144 



Notes (I lid NetVS. [January 



The death of Dr. Samuel Cabot of Boston, on April 13, 1885, in his 

 seventieth year, removes another of the earlier ornithologists who were 

 the contemporaries of Audubon and Nuttall. Dr. Cabot was graduated at 

 Harvard College in 1836, and at the Harvard Medical School in 1839. I" 

 1841-42 he made an expedition to Yucatan, where he gathered important 

 collections in ornithology, discovering, among other new species, the 

 Ocellated Turkey {Meleagris ocellata), described by him in 1842. From 

 this date till 1858 he contributed numerous short papers on birds to the 

 'Proceedings' and 'Journal' of the Boston Society of Natural History 

 (Proc, Vols. I-IV; Journ. Vols. II-V), relating largely to his ornitholog- 

 ical work in Yucatan, but also to the birds of the United States, and 

 more especially to the rarer species of New England. He also wrote 

 briefly on other Natural History subjects. In iS5ohis work in ornithology 

 practically ceased, in consequence of the pressure of professional engage- 

 ments, but he maintained a strong interest in the subject until his death. 

 His ornithological collection and notes have passed into the possession of 

 the Boston Society of Natural History, in which society he was for many 

 years Curator of the department of Ornithology. The types of many of 

 his species still exist. 



Dr. Cabot's published papers on ornithology, aside from his reports as 

 Curator, number not far from fifty, ranging in length from a few lines to 

 seven or eight pages, and are in part anatomical. The more important o^ 

 his contributions are the following : On the Birds of Yucatan, in Stephens's 

 'Natural History of Yucatan'; Description and Habits of some Birds of 

 Yucatan ; Red and Mottled Owls ; Observations on the Character and 

 Habits of the Ocellated Turkey ; Further account of some of the Birds 

 of Yucatan; The Dodo a Rasorial and not a Raptorial Bird; On three new 

 Woodpeckers from Yucatan ; Supposed identity of .4 «^?,s- /ewc/o/t' and A. 

 americana, etc. 



Mr. John Snowdon Howland, an Associate Member of the A. O. U., 

 died at his home in Newport, R. I., September 19, 1885. Mr. Howland 

 was well known as an oologist, and at his death possessed one of the 

 finest private oological collections in this country, and one which was 

 especially noteworthy for its quality. He was for many years a great suf- 

 ferer from a disease which not only prevented active field work, but which 

 often for months confined him to his bed. He was greatly respected and 

 esteemed bv those of his fellow workers who had the pleasure of his per- 

 sonal acquaintance. 



The publication of the A. O. U. Code and Check-List has been unvoid- 

 ably delayed, but the appearance of the work within a few weeks may now 

 be confidently expected. 



