Page:Bird-lore Vol 01.djvu/428

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200 Bird- Lore The far-reaching possibilities of this law are being realized through the fore- sight which made the enforcement of its provisions the duty of the Biological Sur- vey, where, under the immediate super- vision of Dr. Palmer, it bids fair to become an even more efficient means of bird protection than its most ardent sup- porters had anticipated ; as witness the seizure of Gulls in Baltimore, reported beyond in the columns of the Audubon Department. The proposition advanced by the mil- liners to the Audubon Societies and the American Ornithologists' Union is pre- sumptive evidence that the efforts of these organizations to protect our birds have not been without their effect on the millinery trade. Mr. Stone, chairman of the Union's committee on bird protection, has been commendably active, while two members of the Union, Messrs. A. H. Thayer and Wil- liam Dutcher, have made a record in prac- tical bird protection, which it is hoped will bear fruit in funds with which to continue their work during the coming year. From every point of view, then, this brief enumeration of the more important developments of the year is encouraging in the extreme, and almost warrants one's belief in the speedy approach of that orni- thological millennium when the value of birds to man will be common knowledge. Bird-Lore for 1901 Bird-Lore has many friends, but we believe that the most ardent among them does not realize the pleasure it gives us to announce that beginning with the pres- ent number, Bird-Lore is to be enlarged one-fourth. Including advertisements of bird books and magazines, in themselves of interest, each issue will now contain fifty pages ; a total of 300 for the year, with about seventy-five illustrations. This, however, is only a beginning, for there is absolutely no limit to our ambi- tion to add to Bird-Lore's value and at- tractiveness. With the present increase in size we are enabled to carry out some of our plans for the magazine's betterment; but we have in mind so many others of which we are sure our subscribers would approve, that we trust they will share our impatience in seeing them realized. Bird-Lore's chief feature for the com- ing year will be the series of articles and lesson-outlines on 'Birds and Seasons,' the first instalment of which, together with an explanation of its objects, will be found on a preceding page. Should this attempt to establish a defi- nite course of study prove successful, we hope it may be the starting point in the development of an idea which includes a school of popular ornithology, with a sum- mer encampment where both class-room and field instruction could be given by a corps of experienced teachers. Lack of space prevented us from fulfill- ing some of the promises for the past year ; they will, however, be redeemed during the next twelve months, when we shall publish Mr. Burroughs' account of his rarer bird visitors, Ernest Seton- Thompson's illustrated paper on ' How to Know the Hawks and Owls,' and H. W. Henshaw's important studies of Hawaiian bird-life. Of unusual interest will be a stenogra- phic report of an address on Audubon delivered by Dr. Elliott Coues before the American Ornithologists' Union in 1897, while Miss Maria R. Audubon will con- tribute several letters written by her famous grandfather to his son John — her father — in 1827. Among other articles we may mention Mr. F. A. Lucas' description of the bird rookeries of Walrus Island, in Bering Sea, with some of the most remarkable photo- graphs we have ever seen, Dr. T. S. Pal- mer's illustrated sketch of ' Ostrich Farm- ing in America, ' Dr. J . Dwight, Jr 's. ' How Birds Molt,' and Mr. Montagu Sharpe's 'Bird Protection in Great Britain.' The illustrations will not only be more numerous but actually better than those we have already published, and will in- clude numerous photographs illustrating an account by the editor of a bird-nesting expedition with John Burroughs.