Charleston, by Mr. Herbert R. Sass, who concludes "that in the 

 garden more particularly and in the town as a whole a furious 

 and protracted hurricane, the maximum force of which was at 

 least 106 miles an hour, appears to have had a surprisingly slight 

 effect upon bird life in general, except in the case of two species, 

 upon which its effect was very marked. In the garden, individ- 

 ual birds, which were present before the storm, were found safe 

 and unharmed after it was over; and there is no concrete and pos- 

 itive evidence to show that in the city generally the avian death 

 toll was more serious than the loss, if one may term it such, of 

 a few English Sparrows. Even in the cases of the two species 

 referred to above — the Chimney Swift and the Purple Martin — 

 there is no conclusive proof, in the shape of dead bodies discov- 

 ered, of heavy loss of life, though, in spite of the failure to find 

 such proof, heavy loss may have occurred, especially among the 

 Martins; and the most that can be said with certainty is that 

 these two species, both of whom were present in large numbers 

 before the storm, both practically disappeared as a result of the 

 disturbance." This entire article is filled with discriminating 

 observations of much value and a copy is preserved in the Mu- 

 seum library. Much interest has been shown in two other bird 

 studies by Mr. Sass: Wild Life in a City Garden^ and Wild 

 Music.^ The first is a charming account of his famous garden 

 whose avifauna he has described in more technical style in the 

 Bulletin.^ Wild Music must stir recollections in everyone who 

 has ever gone to Otranto to hear the chorus of bird voices in the 

 early morning mists and to search out the less familiar species 

 which abound there in the migration season. 



Dr. D. S. Martin, honorary curator in the geological depart- 

 ment, is on his way south and expects to be at the Museum about 

 January 8. 



The January issue will be devoted, as usual, to the annual 

 report of the director of the Museum. 



^Atlantic Monthly, 107, 1911, 226-233. '^Ih'iA, 108, 1911, 403-408. 



3BuLL. Chas. Mus., II, 1906, 57-66; III, 1907, 53; V. 1909, 57-60. 



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