39 



EEGULAR MEETING, MONDAY, JAN. 6, 1879. 



MEETING this evening. In the absence of the PRESI- 

 DENT, Dr. GEORGE A. PERKINS was requested to preside. 

 The records of last meeting were read by the Secretary. 

 Donations and correspondence announced. 



Mr. FREDERICK A. OBER, of Beverly, occupied the 

 evening with a paper on his ornithological explorations in 

 the Lesser Antilles. He gave a most interesting account 

 of his work on the Islands, and as a result of his explo- 

 rations discovered eighteen new variations and species of 

 birds. His remarks were illustrated with twenty-three 

 photographic views, thrown on the screen by the kind- 

 ness of Mr. J. W. Moulton. 



The following is an abstract of the paper : 



Ornithological Explorations of the Lesser Antilles. 



BY FREDERICK A. OBER. 



LEAVING New York in December, 1876, I proceeded 

 to Martinique in the centre of the chain of the Lesser 

 Antilles; thence to Dominica, in lat. 15 north, to com- 

 mence my investigations into the fauna of the Caribbee 

 islands. The undertaking was under the auspices of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, and for the purpose of filling a 

 gap in the ornithological data of the West Indies. 



Dominica, like all the islands, with few exceptions, of 

 the chain, is of volcanic origin and very mountainous. 

 It contains the highest mountain south of Jamaica (in the 

 Antilles), "Morne Diablotin" being above 5,000 feet in 

 height. As in the other islands, also, there are three 



