654 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19lt, 



of the two Cavalry regiments that are about to exchange stations between this 

 department and Texas. I will have two acting Ass't surgeons with me, which 

 will make my duties light, and on the 900 miles of horseback riding that I 

 will have, there will be much leisure and opportunity for zoological and bo- 

 tanical work. I was given the first choice to go on this expedition, and gladly 

 accepted for the sake of the information which I expect to acquire of the fauna 

 and flora of the southern part of Arizona and New Mexico. The medical 

 director is personally friendly towards me, and General Crook, who commands 

 the Department, is particularly interested in my pursuits and has chosen me 

 to accompany him on two long expeditions through the wildest and least known 

 portions of Arizona. On each of these trips an entire month was spent in the 

 saddle, and a large collection of several hundred specimens of vertebrate 

 animals was made, which were transported, together with the rest of our 

 plunder, upon pack mules in panniers. 



The contemplated trip was duly performed, and a long account 

 of it was recorded in one of his manuscript journals. 



Doctor Mearns was popular with his brother officers, who marveled 

 at his diligence and untiring zeal in the preparation of specimens, 

 and many of them brought him trophies of various kinds as con- 

 tributions to his collections. These cordial relations with his official 

 associates continued throughout his career; indeed, his earnest and 

 trustful nature and genuinel}^ frank and straightforward character 

 permitted no other course. 



Early in 1S88 he was transferred to Fort Snelling, Minn., where 

 he remained until 1891, returning to his post again in 1903. In the 

 winter of 1889-90, at which time he received his captaincy, a few 

 months spent at the American jSIuseum enabled him to describe sev- 

 eral new mammals and birds from his Arizona collections, as well 

 as to complete other manuscripts. During his stay at Fort Snell- 

 ing he borrowed a large series of sparrow hawks from various friends 

 and museums and investigated the geographical variation in this 

 species, the results of which were embodied in a paper entitled "A 

 Study of the Sparrow Hawks (subgenus Tinnun^nlus) of America, 

 with especial reference to the continental species {Falco sparveritis 

 Linn.)."^ 



When the Mexican-United States International Boundary Com- 

 mission was organized in 1891, Doctor Mearns was directed to act 

 as medical officer, with orders to report for duty on February 1, 

 1892. By " previous correspondence with Lieut. Col. J. W. Barlow, 

 senior commissioner," he had obtained authority to establish " a bio- 

 logical section of the survey, provided this could be accomplished 

 without additional cost" to the commission. By cooperation with 

 the United States National Museum he was enabled to carry out his 

 designs, and he personally was able to conduct observations along 

 the entire line from El Paso to the Pacific, including San Clemente 



lAuk, IX, July, 1892, 252-270. 



