Entered as second-class matter November 29, 1919, at the post-office at Berkeley, California, under Act of Congress of March 3, 1879 Issued from the Office of THE CONDOR, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley, California Two Dollars and Twenty-five Cents per Year in all other countries in the International Postal Union. Two Dollars per year for members residing in the United States. Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California. Claims for missing or imperfect numbers should be made of the Business Manager, as addressed below, within thirty days of date of issue. Cooper Club Dues, Subscriptions to The Condor, and Exchanges, should be sent to the Business For the Purchase of Back Volumes of The Condor or of the Pacific Coast Avifauna series, apply to the W. LEE CHAMBERS, Business Manager, Eagle Rock, Los Angeles County, California. Importance of the Blind in Bird Photography (with six photos). The Rusty Song Sparrow in Berkeley, and the Return of Winter Birds..... A Peculiar Feeding Habit of Grebes.. A Return to the Dakota Lake Region (continued)....Florence Merriam Bailey Notes on the Limicolae of Southern British Columbia.. Edward Garner, a Pioneer Naturalist... Harold C. Bryant ..N. Hollister Harry C. Oberholser Birds Returning to their Old Haunts. Nesting of Western Robin and Spotted Sandpiper.. N HIS historical summation of American ornithology, Dr. Coues has called the period of activity following the Audubonian era the Bairdian period. The name is well chosen, for America has produced no greater ornithologist. Whatever his errand to Washington, no bird lover in those days ever visited the city without calling on Prof. Baird, in his little office in the north tower of the Smithsonian. Baird's love of young men was as great as his modesty and urbanity, and no one ever left his presence without the impression that he had seen and talked with a really great man. So great was his personal magnetism that no one could long know without loving him. His wisdom and sound judgment were ever at the disposal of those in need, especially the young man struggling to gain a foothold on the ladder of science, and it has been given to few men in this country to wield the personal influence in science that he did. Though he had given up all active work in ornithology and other branches of natural science, before I saw him in 1872, in favor of administrative work, he was as keenly interested in the labors of others as ever, and his first question to the man just returned from the field was, "Well, what about the season's work? Tell me all about it". For years he set apart his winter Sunday evenings to informally receive all friends who chose to call, and many used to avail themselves of the privilege, which insured a cordial welcome and a pleasant evening with the Professor and his wife and his daughter, Lucy. Mrs. Baird's injunction, "Now you must not talk shop in my parlor", was, I fear, frequently disregarded, chiefly owing to the Professor's keen desire to keep in close touch with everything that was going on in the domain of science. Interested as he was in other branches of natural science, I am sure that Baird's first love, the study of birds, ever held first place in his heart. I saw Professor Baird for the last time just before he left Washington on what proved to be his last visit to Wood's Hole, where he died in August, 1887. A recent visit of several weeks to the place and to the surrounding scenes made |