ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 8-No. 1 



The Linnaean Society, 



The Liunaean Society was founded March 

 7, 1878, in New York City, by the follow- 

 ing named gentlemen : H. B. Bailey, Frank- 

 lin Benner, Eugene P. Bicknell, John Bur- 

 roughs, Harold Herrick, Dr. Frederick H. 

 Hoadley, Ernest Ingersoll, Newbold T. 

 Lawrence, C. Hart Merriam, M. D., Wil- 

 liam C. Osborn. The original officers were : 

 C. Hart Merriam, M. D., Pres. : Harold 

 Herrick, Vice-Pres. ; Ernest Ingersoll. Sec. ; 

 H. B. Bailey, Cor. Sec. and Treas. The 

 officers for the present year are : Eugene 

 P. Bicknell, Pres. ; H. B. Bailey, Vice-Pres.: 

 L. S. Foster, Eecording Sec. ; Newbold T. 

 Lawrence, Cor. Sec. and Treas. Eugene 

 P. Bicknell, C. Hart Meriiam. M. D., and 

 Newbold T. Lawrence are the present Com- 

 mittee on Publications. 



The Society have just issued their first 

 volume of Transactions which is a large 

 octavo volume of 168 pages, wide margin, 

 heavy book paper, tinted. The frontispiece 

 is a finely engraved portrait of Linnaeus, 

 after an old engraving in the possession of 

 Mr. L. S. Foster, by whom it was contribu- 

 ted. 



The Society is to be congratulated on 

 having Mr. L. S. Foster among its mem- 

 bers, for he has given us a volume of Trans- 

 actions that excel those issued by any pre- 

 vious society, and has proved by this vol- 

 ume that he is an " artist in the art pre- 

 servative of all arts." May the present 

 high standard of the society be always 

 maintained. 



The volume before us contains three pa- 

 pers, as follows: First — The vertebrates 

 of the Adirondack region, by Clinton Hart 

 Merriam, M. D. ; Second — Is not the Fish 

 Crow, ( Corvus ossifragiis, Wilson) a Winter 

 as well as a Summer resident at the North- 

 ei-n limit of its range? by William Dutcher : 

 Third — A Keview of the Summer Birds of 

 a part of the Catskill Mountains, with prefa- 

 tory remarks on the Faunal and Floral Fea- 

 tures of the Region, by Eugene Pintard 



Bicknell. These papers have been pre- 

 pared with great care and are intended to 

 be widely read. There is not a line that 

 the boy Naturalist cannot understand and 

 appreciate as well as the advanced Scien- 

 tist. The Society have wisely put a price on 

 the work so that all can secure a copy. 



Price in paper covers, $2, in cloth bind- 

 ing, |3. OwY foreign readers can secure 

 copies from W. Wesley, 28 Essex-street, 



Strand, London, England. 



♦ 



Brief Newsy Notes. 



Canada Buntings. — W. W. Coe, Portland, 

 Conn., reports, Nov. 14th, first flock of 

 Buntings. Two were shot. 



White Heron {Herodias alba er/retta,) 

 shot at Saybrook, Conn., Aug. 11, 1882, by 

 Mr. J. R. Chalker, and is now in my cabi- 

 inet. — fTno. II. Sage, Portland, Co mi. 



Snowy Owl shot at Portland, Conn., 

 about Nov. 18th and kept alive for some 

 time. It was almost white. — J. H. Sage., 

 Portland, Conn. 



Albino. — I have this Fall succeeded in 

 taking in good plumage a beautiful snow 

 white Hawk, Bateo hore.alis albino, fe- 

 male, average size. A few feathers on back 

 of head are tipped with brown. Has nested 

 in an adjoining town for four years. None 

 of the young exhibited any traces of albi- 

 nism. Are there many cases of albinism 

 with this species or with raptores in gen- 

 eral ? Of course I have spared no pains to 

 make a first class specimen, and he is a 

 beauty — Geo. 31. Marchres, Albany, Vt. 



P. S. — Our Northern birds are coming 

 early this Winter. The Red-polls, Pine- 

 finch, Pine Grosbeaks, have been with us 

 about two weeks. 



Wood Thrushes. — In my article on 

 Wood Thrushes in O. and O. for Novem- 

 ber, the printer omitted a few words that 

 would have given the reader a more sensi- 

 ble statement. The sentence "I visited 

 the nest the next day," should have read 

 "I visited the nest of the Wood Thrush 

 the next day," &c. — Chas. Edw. Prior. 



