320 Obituary. [The Emu 



1st April 



Obituary 



From New York comes news of the death, on August 29th, 

 1921, of Dr. Joel Asaph Allen, Curator of Birds and Mammals 

 at the American Museum of Natural History, and one of the 

 seven Corresponding Members of this Union. Dr. Allen was 

 8v^ years of age, and ornithology in general, and American orni- 

 thology in particular, have ])roftted greatly by his long term of 

 active work. 



He was one of the founders of the American Ornithologists' 

 Union, was its president for the first seven years of its existence, 

 and edited The Auk for twenty-eight years. He also edited 

 twenty-two volumes of the Bulletin of the American Museum of 

 Natural History. His scientific field work was extensive. Be- 

 tween the years 1865 and 1877 he made several collecting trips 

 into reuKjte i)arts, and his many experiences are recorded in his 

 "Autobiographical Notes,'" published by the Museum in 1916. 



Dr. Allen was deeply interested in nomenclature, and the ex- 

 cellence of the A. O.U. "Check-List" is acknowledged in The Auk 

 as due, to a large extent, to his ability and energv. His interest 

 in the subject also won for him a place on the International Com- 

 mission on Zoological Nomenclature. His death removes one 

 more of the pioneers of ornithology, and places the task of main- 

 taining the science in its present high plane more heavily upon 

 the shoulders of younger workers. 



MRS. MARY ROBERTS, C.M.Z.S. 



Mrs. Marv Roberts, a well-known nature-lover, and a former 

 member of the R.A.O.U., died at Hobart on November 27th, 

 1921, in her 81st year. 



Some years ago Mrs. Roberts established a collection of the 

 Tasmanian fauna, and her i)rivate zoo at "Beaumaris," near 

 Hobart, was known to thousands of visitors. She was an en- 

 thusiastic nature-student, and was considered the greatest author- 

 ity on the habits of the Tasmanian Devil and the Tasmanian 

 Tiger. It is understood, too, that she was the only woman 

 honoured by election as C.M.'/.S. 



The collection at "Ikaumaris" contained .some animals now 

 almost extinct, and was slated by scientists to be exceedingly 

 valuable. After the death of Mrs. Roberts, her relatives cx- 

 l.rcsscd the desire that the collection be taken over by some pub- 

 lic body in Tasmania to form the nucleus of a zoological gardens, 

 and the Ilobarl City Council has accepted the responsibility of 

 carr\ing out that i>urp()se. 



