﻿234 
  JOURNAL 
  OF 
  the; 
  WASHINGTON 
  ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES 
  VOL. 
  12, 
  NO. 
  9 
  

  

  in 
  South 
  Dakota. 
  In 
  New 
  Hampshire 
  they 
  are 
  occasionally 
  on 
  sale. 
  There 
  

   are 
  two 
  herds 
  in 
  Oklahoma 
  with 
  occasional 
  sales. 
  There 
  were 
  8000 
  bison 
  in 
  

   the 
  United 
  States 
  last 
  year. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  R. 
  E. 
  CoKER 
  exhibited 
  copies 
  of 
  the 
  new 
  Journal 
  of 
  Ecology, 
  which 
  is 
  

   a 
  continuation 
  of 
  Plant 
  World, 
  but 
  whose 
  scope 
  is 
  to 
  include 
  both 
  plants 
  and 
  

   animals. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Paul 
  Bartsch 
  referred 
  to 
  the 
  column 
  in 
  the 
  Washington 
  Herald 
  en- 
  

   titled 
  Scientific 
  Notes 
  and 
  Comments. 
  A 
  motion 
  approving 
  the 
  column 
  was 
  

   carried. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  C. 
  C. 
  Adams, 
  Director 
  of 
  the 
  Roosevelt 
  Wild 
  lyife 
  Experiment 
  Station, 
  

   spoke 
  of 
  the 
  inception 
  of 
  the 
  movement 
  to 
  perpetuate 
  the 
  memory 
  of 
  Theodore 
  

   Roosevelt. 
  The 
  station 
  established 
  is 
  a 
  research 
  station. 
  

  

  Formal 
  program 
  

  

  J. 
  N. 
  Rose: 
  Rediscovery 
  of 
  a 
  remarkable 
  cactus 
  from 
  Haiti. 
  For 
  more 
  than 
  

   3. 
  century 
  a 
  cactus 
  growing 
  in 
  Haiti 
  has 
  been 
  known 
  only 
  from 
  a 
  drawing 
  in 
  the 
  

   British 
  Museum 
  over 
  the 
  title 
  Cactus 
  caniculatus. 
  No 
  additional 
  information 
  

   was 
  obtained 
  until 
  1917 
  when 
  a 
  specimen 
  was 
  brought 
  to 
  this 
  country 
  by 
  Dr. 
  

   Paul 
  Bartsch. 
  Later 
  Dr. 
  C. 
  G. 
  Abbot 
  visited 
  the 
  region, 
  and 
  made 
  com- 
  

   plete 
  field 
  observations 
  and 
  collections, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  plant 
  is 
  now 
  pretty 
  well 
  

   known. 
  A 
  monograph 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  had 
  been 
  prepared 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  species 
  

   is 
  redescribed 
  as 
  Neoabbotia 
  caniculatus. 
  Some 
  remarkable 
  features 
  are 
  that 
  

   it 
  is 
  the 
  largest 
  known 
  cactus 
  and 
  its 
  blossoms 
  are 
  in 
  clusters. 
  Photographs 
  

   of 
  the 
  plant 
  were 
  exhibited. 
  The 
  paper 
  was 
  discussed 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Lyon 
  and 
  Dr. 
  

   Bartsch. 
  

  

  Joseph 
  Grinnell: 
  The 
  principle 
  of 
  rapid 
  peering 
  birds. 
  Some 
  birds 
  

   wait 
  for 
  their 
  prey 
  to 
  come 
  within 
  striking 
  distance, 
  others 
  are 
  on 
  the 
  con- 
  

   stant 
  search. 
  The 
  movement 
  of 
  an 
  object 
  quickly 
  catches 
  the 
  attention 
  of 
  

   an 
  observer. 
  Similarly 
  an 
  observer 
  changing 
  his 
  position 
  brings 
  out 
  rela- 
  

   tive 
  position, 
  perspective, 
  and 
  recognition 
  of 
  objects. 
  Thus 
  some 
  birds, 
  

   pressed 
  by 
  necessity, 
  have 
  developed 
  in 
  the 
  extreme 
  the 
  habit 
  of 
  rapidly 
  

   changing 
  position, 
  peering 
  in 
  many 
  directions, 
  to 
  secure 
  food 
  required 
  for 
  

   ■existence. 
  

  

  The 
  paper 
  was 
  discussed 
  by 
  Drs. 
  Lyon 
  and 
  Bartsch. 
  

  

  T. 
  S. 
  Palmer: 
  Notes 
  on 
  some 
  parrots 
  imported 
  into 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  Of 
  

   the 
  500 
  or 
  more 
  species 
  of 
  parrots 
  now 
  known, 
  only 
  2 
  are 
  natives 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  

   States 
  and 
  none 
  of 
  Europe. 
  Thus 
  they 
  were 
  practically 
  unknown 
  to 
  the 
  

   ancients. 
  The 
  knowledge 
  of 
  parrots 
  is, 
  therefore, 
  an 
  index 
  to 
  exploring 
  ac- 
  

   tivity. 
  Columbus 
  took 
  the 
  first 
  American 
  parrot 
  to 
  Spain 
  in 
  1493. 
  The 
  

   first 
  importation 
  was 
  at 
  an 
  early, 
  though 
  unknown 
  date. 
  Since 
  then 
  the 
  

   United 
  States 
  has 
  become 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  best 
  parrot 
  markets. 
  The 
  zoological 
  

   parks 
  contain 
  the 
  best 
  collections; 
  and 
  have 
  rare 
  and 
  some 
  now 
  extinct 
  par- 
  

   rots 
  on 
  exhibition. 
  The 
  national 
  Zoological 
  Park 
  has 
  about 
  35 
  species. 
  At 
  

   times 
  75 
  or 
  80 
  species 
  have 
  been 
  on 
  exhibit 
  at 
  one 
  time 
  in 
  New 
  York 
  and 
  

   Philadelphia. 
  The 
  London 
  Zoological 
  Gardens 
  have 
  about 
  125 
  species. 
  

  

  The 
  parrots 
  imported 
  in 
  largest 
  numbers 
  are: 
  the 
  Amazons; 
  certain 
  spe- 
  

   cies 
  from 
  Mexico 
  and 
  from 
  Cuba; 
  the 
  Grass 
  Parrakeet 
  from 
  Australia; 
  

   and 
  the 
  Gray 
  Parrot 
  from 
  Africa. 
  The 
  Amazons 
  and 
  the 
  Gray 
  Parrots 
  are 
  

   popular 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  their 
  ability 
  to 
  talk. 
  In 
  1904 
  more 
  than 
  17,000 
  parrots 
  

   were 
  imported. 
  This 
  year 
  more 
  than 
  4,000 
  have 
  already 
  (April) 
  reached 
  

   San 
  Francisco. 
  

  

  