August, 1905.] 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



201 



The IrvternaLtionoLl 

 Ornithological Congress 



By W. 1'. I'VCRAFT. 



The Fourth International Ornitholog-ical Congress 

 ended on June i7tli, a really memorable session. The 

 standard of papers presented was a high one, and 

 though, perhaps, striking originality of thought, save 

 in one or two cases, is not conspicuous among them, yet 

 almost all show the grip of the specialist, a thing much 

 to be desired, if the specialist have the knack, which 

 many certainly do not have, of making himself intelligi- 

 ble to his fellow-workers in other fields. 



Of the President's address we can say but httle, for the 

 President himself said little, rightly remarking that this 

 could best be digested after its appearance in print. He 

 chose to divideyhis discourse between two very different 

 subjects — the history of the foundation and progress 

 of the British Museum, with especial reference to the 

 department of natural history, and of ornithology in 

 particular, and that very fascinating theme, geo- 

 graphical distribution. Though many of us were aware 

 that the nucleus of the present British Museum began 

 with the acquisition of the collection of Sir Hans Sloane, 

 probably few know that this was purchased, with Mon- 

 tagu House designed to hold the collection, by means 

 of a lottery. Yet such is the case. 



After the address came the appointment of Presidents 

 of Sections, and in the afternoon the real work of the 

 Congress began. 



Of the many papers read, a large proportion were 

 necessarily of a very technical character, yet every sec- 

 tion was well attended. 



It is curious that only two papers were read which 

 dealt with museums in regard to ornithology, and of 

 these only one was professedly devoted to this subject. 

 This was submitted by Mr. Frank B. Chapman, of the 

 American Mu-^eum of Natural History, New York. He 

 dealt with the question, " What constitutes a museum 

 collection O'f birds? " Helpful and suggestive, it was 

 rendered yet more useful by a series of beautiful lantern 

 slides, and these, it is to be hoped, will form the illus- 

 trations to his paper. In the course of his remarks, he 

 referred in terms of the highest praise to our own 

 Museum of Natural History, which, he said, he regarded 

 as the most perfect institution of its kind which he hail 

 ever seen. 



Besides this, Mr. Chapman read two other papers — 

 "A Contribution to the Life History of the American 

 Flamingo" and "A Contribution to the Life History 

 of the Brown Pelican.'" These two essays were of quite 

 remarkable interest, and were illustrated by a superb 

 collection of slides. They were, indeed, models of how 

 " bird-watching," as some would have us call observa- 

 tion of this kind, should be done. The papers of Dr. 

 Willson and Mr. Bruce on the results of their ornitho- 

 logical work in the Antarctic formed no less striking 

 proofs of what can be done in the field by men who 

 are trained to observe. Tlie testimony to the strenuous- 

 ness of the struggle for existence, indeed, has never been 

 more graphically demonstrated than by Dr. Willson on 

 this occasion. 



Dr. Dwight (New York) contributed two extremely 

 interesting papers on peculiarly difficult subjects : — 

 "The Significance of Sequence in Moults and 

 Plumages," and "Some Phases of Wear in Feathers." 

 These are subjects which promise to yield a good har- 



vest to the patient investigator, yet in this country they 

 have received but scant attention, though some of our 

 commonest native birds illustrate many of the more 

 remarkable exceptions to the general rule of moults and 

 the phases of immature dress. How many, for example, 

 of our field ornithologists could describe the phases of 

 plumage which the gannet passes through before 

 attaining maturity? 



Mr. J. L. Bonhote gave an admirable summary of the 

 experiments he is conducting on the hybridization of 

 ducks, illustrated by lantern slides. Though too com- 

 plex for the majority of his hearers to follow, when pre- 

 sented with the facts in the necessarily rapid survey he 

 was compelled to give, yet all agreed that these experi- 

 ments had yielded very substantial results. 



Bird protection very properly came in for its share of 

 attention. This very difliicult problem was discussed 

 from many points of view. Mr. Digby Piggott gave a 

 lucid summary of the ridiculous anomalies to be found m 

 our present system of legislation, while Mr. Frank 

 Lemon gave an equally helpful and thoughtful paper on 

 the " Rationale of Bird Protection," which gave rise 

 to considerable discussion. 



For the first time, we believe, in the history of the 

 Ornithological Society, "aviculture" found a place in 

 its deliberations, Mr. D. Seth-Sniith reading a most 

 useful and instructive paper on " The Importance of 

 Aviculture as an Aid tO' the Study of Ornithology." 

 This was undoubtedly a valuable contribution to a most 

 neglected subject. 



But, perhaps, the great feature of the Congress was 

 the lecture by the Hon. Walter Rothschild on " Extinct 

 and Vanishing Birds." This will long be remembered 

 as a masterly exposition of a very difficult subject, illus- 

 trated in a manner absolutely unique in the annals of 

 ornithology. 



To hear the lecture the whole Congress was conveyed, 

 by the generosity of Mr. Rothschild, by special train to 

 his museum at Tring Park. Here, in a large hall, were 

 gathered together a vast collection of birds, either 

 already extinct or fast becoming so, and these were 

 inspected after the lecture. 



Among the more remarkable of these exhibits were 

 skeletons of the Moa and .^pyornis, as well as eggs of 

 these birds, and stuffed examples of the rare Labrador 

 Duck, Black Emu of Kangaroo Island, and the starling 

 of Reunion (Fregilupus). Of the Dwarf or Black Emu 

 only two skins are known. The number of birds in 

 danger of extermination is unfortunately a large one, 

 and this was painfully evident from the number of speci- 

 mens displaved here. To make this collection more 

 perfect Mr. Rothschild enlisted the services of some of 

 our best known bird artists to prepare coloured restora- 

 tions of some of the more striking forms which he was 

 otherwise unable to illustrate. Among these we must 

 specially refer to a really wonderful restoration, in oils, 

 of the small Dinornis by'Mr. G. E. Lodge. Mr. Frohawk 

 contributed three striking pictures to this number — a 

 Moa 15 feet high, the Giant Rail Lcgiiatia, and the 

 Solitaire. 



But the end of the Congress is not yet. Though 

 officially over on Saturday, June 17th there remahi at 

 the time of writing three very important items to fulfil -- 

 the excursion to Woburn .\bbey to see the collection of 

 wild animals kept by his Grace the Duke of Bedford, the 

 visit to Cambridge, and the trip to Bridlington to visit 

 the breeding cliff's of the guillemots. With this last, the 

 most successful of the Ornithological Congresses yet 

 held will come to a close. 



