102 Thomas Mayo Brewer. 



547c. Larus cachinnans, Pali 



547d. Larus affiuis, Reinh. 



549a. Larus canus, L. According to recent determinations, these 

 three species are to be added to my list. The first two have been decided 

 to be distinct species, and the third, well known in Europe, has been dis- 

 covered among my Labrador collections of 1860. 



626. AUe nigricans, Lmk. See Bull. Nutt. Ornith. Club, IV, Oct., 

 1879, p 244. 



THOMAS MAYTO BREWER. 



Dr. Thomas Mayo Brewer, so well known as an ornithologist, 

 died after a short illness at his residence in Boston, January 23, 

 1880. He was born in Boston, November 21, 1814, graduated at 

 Harvard College in 183.5, and three years later took the degree 

 of M. D. at the Harvard Medical School. He entered immediately 

 upon the practice of his' profession, and was for some years dis- 

 pensary physician for the " North End " section of his native city. 

 His tastes were, however, strongly in other directions. As early as 

 1837 he published a noteworthy paper entitled "Some Additions 

 to the Catalogue of the Birds of Massachusetts in Prof. Hitchcock's 

 Report, etc.," these additions increasing by one fourth the list of 

 the birds then known as inhabitants of this State. His interest in 

 ornithology began, however, at a much earlier date, since he was a 

 friend and associate of Nuttall and Audubon, the latter of whom 

 frequently speaks, in his great work on North American birds, of 

 his indebtedness to his young friend, Mr. T. M. Brewer, for informa- 

 tion and for rare specimens of birds. General politics occupied a 

 large share of his attention, and his predilection in that direction 

 was so strong that he soon abandoned the practice of medicine and 

 accepted an editorial position on the " Boston Atlas," a leading 

 Whig paper of the period, to which he had been previously a fre- 

 quent contributor. He was not only a vigorous and bold writer, 

 but his sagacity and soundness of judgment gave him much influ- 

 ence with the leaders of the Whig party. The editorial letters from 

 Washington, daily sent by him to his paper during several winters 

 spent at the capital, have been referred to as furnishing the most 

 reliable transcript of passing events that were to be found in the 



