THE AUK: 



A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF 

 ORNITHOLOGY. 



Vol. xxxv. January, 1918. No. 1, 



IN MEMORIAM: EDGAR ALEXANDER MEARNS. 

 Born, September 11, 1856 — Died, Novefnber 1, 1916. 



BY CHARLES W. RICHMOND. 



Plate I. 



In the death of Dr. Mearns the American Ornithologists' Union 

 has lost one of its Founders and most active members, and orni- 

 thology one of its most enthusiastic disciples. Friendly and genial 

 in disposition, with an all-consuming interest in the study of 

 nature, he craved the society of men of similar tastes, and looked 

 forward with keen anticipation to the rare occasions when he was 

 permitted to attend the annual sessions of the Union. As an army 

 surgeon, he was subject to the vicissitudes and uncertainties of that 

 calling, and during the greater part of his twenty-six years of ac- 

 tive military service was far removed from museums and libraries, 

 both indispensable adjuncts to the working naturalist. While this 

 circumstance greatly interfered with his systematic studies, and 

 prevented him from publishing any extended results of his dis- 

 coveries, which he was well equipped by training and experience 

 to perform, it undoubtedly contributed largely to his development 

 as a field naturalist, in which field he was without an equal in this 

 country, and enabled him to amass collections that are probably 

 unrivalled as the efforts of a single individual. His activities of 

 over forty years covered a wide range, of which but little, aside 



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