146 Bird -Lore 



on 'Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley,' prepared by Prof. W. 

 W. Cooke and Mr. Otto Widmann, under the direction of the chief 

 of the division, was published, forming one of the most important 

 contributions to the subject of bird migration that has yet appeared. 

 A second report on 'The Land Birds of the Pacific District,' by Mr. 

 Lyman Belding, was published in i8go, and, though issued by the 

 California Academy of Sciences, was the outcome of the work of this 

 committee. Eventually all of the vast accumulation of data inaugu- 

 rated by the Union, and later carried on under the auspices of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, relating not only to the 

 migratory movements of birds but to their distribution, will doubtless 

 be published, with proper map and other graphic illustrations. 



To another important committee appointed at the first congress 

 of the Union was delegated the investigation of 'The Status of the 

 European House Sparrow in America.' This committee issued cir- 

 culars of inquiry, and made an elaborate preliminary report to the 

 Union, which report was later, as in the case of the data accumu- 

 lated by the Migration Committee, turned over to the Division of 

 Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy of the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. Under Dr. Merriam, the investigation was prose- 

 cuted with renewed activity, and a final and authoritative report was 

 issued by the Department of Agriculture in i88g. It is needless to 

 say that this impartially conducted report was strongly condemna- 

 tory of this burdensome pest. 



At the second congress of the Union it appointed a Committee 

 on Protection of North American Birds, which has been continued 

 to the present time, and has been the guiding influence in this great 

 economic and humanitarian work. It has done much to arouse and 

 enlighten public opinion respecting the enormity of the destruction of 

 birds for millinery purposes, and to guide legislation for the better 

 protection of our birds. It early published two important 'bulletins' 

 on the destruction of birds, and was the origin of the original Audu- 

 bon Society, whose president. Dr. George Bird Grinnell, was long 

 one of the most active members of this committee ; through this 

 society, with chapters throughout the country, the cause of bird pro- 

 tection was for several years immensely aided. Of late it has be- 

 come practically the advisory committee of the existing Audubon 

 Societies which have recently multiplied so gratifyingly throughout the 

 country, and it publishes in 'The Auk' an annual report summarizing 

 the work of bird protection for the year. 



In extending a helping hand to casual and isolated observers, the 

 Union has had a marked influence upon the recent progress of ornithol- 

 ogy in America, as shown by the increase in the number of observers 



