16 



THE OOLOGIST. 



axiliars, brownish-^ray. Scapulars 

 with lighter edgings. No speculum; 

 no white on wings. Tail of fifteen 

 feathers. Nostrils in basal half of bill. 

 Bill l)lue at base, blackening at tip; feet 

 livid bluish. Iris brown. Measures, 

 L. 17.50, ex. 29.00, w g. 8.50, t 1. 2.75, 

 ts. 1.25, B 1. 1.12, undde toe and claw 

 2.15. It was killed on the Savannah 

 river. Could it l)e a female H. glacialis 

 2rd. When will Davie's "Methods in 

 the Art of Taxidermy" be issued? 



C. R. B., Little Rock, Iowa. Queries 

 as follows: 



1st. The name of a ^ull (V) about 

 thirteen or fourteen incTies long, with 

 head and neck black, back brown or 

 light slate color, upper side of wings 

 and tail ditto, ends of wing feathers 

 barred with black and white, breast, 

 al)domen, siilcs and under side of wings 

 and tail Avhite, bill one inch long, 

 black, feet webbed. 



2nd. Name of gull (?) Avith black 

 head and breast, back and wing dove 

 color or drab, under tail piu-e white, 

 feet semipalmated, length eight or nine 

 inches. 



Both gulls are common in migrations; 

 following the plows after a rain and 

 eating the grubs plowed out. 



Talkative Powers of the Crow not Increased 

 by Tongue Splitting. 



In reply to the query in the Nov. 

 OoLO(JiST, will say, that I do not think 

 it makes any ditTerence with the crow, 

 except the jniin that it gives, whether 

 his tongue is split or not. I have 

 raised a great many, and have had two 

 at one time and I would split the 

 tongue of one and not the other, and I 

 found that the one with the tongue 

 .split would not articulate any clearer 

 than the other. My experience is that 

 the male crow will learn to utter a few 

 wordii if it is something that he hears 

 every daj', for instance the name of 

 anyone. My brother had one, he also 

 had a dog by the name of Ponto, and 

 the crow would say: "Hello! Ponto," 

 as plain as I could. The greatest 

 trouble I have in keeping crows is, that 

 after they have been in captivity about 



one year or less, they have trouble with 

 their stomach and cannot keep food 

 down and soon die. But after all it is 

 not much of a loss. Should you keep 

 one a year and give him his freedom he 

 will steal you so poor that you will be 

 willing he should die. 



A. E. KiBBE, 



Mayville, N. Y. 



Meeting of the A. 0. U. 



The eighth congress of the American 

 Ornithologists' Union was held last 

 week at Washington, Nov. 18 to 20, in 

 the Lecture Hall of the United States 

 National Museum. 



The meeting was largely attended, 

 and as will be seen from list of papers 

 given below, was full of interest. It 

 was one of the most successful meet- 

 ings held since the founding of the 

 Union. 



The session of Tuesday Avas devoted 

 to business and Avas not open to the 

 general public. At this meeting were 

 read the reports of the secretary, the 

 treasurer and the council. Officers 

 were elected for the ensuing year, and 

 then followed election of new members 

 and reports of committees. 



The ofldcers chosen for 1891 Avere: 

 D G. Elliot, President; Robert Rid§- 

 way and Wm. Brewster, Vice-Presi- 

 dents; John H. Sage, Secretary; Wm. 

 Dutchcr, Treasurer. Chas. B. Cory, 

 H. W. Henshaw, Dr. C. Hart Merriam, 

 Dr. L. Stejneger, Dr. J. A. Allen, Dr. 

 Elliott Cones, Col. N. S. Goss, Mem- 

 bers of the Council. At this election 

 there Avere thirtj^-eight members pres- 

 ent and voting. 



The sessions held on Wednesday and 

 Thursday, Nov. lit and 20, Avere open 

 to the pu1)lic, and Avere devoted to the 

 reading of scientilic papers. The first 

 of these, The American Ornithologists' 

 Union — a seven years' retrospect — Avas 

 an address liy tlu^ retiring president, 

 Mr. J. A. Allen, Avho has occupied this 

 chair ever since the founding of the 

 Union. This Avas followed by these 

 papers: 



Seed Planting by Birds, by Walter B. 

 Barrows. Phalaropes at Swampscott, 

 Mass., by Wm. A. Jeflries. The Birds 

 of Andros Island, Bahamas, by John I. 

 Northrop. Remarks on a fcAV Species 

 of Andros Island Birds, collected by 

 Dr. Northrop, by J. A. Allen. An Ex- 

 perimental Trial of a New Method for 



