° 1918 ] Richmond, In Memoriam: Edgar A. Mearns. 5 



naturalists, which may be worthy of perfect credence. Now, if 

 De Kay and Giraud, who are about our only N. Y. State authori- 

 ties had made specific instead of general statements regarding such 

 species as Euspiza Americana, Lophopkanes bicolor, Thryothorus 

 ludovicianus, Partis Carolinensis and Corvus ossifragvs, their 

 observations would be of the greatest value; but many persons 

 now doubt the accuracy of these observations. I think the tables 

 of specimens captured and their measurements would be useful in 

 this way if in no other. However I am quite willing to be advised 

 in this matter." 



This paper, ' A List of the Birds of the Hudson Highlands, with 

 annotations,' was begun shortly in the 'Bulletin of the Essex 

 Institute,' l seven installments appearing between 1879 and 1881, 

 with an 'Addendum' issued in 'The Auk,' in 1890. As printed, 

 it lacks the tables of measurements, these having been reduced to a 

 simple statement of the average dimensions of each species. Dr. 

 Allen, in reviewing the first four parts, said : " . . . . His own notes, 

 even when relating to some of our best known birds, are replete with 

 new information attractively presented, few lists having appeared 

 which offer so much that is really a contribution to the subject in a 

 field where so little really new is to be looked for." In announcing 

 later parts, the same reviewer wrote: "The high praise accorded 

 the earlier installments is equally merited by those now under 

 notice, Mr. Mearns's ' List of the Birds of the Hudson Highlands ' 

 ranking easily among the best of our long list of contributions to 

 local ornithology. There is much said about the habits of various 

 species that is entertaining or new ..." Dr. Mearns intended this 

 paper as the beginning of a complete catalogue of the vertebrates 

 of the region, but his entrance into the Army, in 1883, caused the 

 abandonment of this plan, although he later (1898) published part 

 of his data on the remaining subjects in a paper entitled " A Study 

 of the Vertebrate Fauna of the Hudson Highlands, with observa- 

 tions on the Mollusca, Crustacea, Lepidoptera, and the Flora of 

 the Region." 2 



After completing his medical course, in 1881, he married Miss 



'Bull. Essex Inst., X, 1878 (1879), 106-179; XI, 1879, 43-52; XI, 1879, 154-168; 

 XI, 1880, 189-204; XII, 1880, 11-25; XII, 1881, 109-128; XIII, 1881, 75-93. 

 2 BuU. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., X, 1898, 303-352. 



