118 Notes and News. [j^ 



the work in ornithology. Yet how discouraging it is to day by day file 

 away references to the avifauna of each State in the Union, when the 

 information thus collected with endless pains is never used! That there 

 are imperfections in our work has been inevitable; but the only way to 

 remedy these is for us to come into, closer relations with American orni- 

 thologists, whom our organization is designed to serve. 



I wish to lay this matter before the A. O. U. with the hope that a means 

 may be found for securing the support of the Union and its members. 

 It would be especially pleasing if the A. O. U. could appoint a committee 

 to cooperate in making our work more serviceable. 



Respectfully, 



Herbert Haviland Field. 



[It may be added, for the information of our readers, that the American 

 Museum of Natural History, of New York, is a volunteer agency for the 

 distribution of the cards of the Concilium, through which institution they 

 may be ordered. As the cards are held in stock, orders can be filled 

 without delay. They may also be ordered through Edward S. Field, 

 427 Broadway, New York City. — Edd.] 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



William Thomas Blanford, an Honorary Fellow of the American 

 Ornithologists' Union, died at his residence in Bedford Gardens, Campden 

 Hill, London, on June 23, 1905, at the age of 72 years. Dr. Blanford 

 was an eminent worker in other fields of scientific research as well as in 

 ornithology. His explorations in Abyssinia, Persia, the Peninsula of 

 India, the Himalaya, and other portions of Central Asia, as a geologist, 

 a physical geographer, and zoologist, gave him a wide range of experience, 

 which fitted him to deal authoritatively with the problems of zoogeog- 

 raphy, to which subject he made important contributions, especially as 

 to the faunal subdivisions of the Oriental Region. He published many 

 papers on mammals, reptiles, and mollusks, as well as on birds. He was 

 employed for many years on the Geological Survey of India, to which he 

 was appointed in 1855, and from which he retired in 1882. 



His ornithological papers relate mainly to the birds of India, and were 

 published at intervals from 1867 to 1894; he was also the author of two 

 of the bird volumes (Vols. Ill and IV) of the ' Fauna of British India ' 

 (of which seventeen volumes have appeared), of which great work he was 

 the editor. Among his other principal works are: 'Observations on the 

 Geology and Zoology of Abyssinia' (1870; birds pp. 285-443); 'Eastern 

 Persia: an Account of the Journeys of the Persian Boundary Commission, 

 1870-72' (birds, pp. 98-304); 'The Distribution of Vertebrate Animals 



