THE OSPREY. 



67 



a controversy of voluminous proportions in The Os- 

 PREv. We have a copy of a letter from f'rof. J 

 Macoun of the Geological Survey of Canada, stating 

 that the "emblem of Canada" does not grow further 

 west than I'ort William. We also have letters for 

 publication from Messrs (i. F. Dippie and Walter 

 Raine, and a letter concerning the matter from Mr. 

 E. Arnold. We may state that letters published in 

 November and December were in an abbreviated 

 form. We believe, and we trust the gentlemen will 

 agree with us, that the matter can be settled more 

 quickly by securing the identification of the speci- 

 mens now in the hands of Mr. A. H. Frost and Mr. 

 J. Parker Norris. So, if 

 Messrs. Frost and Norris " 

 will send the specimens 

 to the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution for identification, 

 the matter will very likely 

 be settled. Corrections 

 to erroneous statements 

 in The Ospre\ are al- 

 ways most thankfully re- 

 ceived, and the import- 

 ance of such are not de- 

 preciated when we seek 

 celerity in reaching a con- 

 clusion as to their authen- 

 ticity. 



Mr. Geo. F. Breninger 

 of Phcenix, Arizona, has 

 discovered that his name 

 has been signed with data 

 accompanying specimens 

 that he has never seen. 

 This fraud is aggravating 

 to Mr. Breninger to say 

 the least : his specimens 

 are of the best in prepa- 

 ration and identification, 

 as the perpetrator of this 

 fraud seems well aware. 

 Collectors should be on 

 the lookout for such 

 frauds. 



Mr. Horace A. Gaylord, 

 who has continued as 

 Secretary of the Southern 

 Division of the Cooper 

 Ornithological Club, of 

 Pasadena. Cal., since its 

 inception, has declined 

 re-election this year, ow- 

 ing to other duties claim- 

 ing his attention Mr. 

 Gaylord has proven him- 

 self particularly well fitted for the work and has done 

 much to build up his Division. 



Mr. Robert Ridgway will take a three months trip 

 southward this winter. This will be the first time 

 in three years that Mr. Ridgway has been outside 

 of the District of Columbia. Doubtless ornithology 

 will receive some rich results of Mr. Ridgway's 

 recreative digression from his work in the II. S. 

 National Museum. 



Mr. Frederick A. Ober. of Washington, D. C, 

 will have an article on the California Woodpecker 

 in a near future number of 'St. Nicholas. ' and the 

 Appleton's are soon to bring out his book entitled 

 'Crusoe's Island' which will contain a great deal of 

 matter relating to birds. 



Mr. C. C. Young, of Brooklyn, is planning two 



.ARCTIC three-toed 



moM THF. ['.MINTING BY 



trips to be taken this year, either to the West Indies 

 or South America, probably to the Oronoco Delta. 

 There is to be a short trip early in the year to pre- 

 pare for a prolonged sojourn ne.xt autumn and winter. 

 Such trips are the joy of the ornithologist. 



The marriage of Mr. Charles Sloan Reid and Miss 

 Louise M. Strother. took place at Walhalla, S. C. on 

 December 14. We deem Mr. Reid doubly fortunate 

 as Mrs. Keid is his "sweetheart from childhood." 

 Mr. Reid is a frequent crmtributor to The Osfrei 

 and his stories and poems have appeared in a number 

 of the well known magazines. 



'Bird Neighbors, ' that 

 e.xcellent work by Neltje 

 Blanchan, with an intro- 

 duction by John Bur- 

 roughs, which was re- 

 viewed in the December 

 (^spKEV. is selling with a 

 remarkable rapidity : the 

 first edition of 5,000 

 copies was nearly e.x- 

 hausled a month after 

 publication. 



Mr. Walton 1. Mitchell 

 writes that he greatly en- 

 joys his new work on the 

 Santa Fe railroad survey 

 in New Mexico. He car- 

 ries a camera and expects 

 to share with The Os- 

 PREv's readers some of 

 his photographs taken in 

 this locality of rare and 

 interesting birds. 



Mr. James J. Carroll, 

 of Belton, Texas, writes 

 under the date of Decem- 

 ber 23 that he has just 

 taken a set of Bald 

 Eagle's eggs— the first of 

 the season. He leaves 

 early in January for six 

 months' collecting in 

 Southern Texas. 



Dr. F. Henry York, of 

 Foosland, 111., writes that 

 the publication of his 

 work, "Our Ducks," has 

 been postponed until a 

 later date, so that a list 

 of 500 subscribers ma\- 

 be secured. 



WOODPECKER (MAI.E). 

 LOUIS AGGASSIZ FLKKTKS. 



Mr. A W 

 spending the winter in Portland, Ore. 



Anthon\- is 



THE WEBSTER EXPEDITION. 



The Frank Blake Webster Company have recently 

 received news from their expedition, which was sent 

 to the South Sea Islands under the patronage of Sir 

 Walter Rothschild of London, as before mentioned 

 in TheOsprev. The expedition reported at Chatham * 

 Island of the Galapagos Archipelago on Oct <), with 

 Mr. C. M. Harris in charge. All were well, and the 

 expedition successful up to that date. Mr. Webster 

 says this is the first news since June 21, and probably 

 the only opportunity for hearing from the expedition 

 until next spring At the same time Mr. Chester 

 Barlow recei\ed a letter from his friend, Mr. r<. H. 

 Beck, who is a member of the expedition. 



In the letter Mr. Beck writes: We made 1,000 



