4 Notes and News. | January 
The members of the Committee are requested to send in their answers 
to these proposals, and also to submit others for discussion, to either the 
President or Secretary not later than the end of February of this year. 
The course of the official representatives of the Committee in bringing 
forward these important questions for consideration at the next Inter- 
national Congress is certainly commendable, and likely to yield impor- 
tant results. 
THE question of the adoption of the metric system in ornithology, 
mentioned above, was discussed by the Council of the A. O. U. at the 
meeting recently held in Washington, and the matter of its adoption in 
‘The Auk,’ was referred to the Committee on Publications. It was here 
again discussed at length, but the motion to adopt. was finally lost, much 
to the surprise of some of the members advocating it. It would seem, 
however, that a reform of such evident desirability, must sooner or later 
meet with general favor. 
In the April number of ‘The Auk’ (Vol. V, p. 224) reference was made 
to various ornithological expeditions sent by Messrs. Godman, Brewster, 
and Sennett to different parts of Mexico. The collectors there mentioned 
have nearly all returned, and have had in the main excellent success 
‘Mr. M. A. Frazar has just reached the United States after an absence of 
two years, spent, in the interest of Mr. Brewster, in Lower California and 
Northwestern Mexico, his explorations extending eastward as far as 
Chihuahua. The amount of ornithological material gathered by him 
during this period, it may be safely said, greatly exceeds that collected by 
any other single pair of hands during an equal length of time, and must 
afford the basis for a very important contribution to our knowledge of 
these portions of Mexico. a 
Further southward Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Smith have been collecting for 
Mr. Godman, in the States of Guerrero and Tobasco, part of their time 
only, however, being devoted to birds. But several thousand skins of 
birds are included in their rich harvest, many of them collected in the 
higher mountainous parts of the State of Guerrero. Mr. Godman has 
also had Mr. William Lloyd at work in the State of Chihuahua, and 
Mr. W. B. Richardson in the States of San Luis Potosi and Tamau- 
lipas. 
Messrs. Priour and Grover have also sent large collections to Mr. Sen- 
nett from the States of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon. Thus large portions 
of the Republic of Mexico have been visited during the past year by able 
and well-trained collectors, the results of whose labors must yield many 
novelties and much detailed information respecting Mexican ornithology. 
Mr. Cory, it may be added, is still continuing his work in the West 
Indies. One of his collectors, Mr. E. B. Gallinger, however, unfortunate- 
ly fell a victim to yellow fever before fairly entering upon his explorations. 
Mr. and Mrs. Smith, we understand, are to sail soon for the island of 
St. Vincent, being under an engagement to thoroughly explore first the 
fauna of this island, and later that of other islands, for Mr. Godman. 
