122 JVotes and JVews. [January. 



follows: All of the proposed amendments to Article I were rejected 

 Article II, Section 3, was amended to read as follows: 



Article //, Section j. The Secretary shall keep a record of the meet- 

 injjs of the Union and Council ; shall give at least three weeks' notice to 

 Active and Associate Members of the time and place of meetings; shall 

 report to the Council all nominations for membership received by him ; 

 and shall send to each Active Member, at least three weeks before each 

 stated meeting, a list of the nominees for Active Membership, with a state- 

 ment of the residence of each nominee and the names of the Active 

 Members signing his nomination ; and also notify them of all proposed 

 changes in the By-Laws; shall notify Members-elect of their election 

 and Committees of their appointment ; shall acknowledge all donations 

 to the Union, and report the same at the next Stated Meeting; and he 

 shall have charge of the Corporate Seal of the Union. 



The amendment to Article III, Section 3, making five members of the 

 Council a quorum for the transaction of business, was adopted. 



The amendment to Article IV, Section 2, was rejected. 



Article IV, Section 3, was amended in the second paragraph to read as 

 follows : 



In the ballots for Vice-Presidents and for members of the Council each 

 voter may write on one ballot as many names as there are officers to be 

 elected, viz: two on the first ballot for Vice-Presidents and seven on. the 

 first ballot for members of the Council; and on each subsequent ballot as 

 many names as there are persons yet to be elected; and those persons 

 who receive the votes of a majority of the members voting shall be de- 

 clared elected, provided that the number of persons receiving such ma- 

 jority does not exceed the number of persons to be elected, in which case 

 the vacancies shall be filled by the candidates receiving the highest 

 majorities. 



The amendments to Article IV, Section 4, were amended and referred 

 to the next Congress for final action. 



The amendment to Article IV, Section S, was rejected. 



The amendments to Article VIII were amended and referred to the 

 next Congress for final action. 



Rule VIII of the By-Laws and Rules was amended to read as fol- 

 lows : 



Rule VIII. The printing for the Union shall be under the direction of 

 the President, the Secretary, the Editor of 'The Auk', and four other mem- 

 bers of the Council, and these seven shall constitute a Committee of Pub- 

 lication. 



Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Chief of the Division of Ornithology and 

 Mammalogy of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, will this year make 

 a detailed biological survey of one of the least known, most interesting 

 and inaccessible regions of the United States. On Jan. 1, 1S91, a party 

 under the leadership of Mr. T. S. Palmer, began an exj)loration of that 

 particular portion of the desert region of southeastern California known 

 as Death Valley, which can be entered only in the winter season, and 



