58 



THE OSPREY. 



bon's Letters to Baird", which, throug-h the 

 kindness of Miss Lucy H. Baird, Mr. Witmer 

 Stone had been enabled to compile, and which 

 he presented as the first paper of the afternoon 

 session. The remainder of this day was devoted 

 to communications illustrated by lantern slides, 

 the first beinfT the "Bering Sea Arctic Snowfiake 

 ( /\!ssr)-h/a hypcrborca) on its Breeding (Grounds", 

 by Dr. C. Hart Merriam. "An Account of the 

 Nesting of Franklin's Gull [Larus fra>ikli)iii) in 

 Southern Minnesota", by Dr. T. S. Roberts, was 

 of exceptional merit— we venture to add unri- 

 valled in the completeness of its delineation of 

 the life history of the species and graphically 

 illustrated the great possibilities of the camera 

 as an aid to bird study. Other papers were: 

 "Bird Studies with a Camera", by Mr. F. M. 

 Cliai)man; "Home Life of Some Birds", by Mr. 

 Wm. Dutcher; "Slides— Series of Kingfishers, 

 Gulls, etc.", by Mr. Wm. L. Bailey; and "The 

 Efl'ects of Wear upon Feathers", by Dr. J. 

 Dwight. Jr., the last an amplification and 

 further explanation of observations in the 

 speaker's previous communication. An evening 

 visit to the National Export Exposition, arranged 

 through the courtesy of the local committee, was 

 the closing feature of the day. 



The first paper of Thursday was by Dr. A. K. 

 Fisher, who presented various "Notes on Some 

 of the More Interesting Birds of the Harriman 

 Expedition". Mr. Chapman then read, in the 

 absence of the author, some observations "On 

 the Orientation of Birds", by Capt. Gabriel 

 Reynaud, of the French Army, whose careful 

 and extensive experiments with carrier pigeons 

 tend to prove that they are guided by nothing 

 less than the so-called sixth sense — that of 

 direction. Some very entertaining interpreta- 

 tions of the "Language of the Birds" were given 

 by Mr. Nelson R. Wood; and various excellent 

 imitations of the notes and songs of wild birds 

 by Mr. Fuertes. The remaining papers pre- 

 sented were as follows: "The Molt of the Flight 

 Feathers in Various Orders of Birds", bj- Mr. 

 Witmer Stone; "Notes on the Flammulated 

 Screech Owls", by Mr. Harry C. Oberholser; "On 

 the Perfected Plumage of Soinaferia specfahiHs''' , 

 by Mr. Arthur H. Norton; "A New Wren from 

 Alaska", by Mr. Harry C. Oberholser; and 

 "Some Cuban Birds", by Lieut. John W. Daniels, 

 Jr. Those read by title are subjoined: "The 

 Habits and Structure of Harris' Cormorant", by 

 Mes.srs. R. E. Snodgrass and F. A. Lucas; "On 

 the Habits of the Hoatzin {Opist/wco>itus crista- 

 tusy , by Mr. George K. Cherrie; and "Notes on 

 the Habits of the Great Mexican Swift {Hcmi- 



procnc zonarisW by Mr. Samuel N. Rhoads. 

 The following day— Friday— a trip to Mill 

 Grove, on the banks of the beautiful Perkiomen, 

 the some time home of Audubon, under the guid- 

 ance of Mr. Geo. Spencer Morris, appropriately 

 brought to a close what will long be remembered 

 as one of the most profitable, as well as one of 

 the most interesting meetings in the history of 

 the Union.— H. C. O. 



THE LARGEST BIRDS. 



In the OSPREY for June, the excellent article 

 by Mr. Gurney on longevity of birds was pub- 

 lished and commented upon. In the present 

 number, an article on the largest bird that flies, 

 by Mr. J. E. Harting, is republished from the 

 columns of the Field. Mr. Harting is well- 

 known as the accomplished editor of the 

 Zoologist of London, but he has chosen for his 

 article another Journal than his own. His con- 

 clusions are (1) that the largest known bird that 

 has ever lived was the Dinornis maxinms and 

 (2) that the "largest bird that flies"— the 

 heaviest — is the Bustard. Even of this bird, 

 however, Mr. Harting has not given the largest 

 of the recorded measurements. The only ones 

 enumerated in the table of measurements are 

 three respectively weighing 24, 26 and 28 pounds. 

 Lord Lilford, however, in an article on the birds 

 of Spain in the Ibis for 1866, (p. 382,) records 

 one which he saw weighing as much as 32 

 pounds. 



Mr. Harting has also passed over several of 

 the largest birds of prey — the Harpy eagle of 

 America and a couple of related forms occurring 

 in New Guinea and the Philippines The 

 Harpy eagle, Tfira.saetus /larpyia, is apparently 

 the largest. A noble example is living in the 

 Zoological Park of Washington. Application 

 to the superintendent. Dr. Frank Baker, for its 

 measurements was responded to with the infor- 

 mation that it is estimated to weigh 28 to 30 

 pounds. This is of course unsatisfactory and 

 the real weight may be much less, but compari- 

 son with eagles shows the great superiority of 

 the Harpy in size and prepares one to consider 

 the guess as an approximation to the truth. The 

 Pithecophaga Jefferyi of the Philippines is also a 

 very large bird, and one killed in Samar was 

 estimated to weigh between 16 and 20 pounds. 

 (Ibis, 1897, p. 214). What a pity it is that such a 

 cheap and portable article as a spring balance 

 or steelyard can not be carried by a traveller! 



Mr. Harting has enlarged on the South 

 American Condor's size but has not referred to 

 the Californian Condor which rivals it in size. 



