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 ornithologists, 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 published in this number of Bird-Lore, and, without going into details, we wish collectors of birds and their eggs would read carefully the articles entitled 'The Cardinal at the Hub' and 'Home-Life in a Chimney,' 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 Cardinal'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.
"You cannot with a scalpel find the poet's soul,
Nor yet the wild bird's song."
Edited by Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright (President of the Audubon Society of the State of Connecticut), Fairfield, Conn., to whom all communications relating to the work of the Audubon and other Bird Protective Societies should be addressed.
DIRECTORY OF STATE AUDUBON SOCIETIES
With names and addresses of their Secretaries.