476 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



Fellows, limited to 25, and elected on 

 account of their eminence as ornitholo- 

 gists; and (b) Corresponding Fellows, 

 limited to 100. Fellows and Members 

 are residents of the United States and 

 Canada; Associ- 

 ates, of any part 

 of America ; and 

 Honorary or 

 Corresponding 

 Fellows, of any 

 country. The 

 other two groups 

 comprise Fellows 

 who, no longer 

 active, have been 

 transferred to 

 the class of Ee- 

 tired Fellows, 

 and Patrons, in- 

 cluding persons 

 who, desirous of 

 furthering the 

 aims of the 

 Union, contrib- 

 ute the sum of 

 $1000 for such 

 purpose. This 

 group as its 

 name indicates is 

 intended to dis- 

 tinguish those 

 members who by 

 their breadth of 

 view and inter- 

 est in the sub- 

 ject make pos- 

 sible the ad- 

 vancement of ornithology either in the 

 fields of research or in applied science. ^ 



Spencer FuUerton Baird,- after a crayon jiortrait 

 by Henry Ulke, in 1883, the year of the organiza- 

 tion of the A. O. U. Baird was a man of won- 

 derful ability. He was a friend of Audubon, and 

 his collection of birds afterward formed the 

 nucleus of the National Museum coUection. He 

 acted as secretary of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion from 1878 to 1887 and was the organizer of 

 the United States National Museum and of the 

 United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. 

 He was the author of Birds of North America, 

 Review of American Birds, and (witli Brewer and 

 Ridgway) of five volumes on tlu- land and water 

 birds of North America 



The list of members includes many 

 of the most eminent ornithologists in 

 this country and abroad, while among 

 the names of members now deceased 

 may be found those of many well- 

 k n o w n m e n 

 whose works live 

 after the m. 

 Among the lat- 

 ter are George 

 N". Lawrence and 

 Spencer F. 

 Baird, the lead- 

 i ng American or- 

 nithologists of 

 their day, whose 

 best work was 

 (lone about the 

 middle of the 

 nineteenth cen- 

 tury ; and Coues, 

 Bendire, Merrill, 

 and Mearns 

 whose names re- 

 call the valuable 

 contributions to 

 ornithology made 

 by oflficers of the 

 Army. Among 

 the Honorary 

 Fellows may be 

 found the names 

 of Huxley, Scla- 

 ter, Sharpe, and 

 Wallace, known 

 the world over 

 wherever the 

 studv of birds 



has received attention. 



The business of the Union is con- 

 ducted by the president, two vice-presi- 

 dents, a secretary, treasurer, and a 

 council of seven members. Oflficers and 

 ex-presidents are ex officio members of 

 the council, and the editor of the jour- 



-This portrait of Professor Baird, made in 1883, is apparently an unpublished one and historically 

 correct for the date. At this time he was sixty, and evidently showed his age, for this was only two years 

 before his health broke down and only four years before his deatli. Compare with the picture in the 

 large group (page 474) which is the standard and undoubtedly the best picture of Baird and is from 

 a photograph taken about 1875 by Mr. T. W. Smillie, photographer of the U. S. National Museum. 

 Baird, then fifty-two years old, was in the height of his vigor, planning for the exhibit in the Centennial 

 E.xposition, which was made the stepping stone to the foundation of the National Museum, the ambition 

 of his life. An interesting point is that the Smillie photograph faces to the left while the Ulke pictures 

 (of which the writer has seen two) face to tlie riglit. 



^ No initiation fee is required and the annual 

 dues are $5 for Fellows, $4 for Members, and $3 

 for Associates. Life membership securing exemp- 

 tion from further assessment may be obtained upon 

 payment of $100 by a Fellow, $75 by a Member, 

 or $50 by an Associate. Patrons and Retired, 

 Honorary, or Corresponding Fellows are exemjJt 

 from dues and all classes of members except Corre- 

 sponding Fellows receive the journal free. 



