The Ornithological Writings of Dr. J. G. Cooper. 



BY JOSEPH GRIN NELL. 



IN the present paper I have listed all the ornitholog- 

 ical writings of the late Dr. Cooper known to me. 



These number twenty-six. It will be noted that the 

 majority were printed bet ween 1860 and 1880. While 

 the number of Cooper's titles was not great, his articles 

 thus appeared at a time when much less was written on 

 birds than now, and when much of the subject-matter 

 we might now regard as commonplace was new informa- 

 tion altogether. As all but two of his publications per- 

 tained at least in part to the birds of California we of 

 the Cooper Ornithological Club owe much to Dr. Cooper 

 as being a pioneer in our line of study. Perhaps his 

 best known work is his "Ornithology of California" 

 which is a desideratum of every working bird-student. 

 Aside from his signed articles, Cooper furnished materi- 

 al, in the way of specimens and manuscript notes, 

 which was used by Baird in 1858 and 1864, and especi- 

 ally by Baird, Brewer and Ridgway in their colossal 

 "History of North American Birds," 1874 and 1884. 



Birds which have been named in honor of Dr. J. G. 

 Cooper are Buteo cooperi CASSIN (status now in doubt), 

 Podiceps cooperi LAWRENCE (=Colymbus holbcelli), Pyran- 

 ga cooperi RIDGWAY (=Piranga rubra cooperi) and Melo- 

 spiza fascia fa cooperi RIDGWAY. 



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