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COPYRIGHTED, 1899, BY FRANK M. CHAPMAN.
Bird-Lore's Motto:
A Bird in the Bush is Worth Two 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 Smithsonian 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 Ornithologists' Union and of the Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture, and the establishment of several natural history museums, have given a wonderful impetus to the collecting of birds. Naturalists 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 thoroughly trained ornithologist or his personally directed assistants can make collections which will be of real scientific value. Indiscriminate collecting, therefore, particularly in the eastern United States, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred will only result in the duplication of material already existing.