V i8q* 1 Dutcher, Rare Long Island Birds,. 260 



the late John G. Bell of New York as to who would get the 

 rarities, and many an early morning visit was made to the market 

 by each in hopes that he would be the first to find and secure 

 some new and strange specimen. Another channel through 

 which many birds came to Mr. Akhurst was by a travelling 

 marketman known as 'Old Jake' who twice per week travelled 

 with a horse and wagon from Babylon to Brooklyn, a distance of 

 forty miles, and brought to the city, for sale, game, poultry, 

 eggs, and other country produce. Knowing that he could 

 always find a market for rare or uncommon birds with Mr. 

 Akhurst, he brought to him all he secured during his semi- 

 weekly trips along the South Shore. Local gunners, of whom 

 there were many in Brooklyn, brought to Mr. Akhurst rarities 

 for identification, sale, or mounting. While it is difficult at this 

 late date to establish full data for each specimen in the collection, 

 yet, from the notebooks of Col. Pike and Mr. Akhurst's knowl- 

 edge of the specimens, can be established the fact that all those 

 annotated hereafter are from Long Island, and in many cases the 

 exact locality and date of capture can be given. A few specimens 

 have been contributed by other individuals whose names will 

 appear in connection with the species. In this connection it is 

 but just to state that the addition of a branch of natural history to 

 the objects of the Historical Society originated entirely with Mr. 

 Elias Lewis, Jr., and it is due to his untiring and devoted labor that 

 this collection has attained its present size. Since its foundation he 

 has been the honorary curator of the collection, and it is due to his 

 care that it has been preserved in its present excellent condition. 

 There are many gaps yet to be filled in the collection before it 

 will be a complete, representation of the avifauna of Long Island. 

 These gaps can be filled with little difficulty, provided the neces- 

 sary means are furnished the curator. It is to be hoped that 

 civic pride will lead some individual in Brooklyn to complete 

 the work that has been so admirably commenced by Mr. Lewis. 

 The arrangement and nomenclature of the collection follows Mr. 

 George N. Lawrence's list, published in 1S66, but it will be re- 

 arranged and re-labelled according to the order and nomenclature 

 of the American Ornithologists' Union Check-List (1SS6 ed.) by 

 the writer before the close of the present year. In the following 

 annotations no mention of the commoner species will be made, 



