Vol l8 * VI ] Notes and News. 38 1 



collection of birds from those countries. There Avill also be various 

 excursions to nearby localities of special ornithological interest. The 

 purpose of the meeting, as announced, is for the discussion of principles 

 to be followed in the continuation of the great work on bird migration 

 carried on at the large number of observation stations extending over a 

 wide territory in Austria and Hungary, by the organizations here men- 

 tioned. 



The Third International Ornithological Congress will be 

 held, under the patronage of the French government, from the 26th to 

 the 30th of June, 1900, in the series of official congresses of the Paris 

 Universal Exposition. This session has been organized under the direc- 

 tion of the Permanent International Committee named at the Second 

 Congress, held at Budapest, in 1891. Important questions relating to 

 the classification, habits, migrations, uses, breeding and acclimatation of 

 birds form the matter of discussion and reports of the coming congress. 

 The organizing committee is making every effort to insure the success of 

 the congress by bringing together the chief naturalists of the world. 

 The Honorary President is M. Milne-Edwards, Director of the National 

 Museum of Natural History; the Acting President, M. Oustalet, the Sec- 

 retary, M. de Claybrooke. and the Treasurer, Baron d'Hamonville, hold 

 corresponding posts in the Permanent International Committee. In the 

 Comite de Patronage, comprising foreign specialists adjoined to the 

 French organizing committee, there are the following American mem- 

 bers : Messrs. W. Brewster, Cambridge, Mass.; Elliott Coues, Washing- 

 ton; D. G. Elliot, Field Columbian Museum, Chicago; Clinton Hart 

 Merriam, Department of Agriculture, Washington ; Harry C. Oberholser, 

 Biological Survey, Department of Agriculture, Washington ; Robert 

 Ridgway. Smithsonian Institution, Washington; R. W. Shufeldt, Wash- 

 ington; and Dr. L. Stejneger, Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 



There will be admitted as members of the congress all delegates of 

 French and foreign governments, and those who pay the subscription fee 

 of twenty francs. Zoological societies and societies of acclimatation, avi- 

 culture, and for the protection of animals, may be represented by one or 

 more delegates, the subscription being due for each delegate. Each 

 member will receive the printed proceedings of the congress, and only 

 members will have the right of taking part in the sessions and visits 

 which are being prepared by the organizing committee. 



The work of the congress has been divided among five sections, as 

 follows : 



I. Systematic ornithology — classification; description of new genera 

 and species; nomenclature. Anatomy and embryogeny of birds. Palae- 

 ontology; classification, description of new genera and species; ancient 

 faunas, relations of extinct to present species. 



II. Geographical distribution of birds. Present faunas. Species extinct 



