Lge 8 SS aia 
REVIEW OF FORMER PUBLICATIONS ON RHODE 
ISLAND BIRDS, AND OF STATE COLLECTIONS, 
RHODE IsLAND, though adjoining Massachusetts, a State whose 
avi-fauna has had long and careful study, is remarkable in that 
it has had but few ornithologists, and but little ever published in 
regard to its birds. 
The first publication that appeared on the birds for any portion 
of the State was in 1884 when Dr. William C. Rives, M. A., pub- 
lished a short paper, entitled “The Birds of Newport,” in the 
Proceedings of the Newport Natural History Society, 1883-4, 
page 28. This paper was one of Dr. Rives’ first pieces of ornitho- 
logical work, and cannot be compared with his admirable work, 
“ A Catalogue of the Birds of the Virginias.” The paper is of a 
purely popular nature, mentioning some ninety-seven species. 
It is annotated only in a casual way and contains little of 
scientific value. In the same Proceedings of the Newport Society, 
page 42, there is a bare “ List of Birds Shot Near Newport,” by 
Col. John Hare Powel, unannotated. Col. Powel though an old, 
well known sportsman in Rhode Island, does not pose as an orni- 
thologist, and does not attempt to establish records upon his own 
identification. In 1888, Mr. J. M. Southwick published a paper, 
entitled ‘“‘Our Birds of Rhode Island,” in the Proceedings of the 
Newport Natural History Society, 1887-8, page 3, of very much 
the same character as Dr. Rives’. It contains, however, more of 
value in regard to Rhode Island birds, perhaps the most of any 
of the few existing papers. The paper speaks of some one 
hundred and one species in detail, and Mr. Southwick states that 
he could then report the ‘‘capture of at least two-hundred and 
thirty species.’”’ In this same Proceedings there is a paper by 
Mr. Charles H. Lawton called, ‘‘The Water Birds of Newport,” 
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