The Fish Commission Steamer <I>Albatross</I>, etc

286

^Notes

and

Nezvs. [April

\'oungbirdof thisspecies was shot

November

17. 1S83,andis

now

ⁱⁿthe collection of Mr. Anthony.

The

person

who

shotthe bird said that

many

other Gulls were seen, but whether they "were of this species is ques- tionable. Itwasshotonasmall lake a fewmilesfromthecity.

—

Horace

G. Smith, Jr.. Denver, Col.

CORRESPONDENCE.

^Correspondents are requested to write brieflyand to the point.

No

attention luill bepaidto anonymous coininui/ications.^

Revival of the Sexual Passion in Birds in

Autumn.

To THE Editors

of

The Auk

^:

—

Sirs: In "The Auk'forJanuary (p. 141), Mr. Bradford Torrey speaks of therevival of the sexual passion of birds in autumn.

A

similar oc- currence hasbeenobserved here fortwo or three years past.

The

early winter

(November

and December), thisyearwasexceptionallymildinthis l.jcality.

During

^thisweatherthe English Sparrows were seen building theirnestsandthe malebirds wereseen

hopping

about the females with lowered wings andacting exactly as they do in spring.

The

^{birds were}

verynoisyandagreatdeal of fighting occurred.

As

soonascoldweather

came

on allthis stopped andtheSparrowsfoundit necessaryto spend all theirtime insecuring food.

Respectfully, Chas.

Keeler.

Mihvaiikec. (f^/x.,January29, 1SS6.

NOTES AND NEWS.

The

Fish

Commission

Steamer-Albatross' sailedfrom the

Washington Navyyard

February15, fora cruise

among

the

Bahamas

and otherislands in the

West

Indies.

Among

the islands which will be visited is Cat Island, or San Salvador, the first land discovered by Columbus.

The

'Albatross' is well provided with trained naturalists and collectors, of

whom

^Mr.James E. Benedict, Mr.

Thomas

Lee, Mr.

W.

Nye, and Mr.

Chas.

W. ^Townsend

^willpayspecial attention tothebirds,ofwhich they arepreparedto

make

ajudiciouslylimitedandselected collection, whilein

no case will they jeopardize the continued existence ofanylocal species,

i8o6.] Notes

and

Nejvs.

20

7

howeverrareor limited inits habitat.

The

almost unparalleled success ofthe naturalists of the 'Albatross' last year on the island of Cozumel, wherethev discovered no lessthan ig

new

birds, argues well for the ex- ploration inwhichtheyare

now

engaged.

The Ridgway

Ornithological ClubofChicago, held itsregularmonthly meeting onThursdayevening,

March

II. After the reading of the

new

constitutionandby-laws,Mr. G. Frean

Morcom

exhibitedthe only

known

specimen of Colinus ridgivayi^latelydescribedin 'TheAuk.' Mr. H. K.

Coalereadapaper entitled 'Six Days' Ornithological Research in St.

LouisCounty, Mo., andSt. ClairCounty, 111.,' illustrated by a series of skins of thebirds collected.

The

scientists of Indiana organized,on

December

29, 1885,'TheIndiana

Academy

ofScience.' D. S.Jordan,

M.

D.,

was

chosen president,_J.

M.

Coulter,Ph.D.,_J.P. D. John,Ph.D.,andtheRev.D. R.Moore, vice-presi- dents,

Amos W.

Butler, secretary. Prof. O. P. Jenkins, treasurer, and Mr._J. N. Hurty, librarian. Curators were ajipointed in several depart- ments,Mr. A.

W.

Butlerbeingelected to thatofOrnithology. Mr.Butler presented apaperentitled 'ThePastand Present of Indiana Ornithology,' givingan account of the present status of ornithological study in that State.

The

Nuttall Ornithological Clubof

Cambridge

has decided to issue a quartoseries of 'Memoirs.'to be published at irregular intervals.

They

willconsistof papers toolong forinsertion in'The Auk,' the size ofthis journalprovinginadequateforthe reception of the larger ornithological

memoirs

offeredit.

The

first

Memoir

of the series, just issued,is by Mr.

WilliamBrewster,andtreatsofthe generalsubjectof the migration ofbirds, givingalso a detailedaccountofthe author's valuable observations

made

atPointLepreaux, N. B., during the autumnal migration of 1885.

As we

goto press

we

are justin receiptof theconcluding

numbers

of the volume onbirds (Vol.IV) of'The StandardNaturalHistory,'editedby Dr._J. S. Kingsley, andpublishedbyS.E. Cassinoand

Company

of Bos- ton.

The volume

isan imperial octavo of 558 pages, illustrated with 25 full-page plates,and

numerous

very fine cuts in the text.

The

authors areMr.

W.

B.Barrows,

who

has furnished the parttreating of the Birds of Prey,Mr. Daniel G. Elliot,

who

has wi-itten the part relating to the

Hummingbirds,

Dr. _J. S. Kingsley,

who

treatsof the Parrots, and Dr.

L. Steineger,

who

^istheauthorof theremainderandthe principal part of thework.

The work

will be noticed at length in a later

number

of this journal.

The

A. O. U.

Committee

on Bird Prct-ction continues^to

show

a com- mendabledegree ofactivity,andalreadyitsinfluence in behalf ofthe birds is wide-spreadandimportant. Itbeing evident that

much

of the whole- sale slaughter in aid ofthe milliner's craft is due to thoughtlessness, and the apathy of the public as tothe

enormous

^{magnitudeofthis}de- struction,and theevilconsequences that

must

result from it. the

Com-