DELAWARE VALLEY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. .i 



the Coronados and Farallone Islands, as well as one to Guay- 

 mas, Sonera. 



Hcerniann described his collection upon his return to Phila- 

 delphia in a paper in the Journal of the Academy, II, pp. 259- 

 272 (Jan., 1853), entitled "Notes on the Birds of California, 

 observed During a Residence of Three Years in that Country." 

 His water birds did not arrive promptly, and the paper went to 

 press without waiting for them, so that only a few notes relating 

 to the new species were ever published. These appeared in a 

 subsequent paper in the Proceedings and in some of Cassin's 

 papers. 



As he mentions birds observed at Mazatlan it seems evident 

 that he traveled to California by the isthmus route, though 

 there is no definite statement to that effect. 



Upon the organization of the Pacific Railroad survey parties 

 Dr. Heermann obtained the appointment of surgeon and natur- 

 alist to Lieut. Williamson's party, whicli was to explore southern 

 California with the object of finding available passes through 

 the mountains by which the routes along the 32d and 35th par- 

 allels might reach the coast. 



They embarked at New York May 20, T858, on the steamer 

 Illinois bound for Aspinwall, and reached San Francisco June 

 20th. After nearly a month spent at Benicia they started south 

 on July 10th and reached Tejon August 21st and Yuma in De- 

 cember, finally returning to San Diego December 20th. Lieut. 

 J. G. Parke, who was Williamson's assistant, was then sent 

 east by way of Yuma, the Pima and Maricopa villages, Copper 

 Mines and Dona Ana to El Paso and thence to San Antonio and 

 Washington. Dr. Heermann was attached to this survey, and 

 upon his return to Philadelphia prepared two reports covering 

 the birds collected on the two explorations. These, however, 

 were not published until 1859, appearing in Volume X of the 

 Pacific Railroad Survey. 



In 1855-6 Lieut. Parke made another survey from Yuma to 

 El Paso, but Heermann was not attached to this expedition. 

 He, however, went to San Antonio for the winter of 1854-5, 

 and was there also during the winter of 1855-6 and collected 

 quite a number of birds, as he states in letters to John Krider 

 which I have had the privilege of reading. 



