Vol.XXVIIln v , rni 



1911 J /Votes ana News. 0Z1 



Landing at Cristobal in the Canal Zone, December 28, I proceeded to 

 Cnlebra, the administrative headquarters for the construction of the 

 Panama Canal. The survey received the active assistance of the Isthmian 

 Canal Commission, and through the courtesy of the Chairman I was 

 assigned comfortable quarters at Gatun. This point was at once chosen 

 as the most favorable base for work in the Gatun Lake area, in which it 

 seemed especially important to secure representative natural history col- 

 lections before further biological changes incident to the canal construction 

 had taken place. From this convenient base, where my Costa Rican 

 assistant usually remained to prepare specimens, daily excursions were 

 made into the surrounding country, or to more distant points along the 

 line of the Panama Railroad. The Chagres River and some of its tribu- 

 taries were explored by canoe, and in March an overland trip was made 

 from the Pacific coast into the mountains near the headwaters of the 

 river. The latter part of May and part of June were spent at Porto 

 Bello, on the north coast, and in the mountains near. 



"The field work of the season resulted in a collection of nearly 2500 

 birds and mammals, and other material for use in a general report on the 

 fauna of the region. 



"Other members of the survey — Dr. S. E. Meek, Mr. S. F. Hildebrand, 

 Dr. E. A. Schwartz, Mr. August Busck and Mr. W. R. Maxon — have also 

 returned and report good success in their respective branches of the work. 

 Mr. Henry Pittier expects to continue botanical work in the field until 

 about the first of December." 



/ 



The British Ornithologists' Union Expedition to New Guinea has been 

 given up, owing to the impossibility of reaching the snowfields by the 

 supposed most advantageous route, and the exploring party has returned 

 to England. Its collection of 2300 skins of New Guinea birds has reached 

 the South Kensington Museum, together with 200 bird skins collected in 

 Borneo and about 450 obtained in Ceram. 



According to a recent announcement in 'The Emu' -(X, Dec, 1910, 

 p. 155) the name of the Australasian Ornithologists' Union has been 

 changed, to Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union, thus obviating any 

 possible confusion in the use of the initials "A. O. U." for two organiza- 

 tions of similar character, one in North America, the other in Australia. 



We learn from 'The Ibis' (July, 1911, p. 580) that Lord Bradbourne 

 and Mr. Charles Chubb, of the Zoological Department of the British 

 Museum, have undertaken the preparation of a new work on the Birds 

 of South America. "When completed it will consist of sixteen volumes 

 of quarto size illustrated by coloured plates drawn by Gronvold. The 

 first volume will contain a List of the Birds of South America. This is 

 well advanced. Volume II, containing the first portion of the general 



