£ PROCEEDINGS OP THE 



thither from his expeditions. In 1846 he was studying medicine 

 in Baltimore, and probably graduated the following year. 



Of Dr. Heermann"s first expedition to the west, I have been 

 able to gain but little information. He says incidentally in one 

 of his papers that he made a journey to the Rocky Mountains in 

 1843, and Mr. H. E. Dresser, the British ornithologist who 

 knew Heerniann during the last few years of Ids life, writes me 

 that he understood him to say that he first crossed the Hocky 

 Mountains with Fremont. The latter's second expedition 

 occurred in 1843, but I find no mention of Heermann's name 

 among the members of the party. 



In March and April, 1848, Dr. Heermann accompanied John 

 Krider, the well-known gunsmith of Philadelphia, on an expedi- 

 tion to Florida. They stopped at Charleston, where they did 

 some collecting, and passed on to Key West. At this point, and 

 at Charlotte Harbor, they seem to have done most of their work. 

 The latter spot in those days, to quote Heermann, "almost 

 swarmed with Herons, Cormorants, Snake Birds, Spoonbills and 

 Pelicans * * * while on the .sandbars various species of Terns 

 were to be found in abundance, and at a distance, and not to be 

 approached easily, I have frequentl}' seen flocks of Flamingoes 

 dredging perseveringly for shell-fishes, or standing in groups, 

 looking almost like files of soldiers in red uniforms." 



In 1849 Dr. Heermann made his first trip to California, 

 where he remained until 1852. In a letter from Cassin to 

 Baird, dated August 28th, he wrote with much enthusiasm : 

 " Heermann has arrived from California with a collection of 

 about 1200 bird skins. I have not seen them all, but expect to 

 to-morrow. I have a portion of them brought in his trunk, 

 among which one — a Hummingbird, T. alexnndri Boucard, is 

 new to our fauna; a Wren, T. mexicanus, and an undescribed 

 Finch; also a squirrel, which Le Conte says is new; also the 

 greatest kind of a lot of nests and eggs." The Finch was Am- 

 modravms roslralns, shortly afterwards described by Cassin from 

 Heermann's specimens. 



Doling his stay in California Heermann spent most of his 

 time at Sacramento, but also explored the American and Cala- 

 verus rivers, and made trips to San Francisco, San Diego, and 



