350 Notes and News. [o" t k 



benefit. Not alone would children learn to know something of the 

 interest and pleasure attached to study of birds, and of their economic 

 value, but they would be brought in touch with nature in a manner which 

 could not fail to arouse their best instincts. 



The matter is very forcibly put in a letter from the Hon. J. Sterling 

 Morton, Secretary of Agriculture. He writes : "... the study of birds 

 tends to develop some of the best attributes and impulses of our natures. 

 Among them Ave find examples of generosity, unselfish devotion, of the 

 love of mother for offspring and other estimable qualities. Their 

 industry, patience, and ingenuity excite our admiration ; their songs 

 inspire us with a love of music and poetry; their beautiful plumages and 

 graceful manners appeal to our esthetic sense; their long migrations to 

 distant lands stimulate our imaginations and tempt us to inquire into the 

 causes of these periodic movements, and finally, the endless modifications 

 of form and habits by which they are enabled to live under most diverse 

 conditions of food and climate — on land and at sea — invite the student 

 of nature into inexhaustible fields of pleasurable research." 



Mr. James M. Southwick, well-known as a commercial naturalist, 

 has recently been appointed Curator of the Museum of Natural History, 

 lately established by the authorities of the city of Providence R. I., in 

 Roger Williams Park. A building has been erected at a cost of $40,000, 

 a portion of which will be devoted to museum purposes, as required. 



It is Mr. Southw ick's intention to make the collections under his care 

 instructive, as well as attractive and popular. To this end he will devote 

 especial efforts to securing representative collections of the local fauna 

 ami later to the formation of small loan collections which can be used bv 

 teachers in their class-rooms. Much valuable material is already avail- 

 able for general exhibition. 



The first number of 'The Osprey. an Illustrated Monthly Magazine 

 of Ornithologv,' bears date September, 1896. It is a royal octavo of 16 

 pages, tastefully arranged and well printed, with numerous photographic 

 illustrations, including a full-page half-tone plate of the nest of the 

 Ferrugineous Rough-legged Buzzard, with papers by well-known ornithol- 

 ogists. There is doubtless plenty of room for a journal like ' The 

 Osprev,' and we trust it will meet with the cordial support its opening 

 number so well merits. It is edited by Walter A. Johnson and Dr. A. C. 

 Murchison, with the office of publication at 217 Main Street, Galesburg, 

 111. 



The German Zoological Society has undertaken the gigantic task 

 of publishing a svstematic work on zoology, under the title ' Das Tier- 

 reich. Eine Zusammenstellung und Kennzeichnung der rezenten Tier- 

 for men.' This immense work, it is thought, will require nearly one hum- 



