308 Notes and News. [j^ 



Taxidermist at the American Museum of Natural History. He built up 

 and was at the head of the very efficient Department of Taxidermy at this 

 institution until serious ill health compelled his retirement a few months 

 since. The many fine pieces of taxidermy which he has superintended 

 or personally executed, including some sixty groups of birds and mammals, 

 will long remain a monument to his memory. His most noteworthy pieces 

 are the Bison Group (18 x 30 feet), a Woodchuck Group, a Musk rat Group 

 and an Opossum Group among mammals, and of the 54 bird groups per- 

 haps the most striking and attractive are the Robin, Louisiana Water- 

 thrush, Cliff Swallow, Mottled Owl, Ruffed Grouse, Florida Blue Heron, 

 Wood Duck (see Auk, Vol. X, pi. ii), the Labrador Duck and the Laugh- 

 ing Gull. His groups were not only original and artistic in design, but 

 were executed with the utmost care as to details, and mark an era in the his- 

 tory of taxidermy and in museum exhibits, at least for America, being antici- 

 pated in point of time only by the exhibits at the South Kensington 

 Museum in England. They are probably unexcelled in realistic effect. 



Mr. Richardson was a man of great energy, of high ambition, and amia- 

 ble traits of character, and his death will prove not only a severe loss to 

 his many friends, but to the art to which he was so enthusiastically devoted. 



As announced in the last number of 'The Auk', the unveiling of the 

 monument to the naturalist John James Audubon occured on the after- 

 noon of April 20, with appropriate addresses by Prof. Thomas Egleston, 

 in behalf of the New York Academy of Sciences and the Rev. Dr. Mor- 

 gan Dix, in behalf of the Trinity Cemetery Corporation. In the even- 

 ing at a commemorative meeting, held in the lecture hall of the Ameri- 

 can Museum of Natural History, an address on the life and scientific 

 work of Audubon was delivered before a large audience by Mr. D. G. 

 Elliot. A detailed account of the proceedings, together with a general 

 history of the enterprise, will be shortly published in the 'Transactions 

 of the New York Academy of Sciences, including the addresses in full. 



The first part of Prof. Alfred Newton's 'Dictionary of Birds,' long 

 since announced as in preparation, has just appeared, forming an octavo 

 volume of over 300 pages, with numerous illustrations. It is based upon 

 the articles contributed by him to the ninth edition of the 'Encyclopedia 

 Britannica,' but contains besides a large number of others by himself 

 and Dr. Hans Gadow, together with contributions by Mr. R. Lydekker, 

 Professor Roy and Dr. Shufeldt. The work is to consist of four parts, 

 and when completed will form a demy 8vo volume of about 1000 pages, 

 copiously illustrated. The Publishers. Messrs. Adam and Charles Black, 

 promise Part II in October. 



Mr. Frank M. Chapman, of the American Museum of Natural His- 

 tory, New York City, recently returned from his trip to the Island of 

 Trinidad, bringing witli him a large collection of birds and mammals, 

 his trip having proved eminently successful and satisfactory. The 

 scientific results will soon be published in the 'Bulletin' of the Museum. 



