Bird-Lore's Seventh Christmas Bird Census THE plan of reporting one's observations afield on Christmas Day has met with such cordial and practical endorsement by bird students throughout the country that Bird-Lore's Christmas Bird Census may now be considered a fixed event, which increases in interest as the accumulating records give additional material for comparison. From a total of twenty-five lists received in 1900, it has grown to ninety-nine lists in 1905. Reference to the February, 1901-1906 numbers of Bird-Lore will acquaint one with the nature of the report of the day's hunt which we desire; but to those to whom none of these issues is available, we may ex- plain that such reports should be headed by a brief statement of the character of the weather, whether clear, cloudy, rainy, etc. ; whether the ground is bare or snow-covered, the direction and force of the wind, the temperature at the time of starting, the hour of starting and of returning. Then should be given, in the order of the A. O. U. 'Check -List,' a list of the species seen, with exactly, or approximately, the number of individuals of each species recorded. A record should read, therefore, somewhat as follows: Yonlcers, N. Y. Time, 8 A. M. to 12 M. Clear, ground bare; wind west, light; - temperature 38 . Herring Gull, 75. Total, — species, — individuals. — James Gates. These records will be published in the February issue of Bird-Lore, and it is particularly requested that they be sent the editor (at the American Museum of Natural History, New York City) not later than December 28. It will save the editor much clerical labor if the model here given and the order of the A. O. U. Check-List be closelv followed. The Amount of Science in Oology To the Editor of Bird-Lore. Dear Sir. 1 have been much interested in the articles that have been published in the last two numbers of Bird-Lore relative to the value of the study of oology. Some of the statements of Mr. R. P. Sharpies, in your last number, seem to me to be so illogical that I will ask of you a small space for criticism. While not questioning the value of the observations and data of Baird, Davie and others, of the prominent oologists, the fact remains that at the present time the field of oology has been sufficiently covered, and any one who desires to study on such lines as measurements and coloration can ob- tain, without difficulty, ample data from the many published observations and public museums, without forming a private collection. (206)
