1G8 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 10-No. 11 



THE 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



— A^'D — 



O()L0GIST. 



.1 MOyrilLY MAUAXISE OF 



NATURAL HISTORY, 



ESPECIALLY DEVOTED TO TUE STUDY OF 



BIRDS, 



THEIR yEHru AXU EGGS. 



DEdlUNED AS A MEANS FtUt TUE INTERCIIANUE OF NOTES 

 AND OBSERVATIONS ON BIKD LIFE. 



FRANK B. WEBSTER, Publisher, 



I'AWTICKET, K. I. 



Editor's Notes. 



The annual meeting of tlie American Or- 

 nithologists' Union will be held in New 

 York, eoinniencing Tuesday, November 17. 

 The place of meeting will be the American 

 Museum of Natural Histor\', 77th Street 

 and 8th Avenue. It is expected that, in 

 addition to the usual routine business of 

 such an occasion, a good list of scientific 

 l^apers will be presented, and that the 

 meeting will be fully attended. 



The A. O. U. Committee on the Classifi- 

 cation and Nomenclature of North Ameri 

 can Birds announce the early publication 

 of their report. It is to consist of two 

 parts, of which Part I is "the New Code of 

 Nomenclature adojjted by the Union" : and 

 Part II a "Classified List of North Ameri- 

 can Birds, giving the names of the higher 

 groups, as well as of the species and sub- 

 species, from subgenera to orders." A 

 concordance is also given of the previous 

 Check Lists, and a brief statement of the 

 geographical distribution of each species 

 and subspecies, with special reference to 

 its North American range. The work is 

 the result of the expenditure of much time 

 and research by the Committee. 



The Publisher announces that after this 

 number the Ornithologist and Oolo(/ist 



will only be sent to those whose subscrip- 

 tions for the current year have been paid. 

 He continued the list of the previous year 

 thinking that doing so would be a conven- 

 ience to many and that payment would be 

 made diu'ing the year. If this had been 

 done, the Magazine would have paid its ex- 

 penses. Looking over our list we find that 

 fully one quarter of our subscribers are in- 

 debted to us for the current year's sub- 

 scription. The oiSce of publication will be 

 removed to Boston after issue of the De- 

 cember number, which will be accompanied 

 bv an Index for the Volume. 



The Little Yellow Rail, {Porzana none- 

 lioracensis^) in Kansas. 



1!V I'KOF. I.. I.. DYCIIli, L.VWKHKCE, KANSAS. 



On Uie iJSlli of last April, wliilu bunting for 

 water birds .about four miles soulheast of the 

 Stale University, Lawrence, Kans., my clog oame 

 to a stand in the high grass and weeds which 

 stood in a marsh. 1 tramped and kicked through 

 the water and entangled vegetation, butcould not 

 flush a bird. The dog per.sisled in his point until 

 I had proceeded several yards, when he thrust 

 Ills nose into the grass and water and then came 

 running to me with something in his mouth, lie 

 placed a small bird in my hand, which at first 

 sight resembled a young chicken. It proved to 

 be a Little Yellow Rail, (Punatui nonbuntceHsis,) 

 the first specimen of llie species ever found in 

 this State. 



Later, while tramping through a grassj' meadow 

 aljout two and a half miles south of town, Oct. 

 1st, my dog ".Joe" caught .and brought to me 

 another specimen ot this Kail. It was taken in a 

 wild or natural meadow, where the grass (the 

 second growth this year) was fresh and green, and 

 about a foot in height. The ground was moist, 

 but nut at all like a marsh. 



To my knowledge these are the only specimens 

 of this species ever taken in this Stale. I have 

 them mounted in the State L'^niversity Museum. 



Jly experience woidd lead me to think that this 

 species is not so rare in the State, as it is hard to 

 find. Keither of the .specimens which I have se- 

 cured would flush, and it was only by the assist- 

 ance of my ever faithful dog ".Joe," that I was 

 made acquainted with their presence. 



