44 



THE OOLOGIST 



Tfi© ©ofocjist. 



AUGUST, 1880. 



Death of Greene Smith. 



A telegram from Hod. Gerrit Smith 

 Miller, to the Herald, aunounced the death 

 of Greene Smith, at his home in Peter- 

 boro, Friday Morning, July 23d, aged 39 

 years. 



Mr. Smith became deeply interested in 

 ornithology and had a well-deserved repu- 

 tation as a naturalist. He officiated as 

 professor of ornithology in Cornell univer- 

 sity, and delivei'ed several interesting lec- 

 tures in that institution, to which he gave 

 a very fine collection of birds. In perfect- 

 ing his private collection, Mr. Smith spent 

 several seasons in Florida and other south- 

 ern states, and traveled extensively through 

 tlie west. Wherever game was to be found, 

 there Greene Smitn with his dogs and gun 

 were surely to be seen in season, as much 

 at home as if he had never known any 

 other place. At his Peterboro home he 

 liad a model bird-house, in which Avas 

 placed his extensive collection. While life 

 was passing away, he caused this house to 

 be fitted for his reception and daily dicta- 

 ted and directed the arrangement and cat- 

 alogueing of his beautiful pets. Socially Mr. 

 Smith was the prince of good fellows, with 

 the warmest and most generous of impul- 

 ses. He was a favorite with everybody, 

 and no one in need appealed to him in vain. 

 He neglected many opportunities in life 

 which would have given him more sub- 



stantial pleasure tlian he enjoyed, and hud 

 social faults which none understood better 

 than himself. He IcaVes a wife, an es- 

 timable lady, whom he married in Balti- 

 more. They had no children. Writing 

 of his birds the Syracuse Journal says : 



"A few months ago, he offered his great 

 collection of birds to the commissioners of 

 Central paik, New York, on the sole con- 

 dition that it should be known * as the 

 'Greene Smith Collection.' Not knowing 

 its extent and exi;ellence, the commission- 

 ers declined the offer ; but subsequently 

 they caused it to be examined, and finding 

 how valuable it was, addressed Mr. Smith 

 a letter accepting the offer. Mr. Smith 

 replied that he had no desire to force the 

 collection into Central park, and suggested 

 that as his offer had been once declined, he 

 was -not inclined to renew it, and so New 

 York lost what might have been one of the 

 distinguishing sights of the Central park 

 museum." 



A Nesting Place of the Great Blue 

 Heron. 



{ Heron's nesting place in the Nof-thern 

 States is not compared in extent with 

 the great breeding grounds of these birds 

 in the Gulf States. A real Heronry is 

 worth seeing ; for, altho' we occasionally 

 see large communities of the Waders nest- 

 ing to-gether at the North, we witness al- 

 most an exception. Gregarious as the 

 Heron's are, they seem to have lost some- 

 what of their habit by coming tnto a culti- 

 vated, smooth country, where advantages 

 for herding and nesting in vast communi- 

 ties are limited. 



The Great Blue Heron's, select swampy 

 ground for their nesting places, and 

 build their nests, especially in the North- 

 ern States, in very high trees, forty or 

 fifty feet from the ground. Oneido lake, 

 in the Central part of NcAV Y'ork, is a fa- 

 vorite nesting place for this species, the 

 deep swamps, and high dark trees offer 

 them facilities for rearing their young in 



