1S92.I Niuih Co//oress of the. A. O. tj. i^ 7 



and ninety-six new members were added to the list of Associates. 

 After considerable discussion it was voted not to elect any Active 

 Members this year. On the motion for the election of officers a 

 letter was read from Mr. Robert Ridgway, in which he declined 

 to be a candidate for Vice-president. The officers elected were 

 D. G. Elliot, President; Wm. Brewster and H. W. Henshaw, 

 Vice-presidents; John H. Sage, Secretary; Wm, Dutcher, 

 Treasurer. The vacancies in the Council, occasioned by the 

 above election and the death of Col. Goss, were filled by the 

 selection of R. Ridgway and C. F. Batchelder. 



On call for reports of Standing Committees, Dr. Merriam oh 

 behalf of the Committee on Bird Measurements reported progress 

 and asked for the continuance of the Committee, wliich was 

 granted. Mr. G. 13. Sennett, chairman of the Committee on Bird 

 Protection, reported progress, and Mr. Brewster stated what had 

 been done to protect the Terns on Muskeget Island during the 

 past four years. Mr. Dutcher on behalf of the Committee for 

 the Audubon Monument Fund, reported progress, and the com- 

 mittee was continued. No formal report was received from the 

 Committee on Avian Anatomy and the Committee was continued. 

 ' Tlie Amendments to the By-laws proposed at the Eighth 

 Congress were then all adopted, and new amendments were re- 

 ferred to the next Congress. The Council subsequently provided 

 for the publication of a new edition of the By-Laws and Rules, 

 as revised to date. 



Rule X of the By-Laws and Rules, relating to the Committee 

 on Publications, was amended so as to make this Committee 

 consist of the President, Secretary, Treasurer, and the Editors of 

 'The Auk,' ex officio. By a subsequent vote of the Union this 

 Committee was relieved of the duty, formerly assigned it, of also 

 acting as a Committee on the Nomenclature and Classification of 

 North American Birds, in reference to the annual supplements 

 to the Check-List, and a new Committee for this especial purpose 

 was appointed, consisting of the following nine persons: Messrs. 

 Allen, Brewster, Chapman, Cory, Coues, Elliot, Henshaw, Mer- 

 riam, and Ridgway. 



The rest of the session was devoted to the reading of scientific 

 papers, of which the following is a list. 



I. The Inheritance of Acquired Characters. President's Address. D. 

 G. Elliot. 



S 



