68 THE ' CONDOR Vol. XV and "editions de luxe" rather overwhelming to the student who has been accus- tomed to regard an outlay of a few dollars for bird books as something of an ex- travagance. So much depends upon the point of view! The present writer implicitly believes that certain books should most u, ndoubtedly be made to sell cheaply. A hand book designed to help the beginner should certainly be issued in such a way as to most surely reach the audience for which it is intended. On the other hand, that which is too easily obtained is apt to be held in but slight esteem. "The Birds of California" is not issued as a hand book, nor should it be compared with a dry and technical check list. It is a magnificent and ar- tistic handling of a beautiftd subject. Whoever secures a copy will have made sufficient of a sacrifice to obtain it to cause him to place high value upon his pos- session, a value it will amply deserve. The originality and charm of Dawson's style is all his own, but with all his variety of expression there can be no doubt of his constant and conscious striving' for accuracy. Perfection, of course, is attainable to none. but there is vast differ- Fig. 18. THE BAIRD SANDPIPI?R From a photograph, copyright 1913, by W. L. Dawson ence between error of judgment and that of intent. A mere fact is of itself of no value. Different statements of thc same fact will differ in value precisely as the men who report them differ in imaginative power. The man we listen to is he who lets his imagination play about a fact, who is able to see its relationships, and hence invests it with real value and interest. The application of this test to Mr. Dawson's work apparently gives the real clue to the philosophy of his writings.. He does not feel called upon to serve some such abstraction as Truth or Science, so much as to proclaim noz?, be it more or less complete, what may later on, after further assimilation, be readjust- ed and receive a different value from that accorded it today. In comparison with this attitude we may consider the opposite type, also found among us, the man who sits back and gloats over the realization that he has in his possession a vast store of accurate knowledge of some particular subject, known to no one else
