Vo iSP 1 ] Notes and Ney}S - 453 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



William H. Brownson, an Associate of the American Ornithologists' 

 Union, died at his home in South Portland, Maine, September 6, 1909, 

 after many weeks of illness, in the 55th year of his age, he having been 

 born in Norridgewock, Maine, November 5, 1854. His father was the 

 Rev. S. S. Brownson, a prominent Baptist clergyman, and a Scotchman 

 by birth. Mr. Brownson, the subject of this sketch, was graduated from 

 Colby University in 1877, and early directed his attention to journalism, 

 and was for a long period connected with the Portland ' Advertiser,' holding 

 the position of city editor for twenty-five years. He was also for many 

 years a member of the school board of Portland, and in 1905 became super- 

 intendent of its schools, which position he held at the time of his death. 



Mr. Brownson was actively interested in ornithology, a recognized 

 authority on the local bird fauna of his region, and for some years editor 

 of the 'Journal' of the Maine Ornithological Society, to which he was a 

 prominent contributor. He also published popular articles on the birds 

 of New England in the Portland 'Advertiser,' and frequently gave illus- 

 trated lectures on this subject before the Portland Society of Natural 

 History and the Maine Ornithological Society. His loss will be severely 

 felt, not only by these societies, in which he was prominently active, but 

 by the city of Portland whose educational interests he efficiently promoted 

 for many years. 



The new edition of the A. O. U. Check-List of North American Birds, 

 which has been so long in preparation, is now in press, and its early 

 publication may be expected. 



As is doubtless known to many of our readers, the New York State 

 Museum will soon publish a work on the Birds of the State of New York, 

 by Professor E. Howard Eaton, who has for some years been engaged in its 

 preparation. It will be in two volumes quarto, with numerous colored 

 plates and texts cuts. Volume I is announced as nearly ready for delivery; 

 it will comprise over 300 pages of text and 42 colored plates; in addition 

 to the generalities of the subject, it will include the species in systematic 

 sequence from the Grebes to the end of the Pigeons. 



Mr. Wilfred H. Osgood has resigned from the scientific staff of the 

 Biological Survey to accept the position of Assistant Curator of Mammalogy 

 and Ornithology at the Field Museum, Chicago. He entered upon his 

 new duties July 1, 1909. We trust that this will bring to him enlarged 

 opportunities for technical work in zoology, for which he has shown such 

 marked ability during his connection with the Biological Survey. 



Mr. Roy C. Andrews, Assistant in Mammalogy at the American Muse- 

 um of Natural History, New York, is on his way to the Philippines to 



