BULLETIN 



OF THE 



NUTTALL OENITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



Vol. I. JULY, 1876. No. 2. 



THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB.* 



In the autumn of 1871 two young ornithologists of Cam- 

 bridge formed the plan of meeting weekly to " read Audu- 

 bon," and to compare views and notes respecting various 

 ornithological questions in which all were interested. After 

 a few weeks they were joined by other "kindred spirits," 

 who continued to meet each week for the comparison of 

 notes and for study. For the first two years the meetings 

 were wholly informal. In 1873 an organization was effected, 

 under the name of the "Nuttall Ornithological Club." 

 This name was selected as being a very proper one, from the 

 fact that the "local habitation" of the Club was amid the 

 scenes made classic by Nuttall, whose home for many years 

 was here, and whose "Manual of the Ornithology of the 

 United States and of Canada" abounds in allusions to local- 

 ities within the precincts of Cambridge. A Constitution and 

 By-Laws were drawn up and adopted, under which officers 

 were duly chosen. The membership of the Club soon em- 

 braced all the younger ornithologists of the vicinity, several 

 of whom had already gathered collections numbering hun- 

 dreds, and in some cases thousands, of specimens each, and 

 who were from time to time acquiring facts of no little scien- 

 tific value. 



* The subjoined historical sketch of the Nuttall Ornithological Club 

 has been prepared for the purpose of answering some very natural questions 

 that may arise in the minds of the readers of its Bulletin, namely, What is the * 

 Nuttall Ornithological Club ? what has it done ? and what are its aims ? — Eds. 



