242 Notes and Ne-ws. \j^^ 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



Thomas jSIcIlwraith, a Fellow and one of the Founders of the Amer- 

 ican Ornithologist's Union, died at his home in Hamilton, Ontario, on 

 January 31, 1903, in his 79th year. He was born in Newton, Ayr, Scot- 

 land, 25th of December, 1824, and in 1853 settled in Hamilton, Ontario, 

 where he became a prominent and successful business man, retiring from 

 active business about ten years ago. From early boyhood he was an 

 ai^dent lover of nature and later became especially interested in birds. 

 As early as i860 he had become a local authority on the birds occurring 

 about Hamilton, notices of which he published in the ' Canadian Natu- 

 ralist ' in i860 and 1861 (Vol. V, pp. 387-396, and Vol. VI, pp. 6-18, 129- 

 198). 



In 1S66 appeared his carefully annotated ' List of Birds observed near 

 Hamilton, Canada West' (Proc. Essex Institute, V, 1886, pp. 79-96), 

 numbering 241 species. This brought him prominently to the notice of 

 the leading American ornithologists, with a number of whom he main- 

 tained for many years a very active correspondence. In 1886 appeared 

 ^js 'The Birds of Ontario, being a list of Birds observed in the Province 

 of Ontario, with an Account of their Habits, Distribution, Nests, Eggs, 

 etc.,' an octavo volume of about 300 pages. A second edition, entirely 

 rewritten and greatly enlarged, including descriptions of the species, was 

 published in 1894, forming an excellent and greatly appreciated manual 

 of the Birds of Ontario. 



In 1883 Mr. Mcllwraith was invited to the meeting of the leading Amer- 

 ican ornithologists, held in New York City, which resulted in the founding 

 of the American Ornithologist's Union. He was made a member of the 

 Committee on Bird Migration, and the work of the District of Ontario 

 was assigned to him for supervision. In 1889 he was elected a member 

 of the Council, which office he held for one year. He had gathered a 

 large collection of Canadian and British birds, many of which he had 

 mounted. He was warmly esteemed in the community in which he lived, 

 and left a wide circle of friends among the members of the A. O. U., by 

 whom he has long been held in high respect. 



John Nathaniel Clark, a Member of the American Ornithologists' 

 Union, died at his home in Saybrook, Conn., Jan. 13, 1903, at the age of 

 72 years. He was born in Saybrook Jan. 14, 1831, and was a descendant 

 of John Clark of England, who settled at Saybrook Point in 1636. He 

 was widely known and greatly respected, and had long taken a prominent 

 part in the affairs of his native town, having for sixteen years held the 

 office of probate judge, besides filling other public offices with credit and 



