knowledge and the mastery of word values. Audubon, famous as an ornithologist, has had some of his writings placed among the world's literary classics. One cannot read Bendire without appreciat- ing hi.? delightful style, and these are only a few of many. For files of The Auk, The Osprey and our own Co?)oR contain articles which aside from their scientific value must be given a high rank in a literary way. The high water marh in the latter respect is reached by Welch, I think, in his famous "Echoes from an Out- ing." I frankly confess that this fascinating reverie was instrumental in luring me off to l?'yffe in the Sierran wilds one summer, and as a result I have journeyed to some point in the region almost every year since. It has been said that Welch's article is not scientific on account of its lack of the definite Latin names, and ?be- cause of this must remain buried where it now is. Perhaps as far as scientific rec- ords are concerned this may prove correct, but I believe it will receive a place in literature and still be enjoyed, while descriptions of some of the myriad subspecies of song sparrows, which brought joy to the hearts of their discoverers, are buried beneath the dust of years. True literature is not for an age but for all time, and an example is shown by the work of Gilbert White, which loses none of its interest, and continues to be reprinted, year after year. Where White gains is the felicity he has for blending real information and literature. And I contend further that not 0nly does literature make scientific ornithology more readable and interesting but that it is also a positive aid and that at times ornithological science must lean heavily on its helpmate, literature. Has our ad- vance in ornithology been so great that the help literature gives can be. cast aside entirely ? If one desires to learn of the song of the Hermit Thrush or Water Ouzel will it be found in the bulky technical works ? In fact is bird song itself not rather art than science ? Can one learn ALL of the everchanging iridescense of the throat of a hummingbird, or the rare painting on a falcon's egg by such a flat description as purple no. 38 or red no. 122 ? I maintain that there are cerlat? things in ornith- ology that require both literature and science jointly to be properly described. It is a generally accepted fact, I believe, that many readers shun the strictly technical articles, and this I itttribute to a number of causes. The principal reason, I think, is that most articles of this nature treat of geagraphical variation, a subject which has lost interest because the standing of so many of the subspecies is seldom a settled fact. Other reasons are that many technical articles lack the very literary quality I have spoken of, and also that many readers have not acquired a taste for comparative anatomy. A reader voiced this latter sentiment in the technical Auk, vol. xx, page 234, to which the editors replied in what I considered a surprisingly frank and rather un-Auklike fashion, saying in part: "It is the aim of the editor- ial staff of The Auk to cater especially to the popular side of ornithology, to fur- nish to the amateur readers papers that they will enjoy and find profitable. The technical side will always take care of itself;: the demand for space for such contri- butions is always greater than the supply and it is papers of this character that get the cold shoulder and not those of a popular character, provided of course they con- tain something worthy of record." While I realize the wide gulf that must ever exist between poetry and orni-