786 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. II. No. 50. 



had been taken in 1895 as in 1894 regard- 

 ing the protection of terns on Great Gull 

 Island, New York. A game warden had 

 been employed, several of the natural his- 

 tory societies in New York City contribu- 

 ting toward the payment of his salary. Ab- 

 solutely no shooting had been done and par- 

 ties who visited the island during the past 

 year were prevented from collecting eggs. 



Mr. Brewster said that the terns on Mus- 

 keget Island, Massachusetts, were steadily 

 increasing ia numbers, the result of protec- 

 tion. No birds had been shot on or near 

 the island the past year. A notable in- 

 crease was seen also in the colony of Laugh- 

 ing Gulls at the same place. Great credit 

 is due Mr. Geo. H. Mackay for his continu- 

 ous efforts in saving the gulls and terns on 

 this island from desti-uction. 



Mr. Witmer Stone knew of only one col- 

 ony of terns on the New Jersey coast. As 

 these birds nested back in the meadows and 

 away from the coast, it was difficult to pro- 

 tect them. In recent years the ' eggers ' 

 had destroyed immense numbers of the 

 eggs of the clapper rail which nested in 

 favorable localities along the coast of New 

 Jersey. This rail had increased the past 

 season, as game wardens had watched the 

 meadows and arrested several marauders. 



Mr. Leverett M. Loomis remarked upon 

 the wholesale destruction of birds and their 

 eggs on the California coast during 1895. 



Dr. Elliott Coues exhibited and explained 

 a collection of unpublished water-color 

 paintings of birds by Louis Agassiz Fuertes. 

 The artist is a student at Cornell Univer- 

 sity and his work shows marked talent. 



Tuesday evening, November 12, a special 

 public memorial meeting was held in the 

 lecture hall of the National Museum in com- 

 memoration of the two distinguished honor- 

 ary members of the Union who have died 

 the past year. The late Geo. N. Lawrence 

 was eulogized by Mr. D. G. Elliot and Prof. 

 Thos. H. Huxley by Dr. Elliott Coues. 



The following is a list of the papers read 

 at the sessions : 

 An Important Factor in the Study of Westei-n 



Bird Life : Cael F. Baker. 

 On Pallas' Cormorant: F. A. Lucas. 

 Further Reviarhs on the Subgenus Quiscalus : 



Frank M. Chapman. 

 On Gcitke's Heligoland : Geo. H. Mackay. 

 Food of the Meadow Lark: F. E. L. Beal. 

 Methods in Economic Ornithology with special 



reference to the Catbird: S. D. Judd. 

 Notes on the Birds of Idaho : M. J. Eleod. 

 The Pine Grosbeak (Pinicola enueleator) in 



Captivity : O. W. Knight. 

 Midwinter Migration Southward in the North 



Temperate Zone to Breeding Grounds : 



Leverett M. Loomis. 

 Why are there so few Bluebirds? Mrs. L. M. 



Stephenson. 

 On the Standing of Ardetta neoxena : Feank 



M. Chapman. 

 Wliat Constitutes Publication ? J. A. Allen. 

 The Value of the Tongue in the Classification of 



Birds : F. A. Lucas. 

 Introduced Birds : T. S. Palmer. 

 A Critique on Trinomial Inconsistencies : 



William Palmer. 

 The First Plumage of the Philadelphia Vireo 



( Vireo philadelphicus}: Jonathan Dwight, 



Jr. 

 The Terns of Muskeget Island, Part II. : Geo. 



H. Mackay. 

 A Few Effects of the Winter of 1S95 upon ike 



Spring and Fall Migration in Canton, Mass.: 



J. H. Bowles. 

 Kingbird and Sapsuckers of Southern California : 



A. J. Cook. 



Mr. Wm. Palmer gave an exhibition of 

 lantern slides of birds, explanations being 

 made by Messrs. Brewster, Palmer and 

 Chapman. 



The next meeting of the Union will be 

 held in Cambridge, Mass., beginning No- 

 vember 9, 1896. 



Jno. H. Sage, 



Secretary. 



