THE OSPREY. 



ii: 



Dn Coucs' Column. 



Since the deaths of Dr. Brewer, Prof. Baird, 

 and Maj. Bendire, I am probably the onlj^ per- 

 son living' who knows an episode of Bendire's 

 early career that led to the deposit of his eg^er 

 collection in the U. S. National Museum. I 

 "discovered" Bendire late in IfeTl. or early in 

 1872, when he was stationed in Tucson, Ariz., 

 and I was Post Surgeon at Fort McHenry, Bal- 

 timore, Md. Some of the earliest, if not the 

 very first results, of his field work were pub- 

 lished by me in the Ai/ierhafi Aaf/ira/is/ for 

 June. 1»72, upon the strength of the corres- 

 pondence with him upon which I had already 

 entered. Later that j-ear, when I had become 

 Post Surgeon at Fort Randall, S. Dak., he sent 

 me some novelties and rarities in birds and 

 eggs, among the former being those new species 

 which I named Harporhytichtis bendirei and 

 Peiiccea carpal is. About that time the bump- 

 tious and captious German soldier, who was a 

 man to take strong likes and dislikes on very 

 small provocation, had a falling out with Dr. 

 Brewer and Prof. Baird, whose "History- of 

 North American Birds"" was then well under 

 way. He fancied himself slighted by them, or 

 misused in some way — I have forgotten exactly 

 how. So he poured out his grievances to me in 

 long letters in which he abused them right 

 heartilj', and swore bA^ "donner und blitzen" 

 that they should never have anything from 

 him. I supposed that Dr. Brewer, who was a 

 narrow-minded, prejudiced, and tactless person, 

 had wounded Bendire"s self-esteem in some 

 wa^', and thought I would do what I could to 

 heal the breach, especially as I did not want his 

 eggs. I had no private collection: the Smith- 

 sonian always received whatever I collected in 

 those days, and I thought Bendire's eggs had 

 ought to go there too. So I determined to tell 

 Professor Baird about the doughty- captain's 

 state of mind, feeling confident that Bairdian 

 suavity, sagacit.v and tactfulness would easily 

 set matters aright. I did so: and promptly came 

 from Baird an urg{ nt request to see Bendire"s 

 letters to me, that he might learn exactly what 

 the trouble was. Knowing that Baird's astute- 

 ness could be trusted, and having entire faith 

 in his abilit)' to manipulate men and measures, 

 I sent him the whole of the correspondence. It 

 was a case in which somewhat questionable 

 means were justified by the admirable results. 

 I never knew exactly how Baird conducted his 

 diplomacy: but he smoothed Bendire"s ruflied 

 plumes effectually, soon had him well in hand, 

 and in due course thereafter the Bendire col- 

 lection was in Baird's hands also, becoming the 

 nucleus of the present unrivaled oological cabi- 

 net in the National Museum, of which Bendire 

 was honorary curator until his death. The 

 same result would probably have been effected 

 in the course of time without my friendly in- 

 tervention, for few persons whom Baird ever 

 got hold of escaped him afterward, chiefly for 

 the reason that few ever desired to get awaj- 

 from what he could and would do for them. 

 But the fact remains that I was the one who 

 turned Bendire over to Baird, shortly after my 

 original discovery of him. and that this inter- 

 mediation led directlv to the consummation with 



which all are now familiar. Perhaps I will tell 

 The Osprev's readers some day about the 

 writing and printing of Bendire's two volumes, 

 concerning which I also happen to be informed 

 to some extent. But not now.— E. C. 



California Department. 



Donald A. Cohen, Editor, Alameda, Cal. 



MIGRANTS are coming" in slowly 

 owing- to the long-continued cold 

 and wet weather. The first arrival 

 noted was an Allen's or a Rufous Hum- 

 ming-bird on March 1. Up to the 10th 

 of the month bird-life ma}- be said to 

 have been at a standstill,' as only two 

 more of these Hummingbirds have been 

 observed, Anna's Hummingbirds have 

 wintered with us sparingly. American 

 Goldfinches are seen in small flocks with 

 the yellow plumage beginning- to show. 

 A few Arkansas Goldfinches and House 

 Finches have increased their small num- 

 ber of winter residents. A Townsend's 

 Solitaire was shot near Alameda last 

 week, and a Mockingbird, perhaps an 

 escaped cage bird, has been observed 

 among the gardens in town. Robins 

 (Western), Purple Finches (Cal.) and 

 Blackbirds have been singing for nearlv 

 a month past, and the trill of Lutescent 

 Warblers has been lately heard. 



The Sail Francisco Chronicle under 

 date of March 1, 1897, prints what we 

 are told is reliable news sent bv Mr. 

 William Butcher to the reporter, and is 

 to the effect that all traffic in any form 

 in birds or eggs from the Farallone 

 Islands must cease by order of the U. S. 

 Light House Department. It will be 

 noticed in January (1897) Auk that Prof. 

 L. M. Loomis, of the California Acad- 

 emy of Sciences, and acting as a member 

 of the A. O. U. Committee on Bird Pro- 

 tection, was instrumental in bringing 

 about this decree. 



Ill health has been the cause of Mr Walter 

 E. Bryant"s temporary removal from Santa 

 Rosa to Los Angeles, Cal. His present address 

 is 142 South Spring St., Lo-s Angeles, Cal. 



The Cooper Club has made a novel departure 

 from its record of holding successive monthl3' 

 meetings by deciding to hold no meeting for 

 March. There is some talk and great probabil- 

 ity of holding the April meeting at Stanford 

 University, Palo Alto, Cal, 



