Vol. XXX 

 1913 



Shufeldt, Contributions to Avian Paleontology. 37 



which had boon collected in the same region by Professor Thomas 

 Condon of the University of Oregon, he being the first naturalist 

 who discovered and collected any of the remains of fossil birds in 

 that interesting Locality. Professor Cope's chief assistant at the 

 tima was Mr. C. H. Sternberg, now known as one of the veteran 

 fossil collectors of this country. 



Ex-Governor Whitaker of Oregon was also an early collector 

 of fossil birds at Fossil and Silver Lakes, and it was he who first 

 discovered the remains of the now extinct swan, named by Cope 

 Olor paloregonus. 



This remarkable collection, as it came into my hands, consisted 

 principally of the fossil bones of birds, as Cope had already de- 

 scribed and published the mammals, fish and other forms. 



To the birds, then, T gave especial attention, working the material 

 up in great detail and with all possible care. Later on, the results 

 of my labors were published as a quarto in the Journal of the Acad- 

 emy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1 — a paper which presents 

 what we knew of that region at the time the memoir appeared, 

 together with very full descriptions of all the genera and species of 

 birds I found in the material, of existing as well as extinct forms. 



These have, long ago, passed into the literature of the subject, 

 and are more or less known to palaeontologists everywhere. Most of 

 this work was done early in the year 1891, at a time when but com- 

 paratively few skeletons of existing birds were available, and con- 

 sequently many of the fossil species remained over, — either not 

 referred to the species they represented, or described as species now 

 extinct. 



Nevertheless, some very interesting forms were brought to light, 

 and the character of the ancient avifauna more or less clearly 

 defined. When the collection came into my possession, Professor 

 Cope had already published an account of some of the fossils of 

 birds he had found in it; for example, among the Grebes he was 

 enabled to make out from the numerous fossils such species as 

 flSdhmophorus ocddentalis, Colymbus n. californicus, and Podihjm- 

 bus podiceps. He had also described an extinct Cormorant, Phala- 

 crocorax macropus, and an extinct Swan and Goose, but had done 

 little else with the collection. 



i Vol. IX. Pis \v SVII, Phlla., Oct, 1892 



