Vol. X \ \ I \ / / \ 1A1 



1013 A oies ana A ews. 101 



M ■ \\ . E. Clyde Toon with two companions made a trip to James Bay 

 during the summer under the auspices of the Carnegie Museum and the 

 National Geographic Society. They left Pittsburgh, May 15 last, and 

 travelled by canoe from the terminus of the Temiskaming and Northern 

 Ontario Railway to Moose Factory. Here a small sailing vessel was se- 

 cured and the southern and eastern shores of James Bay were explored. 

 The unusual weather conditions and failure to secure suitable guides pre- 

 vented them from going farther north as they had expected. Good collec- 

 tions of birds and mammals were secured, however, and much data on dis- 

 tribution and migration. The expedition returned November 16. 



Wi; learn from Mr. Robert Hidgway that Volume VI of the Birds of 

 North and Middle America is being pushed rapidly to completion. It 

 will comprise the Picida;, Capitonida;, Kamphastidsc, Galbulidse, Bucconi- 

 dae, Alcedinida', Todidae, Momotida;, Caprimulgida\ Nyctibiidae, Strigidae, 

 Aluconida\ Psittacidae and Cuculidse. The manuscript covering the first 

 ten families is finished, except for the genus Chordeiles, while that of the 

 remaining four is partly completed. The portion relating to the Wood- 

 peckers is already in type. 



Our readers will also be glad to know that the publishers of Mr. Ridg- 

 way's long expected new 'Nomenclature of Colors' have promised some 

 copies by the first of January, 1913. 



The project of establishing wild-fowl refuges in the marsh lands of Louisi- 

 ana and Texas originated by Mr. E. A. Mcllhenny and Charles W. Ward 

 received a great impetus from the purchase of Marsh Island Louisiana, by 

 Mrs. Russell Sage, announced early in October, 1912. This tract com- 

 prises 75,000 acres and adjoins the Ward-Mcllhenny Wild Fowl Refuge, 

 and the Louisiana State Wild Fowl Refuge, which together cover (50,000 to 

 70,000 additional acres. 



Gunning on the Marsh Island tract will be absolutely prohibited and it 

 will form a permanent refuge for all kinds of wild bird life. 



'Forest and Stream' for October 12, 1912, gives a detailed account of this 

 region based upon investigations by Mr. George Bird Grinnell who visited 

 Marsh Island at the instance of Mrs. Sage prior to the purchase. 



At the last meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union, Mr. A. C. 

 Bent, who is engaged on the continuation of Major Bendire's work on the 

 'Life Histories of North American Birds' presented a 'report of progress' 

 designed to show what he had actually accomplished and also to arouse 

 more interest among the members of the Union in an undertaking which 

 can never be completed by the unaided efforts of any one man. 



For over twenty years Mr. Bent has devoted his spare time to visiting 

 various points of ornithological interest in North America for the purpose 

 of collecting the information, photographs and specimens necessary for an 

 extensive work on the breeding habits of North American birds. 



