Vol. XXXIV] Parmer, In Memoriam: Wells W. Cooke. 129 
ber, 1910, included 294 titles, the difference of 140 being accounted 
for mainly by the omission of minor references. These apparent 
discrepancies are significant in illustrating his method of work. 
With Cooke a record was a record and a title a title, however unim- 
portant, and in consequence his lists seem longer than those of- 
others covering the same field. In the preparation of the ‘Ten 
Year Index to the Auk,’ 1915, the basis of the work was a series 
of ecards which he had made in connection with the indexes of the 
Biological Survey, and as secretary of the committee he performed 
the greater part of the labor in preparing them for publication. 
An immense amount of bibliographical material was collected in the 
course of his work on bird migration, but unfortunately the bibliog- 
raphy of migration to which he had devoted much time and labor 
was never brought to completion. 
Of his publications on migration it is difficult to speak adequately 
in a few lines. Prof. Alfred Newton says: “A very praiseworthy 
work was performed by Prof. W. W. Cooke, whose ‘Report on 
Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley’ in 1884 and 1885.... 
was edited by Dr. C. Hart Merriam. Some of the facts herein 
adduced are highly suggestive, but it must be remarked that on 
several points there is a difference of opinion between the author 
and the editor.’ Fortunately the editor’s opinions are carefully 
separated from those of the author and the reader can thus compare 
both statements and reach his own conclusions. Doctor Merriam 
himself says in the preface: “I feel no hesitancy in expressing the 
belief that the present report is the most valuable contribution 
ever made to the subject of bird migration.” The later contribu- 
tions on migration are published in two general series of papers in 
‘Bird-Lore’ and in the bulletins of the Biological Survey. The 
‘Bird-Lore’ articles extend over a period of twelve and a half years 
from December, 1903 to April, 1916, and contain tabular summaries 
of records of most of the migratory land birds, including the 
warblers, thrushes, flycatchers, vireos, sparrows and kinglets. 
The Survey bulletins on distribution and migration include one 
report on the warblers (1904) and five on water birds and waders: 
ducks, geese and swans (1906); shorebirds (1910); herons (1913); 
1 Dictionary of Birds, Migration, p. 562, 1896. 
