Some weeks ago, during the overhauling of the collections 



preparatory to their removal to the new building, a specimen' 

 was found which was identified by Mr. Wayne, honorary 

 curator of birds, as the Scarlet Ibis, Guara rubra, taken in 

 Florida and recorded by William Brewster in the Bulletin 

 Nuttall Ornithological Club, VIII, 1883, p 185. Although 

 mentioned by Coues in his Key to North American Birds as 

 being in this Museum, this valuable specimen had been lost 

 sight of for many years and is now much the worse for wear. 

 The Scarlet Ibis is a South American species merely acci- 

 dental in the United States, where it has been recorded only 

 three times— by Audubon in Louisiana, by Coues in New 

 Mexico, and by Brewster in Florida. Since Audubon failed to 

 secure the bird which he saw and since Coues' specimen con- 

 sisted simply of a fragment examined by him in 1864, the 

 specimen in this Museum is probably the only existing ex- 

 ample of the Scarlet Ibis ever taken in the United States. 



Herbert R. Sass. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY 



The Natural History Society held its first meeting this fall 

 in Manigault Hall, October 16th. The meeting was. devoted 

 to informal reports of summer bird observations by mem- 

 bers, a report of the executive committee outlining the plan 

 of autumn and winter work, and the lirst of a series of talks 

 on common birds, by the president, Mr. H. R. Sass. 



The meetings of the Society will be held this year on the 

 first and third Thursdays in each month, at 4:30 p. m. in 

 Manigault Hall. Specimens of our common local birds will 

 be brought in from the Museum and described, and field ex- 

 cursions will be organized by the Society with a guide to as- 

 sist in identifying the birds seen. The Bulletin is the of- 

 ficial organ of the Society and prints many articles of in- 

 terest to bird students. The May issue contained a particu- 



' Spec. No. 960, Chas. Mus. 



55 



