98 Palmer, Thirty-sixth Stated Meeting of the A. 0. U. [^n. 



In accordance with the recommendation of the Council the invi- 

 tation extended by the British Ornithologists' Union to the A. O. U. 

 to join in a cooperative enterprise for the preparation of a series 

 of Check Lists of the birds of the principal zoological regions of the 

 world, arranged on a uniform plan, to be known as the ' Systema 

 Avium' (see 'The Auk,' XXXV, p. 509), received favorable 

 consideration and was referred to the committee on Classification 

 and Nomenclature with power to act. 



Resolutions were adopted expressing the thanks of the Union to 

 the President and Trustees of the American Museum of Natural 

 History for the courtesies extended during the 36th meeting of 

 the Union, and also requesting the states of Oregon and California 

 through their respective Legislative and Executive branches to 

 take action to cede to the United States jurisdiction over such 

 portions of the Malheur and Klamath Lake Bird Reservations as 

 may be necessary to insure the permanent preservation of these 

 refuges by the Federal Government. 



On Tuesday afternoon, some of the officers of the Union under 

 the guidance of Dr. Grinnell visited Audubon Park in the vicinity 

 of 157th St. and Broadway and inspected the three houses where 

 Audubon and his sons, Victor and John Woodhouse Audubon, 

 lived during their later years. A visit was also paid to Trinity 

 Cemetery, only a few blocks away, where Audubon and George 

 N. Lawrence are buried. 



On the following day the Treasurer and Secretary spent several 

 hours in the library of the New York Historical Society (on 77th 

 Street, opposite the southeast corner of the American Museum), 

 examining the original drawings of Audubon's great work on the 

 'Birds of America.' This wonderful collection of drawings, 

 preserved in five large portfolios, was purchased direct from Mrs. 

 J. J. Audubon, nearly half a century ago. Apparently its existence 

 is not generally known and it seems to have been seen by com- 

 paratively few ornithologists. An examination of it either super- 

 ficially or with a reading glass will well repay any one who visits 

 the library. 



Although the omission of the public meetings with the oppor- 

 tunities for the presentation of papers and the usual social inter- 

 course proved a great disappointment to many of the members, 



