Editorials 99 A Bi-monthly Magazine Devoted to the Study and Protection of Birds OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETIES Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN Published by THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Vol. 1 June, 1899 No. 3 SUBSCRIPTION RATES. Price ill the United States, Canada, 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 York 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, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN. Bird-Lore's Motto : A Bird in the Bush is Worth Tzvo in the Hand. It has recently been remarked that the field ornithologists of to-day are of two kinds : first, those who collect ; second, those who observe. The status of these two types of ornithologists, and the parts they play in the advancement of the science of ornithology, is a subject of the utmost importance to every one interested in the study of birds. A consideration of it leads us to review briefly the progress which has been made in our knowledge of North American birds during the past twenty-five years. At the beginning of this period the Smith- sonian Institution contained the only large collection of North American birds in the world, and our data concerning the exact distribution and relationships of even our commonest species was of the most meager character. Since that date the publication of Baird, Brewer and Ridgway's ' History of North American Birds', of Coues' 'Key' and Ridgway's 'Manual'; the organization of the American Ornitholo- gists' Union and of the Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture, and the establishment of several natural his- tory museums, have given a wonderful impetus to the collecting of birds. Natur- alists have explored every corner of the eastern United States, and, with almost equal thoroughness, the western states, and the fruits of their labors are shown in the large series of birds now possessed by our leading museums. In fact, we have now reached a point where only a thor- oughly trained ornithologist or his person- ally directed assistants can make collec- tions which will be of real scientific value. Indiscriminate collecting, therefore, par- ticularly in the eastern United States, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred will only result in the duplication of material already existing. Not only has there been a great advance in the requirements of collecting, but in the study of the specimens collected, and the systematic ornithologist who would hope to add anything to our knowledge of the distribution and relationships of any group of North American birds, must possess advantages which can be afforded only by well-equipped museums. Turning, now, to the other class of orni- thologists, the collectors of facts, we find that they have been far less active than collectors of skins. Thus, while we rarely or never refer to Wilson or Audubon or Nuttall for information concerning the systematic position of a species, these early writers are still authorities on facts connected with the life histories of many of our birds. This subject has been brought very forcibly to our mind by two papers pub- lished in this number of Bird-Lore, and, without going into details, we wish collect- ors of birds and their eggs would read carefully the articles entitled ' The Cardi- nal at the Hub' and ' Home-Life in a Chim- ney,' and then tell us frankly whether they do not think that the facts therein set forth constitute a more valuable contribution to the science of ornithology than a Cardi- nal's skin and five white egg-shells. If they are both discriminating and sincere, we believe they will admit the truth of Bird-Lore's motto.
