THE OSPREY. 



13 



Mr. Albert Luiio has chiuif^-fd his ])lace of 

 residence to Aitkin. Minn., and is now niana- 

 f^^er (jf the Aitkin Pliarniacv of that citv. 



Mr. Elmer W. Durfee. so well known to the 

 readers of the "< ). iSr ()." in the «(»"s, is now at 

 Lordslnirj,--. New Mexico, nianafj^'inf^ a silver 

 mine. 



Till'; ()srKi:\ ha> received an intcrotinj;- let- 

 ter from Mr. L. ( >. Dart, whu is now with a 

 party camjjiii','- in the ()rinoco delta. Simth 

 America. 



Dr. J. A. Allen, editor of the .Ink, will re- 

 turn early in Se])tember from an Eurojjean 

 tour. Dr. Allen has lately been elected honor- 

 arv member of the Zoolof^-ical Societv of New 

 York. 



Mr. IMiilii) J. McCook lias returned to his 

 honii' in Hartford, Conn., iifter tilliuf,'- the ])osi- 

 tion of instructor in (Jerman in St. Alban's 

 Academy at Kiioxville, 111. He j^aive his Gales- 

 buri,'- friends a very pleasant call before leav- 

 ini,'- Illinois. 



Mr. J. H. I5owles is now located at his new 

 home in Tacoma, \\'ashin<.;ft<)n, and re- 

 ports the prospects j^ood from an ornitholoj,''- 

 ical standpoint. He notes an eaj^le's nest 200 

 feet uj), and says it made him think of "William 

 Henry" and Dr. Strode. Our best wishes are 

 extended Mr. Bowles in his new collectinf^ held. 



Prof. J. (i. Needham, of Knox Colle^'-e, Gales- 

 burj,--, has taken a leave of absence to accept a 

 scholarshi]) in cntomolo^'-y at Cornell Universi- 

 ty, ^iven him in recoi^-nition of his work in that 

 branch. Prof. Needham is a thorouj^^h natur- 

 alist, and is rapidly workinj^ his way to the 

 front. The Smithsonian will soon publish an 

 article on Draj^-on Flies by the Professor, and 

 Tm; (^Sl■KK^■ is ])romised a ])a])er from his pen 

 soon. 



Messrs. W. E. Mulliken and L. J. Cole, of 

 Grand Kapids, and T. E. Hankinson, of the 

 A<,'-ricultural Collef;-e, Mich., left Aug-ust 1st in 

 their "clinker," the "Orchis," for a collectint,'- 

 trip down the (irand Rapids river, from whence 

 they will proceed alonj.;- the shore of Lake 

 Michi/^'-an. They will j^^o in quest of skins and 

 sl<eletons of the smaller mammals, as well as 

 the birds. 



Messrs. Frank C. and Nel.-^nn Willard, of 

 Ckiles1)ur^'-, ;,'-raduated with the class of ''»(> 

 from Knox Co]lei,'-e, at (Jalesburj,'-. Nelson re- 

 ceived tlie hij^hest honors of the class, and has 

 acce])ted a ])osition as instructor in St. All)an"s 

 Academy at Kiioxville, 111. Frank will l;ecome 

 principal of schools at Tombstone, Arizona. 

 Messrs. Willard are enthusiastic young' oolo- 

 gists and we may ex])ect to hear something of 

 of interest fi-om Frank in his new Held. 



Prof. I). P.. r.urn.ws. of Eacon, 111., who has 

 lieen teaching in Casa IJlanca, Texas, during- 

 the pj'.st tvio years, has recently returned home 

 and is now eng-ag^ed in writing- a number of 

 articles, extracts of which will apj)ear in Ben- 

 dire's Eife Histories. Shortly before his re- 

 turn, he and an assistant made a two weeks' 

 trip among the bird islands along- the (xulf 

 coast between the mouths of the Neuaces and 

 Kio Grande rivers, and as a result bring'-.s home 

 with him a magnificent lot of specimens. 



Fiftieth Anniversary, 



On August lo ilie Sniillisonian lii;,tautinn com- 

 pleted its first half century uf work 



This great institution, established by Congress 

 with the aid of one-half million of dollars betjueathed 

 by James Smithson, was founded in iS4() at Wash- 

 ington, "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge 

 among men." 



The expense, each year, is now about one-half mil- 

 lion dollars, part of which is met with an annual ap- 

 propriation by Congress, while the Distri' t of Cohim- 

 l>ia shares the expense of the National Zoological 

 Park, which is under the direction of the Smitiisonian. 

 as is the (lovernment Museum, i^ureau of Ethnology 

 and the Astro- Physical Observatory. 



In connection with its work in ichthyology, the 

 Fish Commission was established; the Weather Bu- 

 reau grew out of its observation in meteorology, and 

 through its liberality, 150,000 volumes have been 

 added to the Library of Congress; the Department of 

 Agriculture was provided with a botanical collection, 

 it gave its fine art collection to the Corcoran Free 

 (iallery, and greatly enlarged the Army Medical 

 Museum. By this liberality the institution has made 

 itself freer for efforts in its special <H'Ids. the eth- 

 nology, zoology and mineralogy of tiie United States. 



The institution acts as a medium of exchange tor 

 publications and specimens with societies and indi- 

 viduals in both hemispheres; aids research financially 

 and by the loan of specimens; publishes the fruits of 

 these investigations, and other matters of scientific 

 importance. Its international exchange service as- 

 sists, e\er\' \cnr. 25,000 correspondents. 



A Department of Reviews. 



.V Department of Kexiews ^f ( urrent ornithologi- 

 cal literature will be added toTuK Ospkev in a near 

 future issue. 



We acknowledge the receipt of tht; following. 



Copy of "Birdcraft," by Mabel Osgood Wright, 

 which has been reprinted by the New York publish- 

 ers. The MacMillan Company, 66 Fifth .Vvenue 

 One hundred and twenty-eight species of birds in 

 natural colors UmuI additional interest to Mrs. 

 Wright's excellent wotk, and it is well worth the price 



of ^;(.00. 



Dr 1> ii Wairen, State Zoologist of Pennsylvania. 

 st'uds us a cop\' of Bulletin No. 6 of the State De- 

 partment of .Agriculture, Dixision of Economic Zo- 

 ology, forty-five pages oi wiiich are devoted to Tax- 

 idermy and facts concerning the collecting and pres- 

 ervation of birds and their nests and eggs, and sixty- 

 four pages to the game and fish laws of Pennsylvania 

 The ( opy in hand is of the second edition, published 

 in |iuie to ni(>et the demand. 



ISulIclin No () of Wilson Ornithologicil Chapter of 

 the Agassi/, .\ssociation was out of the press July 30. 

 with sixteen pages of matter of interest and value to 

 the ornitholofjist. 



"My Story «d" the Birds." by James Newton 

 Baskett, will soon be jjublishcd by the A])ple- 

 tons. An article by Mr. Baskett will ajjpear in 

 the October O.si'KMvV. 



Chas. K. Worthen. of Warsaw. III., i.s now 

 working- on a collection of birds to be mounted 

 for the Illinois Agricultural College. 



