I 20 Third Meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union. [January 



series of provisional maps he had ah'eady prepared for his district. 

 This led to a very interesting discussion of methods to be pursued 

 in this kind of work, which was participated in by Dr. Mer- 

 riam, and Messrs Chadbourne, Allen, Brewster, and Sennett. 



The report of the Committee on the Protection of Native Birds 

 was made by Mr. Brewster, who stated that owing to ill health 

 and the pressure of other duties, he had been prevented from en- 

 tering actively into the work originally contemplated by the Com- 

 mittee, and had been obliged to resign the chairmanship. Owing 

 to this and other adverse circumstances, the Committee had been 

 unable to develop a systematic plan of work. He hoped the 

 Committee would be continued, and would reorganize by choos- 

 ing a chairman who could give the matter the attention and time 

 its high importance demanded. The discussion following the 

 report showed there was no lack of interest in the subject, and 

 tliat active measures will l)e immediately taken towards the en- 

 lightenment of the public and the creation of a proper sentiment 

 in relation to the \xholesale slaughter of birds now going on for mil- 

 linery purposes. Dr. Merriam regarded the work of this Commit- 

 tee as the most urgent now before the Union. The discussion, 

 eliciting remarks also from Messrs. Brewster, Sennett, Allen, 

 Dutcher, and others, not only led to the presentation of some start- 

 ling statistics relating to the enormous destruction of bird life 

 for hat decoration, but suggested certain lines of operation for 

 the suppression of the evil.* 



In addition to the reports of Committees, a number of in- 

 teresting papers were presented, but lack of space prevents a 

 proper notice of them in the present connection. Some of them, 

 however, are given in the present issue in extenso^ and others 

 will doubtless appear in later numbers of 'The Auk.' Mr. E. P. 

 Bicknell presented and explained by means of a chart a grapliic 

 method of representing the duration of the song-periods, and also 

 the periods of migration, of the birds of Westchester County, 

 New York, based on a long series of observations. The Presi- 

 dent called attention to the advantages this method obviously 

 possessed for delineating the seasonal presence of species succes- 

 sively at different localities ; and Dr. Merriam spoke of its ap- 



* In this connection attention may be called to a paragraph under the head of 

 'Notes and News' in the present number of 'The Auk," showing that the Committee has 

 promptly and earnestly entered upon its work. 



