^°lq5^^] ^<^^^^ "^'^ Ne-u's. 407 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



Edwin Sheppard, for a n amber of years an Associate of the American 

 Ornithologists' Union, died at Philadelphia, April 7, 1904, at an advanced 

 age. Mr. Sheppard was an artist and worked for many years at the 

 Academy of Natural Sciences making illustrations for various scientific 

 works. Birds were his special delight and many familiar cuts are the 

 results of his labors, as for instance the text figures in Eaird, Brewer 

 and Ridgway's ' History of North American Birds,' Mr. D. G. Elliot's 

 volumes on ' Shore Birds,' " Ducks, Geese," etc. Dr. Coues once said 

 of him that he had drawn "more and better figures of American birds 

 than any living artist," which was doubtless true at the time, but his 

 drawing, while accurate in detail, will not compare with the work of the 

 modern school, who study the live bird rather than the stuffed specimen. 



Mr. Sheppard was a native of Richmond, Va., and came north in early 

 life to study art. At the outbreak of the Rebellion he enlisted in the 

 Confederate army and at the close of the war returned to Philadelphia 

 where he resided for the rest of his life. 



He was a true type of the southern gentleman and a warm friend of 

 both the bird and the ornithologist. — W. S. 



From the Report of the Chief of the Division of the Biological Sur- 

 vey, Dr. C. Hart Merriam, for the year 1903 (Ann. Rep. Dept. of Agri- 

 culture, 1903, pp. 4S3-495) we learn that field work in connection with 

 the study of the geographic distribution of mammals, birds, and plants 

 was carried on in 1903 along the western slopes and foothills of the 

 Sierra Nevada and in the Coast Ranges in California, under the imme- 

 diate supervision of Dr. Merriam ; in various parts of Texas and New 

 Mexico, under Mr. Vernon Baily; in southern Mexico, by Messrs. Nelson 

 and Goldman ; in Alaska, under Mr. W. H. Osgood, and in the Barren 

 Grounds near the Arctic coast by Mr. E. A. Preble. In most of these 

 regions field work will be continued during 1904. Investigations in 

 Economic Ornithology were continued as usual by Prof. Beal and Dr. 

 Judd ; and the work of game protection, under Dr. Palmer, has been 

 successfully carried on, with most important results. The completion of 

 "a bibliography of works relating to the occurrence of North American 

 birds south of the United States" has been completed, and "all of the 

 migration material collected in the past nineteen years has been over- 

 hauled, rearranged, and catalogued to date, so that it is now readily 

 accessible." It is also announced that bulletins will be published during 

 1904 on 'Migration of North American Warblers,' and on 'Migration 

 and Protection of Shore Birds.' A report on a biological survey of Texas 

 is well advanced toward publication. 



Through the generosity of Mr. John E. Thayer, of Lancaster, Mass.,. 



