480 Letter.9, Extracts, Notices, ^c. 



twenty-fifth year. His father, Capt. Bowyer Bower, ha 

 presented nearly the whole of his son's collection to th 



British IVTnspnm 



as 



lie 



|J1 CaCllLCll llCclllV 



British Museum. 



Sir Julius ton Haast, K.C.M.G., F.R.S., who died sud- 

 denly at Bonn (his birthplace) on the 15th of August last, 

 was for years a prominent figure among the zoologists of 

 New Zealand. Born in 1824', he accompanied Professor 

 Hochstetter on the 'Novara' Expedition in 1858, and sub- 

 sequently, as Director of the Canterbury Museum, Christ- 

 church, he did excellent scientific work. From the purely 

 ornithological point of view he will be remembered in con- 

 nexion with his researches on the extinction of Dinornis ; 

 but his loss will be felt by many who experienced his courtesy 

 last year at the Colonial Exhibition. 



By the death of Professor Spencer Fullerton Baird 

 the British Ornithologists' Union has lost one of the oldest 

 of its Honorary Members. Born at Reading, Pennsylvania, 

 on February 3, 1823, he formed in 1838 a friendship with 

 Audubon, who, in 1842, handed over to the young naturalist 

 the greater part of his collection of birds, including many 

 types of new species. The first printed paper which bears 

 his name is a description of two new species of Flycatchers 

 in 1843, and in 1846 he was engaged in the preparation of a 

 synonymy of North American birds. In 1850 he was ap- 

 pointed Assistant-Secretary at the Smithsonian Institution, 

 Washington, succeeding to the secretaryship upon the death 

 of Professor Henry in 1878. Such standard works as "^ The 

 Birds of North America' (1858), the 'Review of North 

 American Birds/ and the ' History of North American Birds ' 

 (1874-84), the latter in conjunction with the late Dr. Brewer 

 and Mr. R. Ridgway, testify to his ornithological attain- 

 ments ; while the flourishing condition of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, and of the United States National Museum, of 

 which he was also Director as well as Fisheries Commissioner, 

 prove his enormous capacity for organization. His death, 

 Avhich took place at Wood's Holl, Massachusetts, on August 

 22nd last, will be deeply regretted, especially by those who 

 enjoyed the privilege of his personal acquaintance. 



