ArorsT 14. 1003.] 



SCIENCE. 



217 



till' grasses and sedges appear not to have been 

 studied at all, though these, next to the trees 

 and shrubs, are the most important ecolog- 

 ically in most temperate regions. These 

 omissions as well as the failure to distinguish 

 sharply between related species — thus Vitis 

 cordlfolia, which is not known certainly to 

 occur in Michigan, is confused with the very 

 common Vitis riparia — and the failure also 

 to discriminate between primary and second- 

 ary plant societies, detract seriously from the 

 worth of Mr. Livingston's paper. The excel- 

 lence of his treatment of the soils and the 

 geological factors of the flora is thus marred 

 somewhat by hurried and inexact observation 

 of the flora itself. The ecologist must know 

 his plants, or his work is worthless. lie can 

 not neglect any great group, not even the 

 lower cr^Tstop'""*! and give us a true concep- 

 tion of the actual plant life. He must stay 

 with his flora till he knows it — he must see, 

 if possible, the relation of each species with 

 its environment, its relation too with its 

 neighbor. If he can not cover a state or a 

 county, let him be content with a township 

 or a section. A broad plant survey has its 

 uses; it has also its defects, but even so, such 

 a survey should spring out of an intimate 

 knowledge of local floras. A generalization 

 not drawn from verified particulars is of no 

 use to exact science. 



Francis Daniels. 

 UNH-ERSiTy OF Missouri, 

 July 2, 1903. 



DISCOVERY OF THE BREEDING AREA OF KIRTLAXD's 

 WARBLER IN MICHIGAN. 



About a month ago Mr. E. H. Frothingham, 

 an assistant in this museum, and his friend, 

 Mr. T. G. Gale, took an outing in Oscoda 

 County, Michigan, and went prepared to se- 

 cure specimens for the museum. On their 

 return it was found that a male specimen of 

 Kirtland's warbler (Dendroica Icirtlandi) was 

 among the bird skins which they had secured. 

 This is one of the rarest and most interesting 

 of North American birds, less than thirty 

 specimens having been recorded from the 

 United States and Canada. Mr. Frothingham 

 has published a preliminary note of this June 



capture of a Kirtland warbler in the Bulletin 

 of the Michigan Ornithological Club, Vol. 

 IV. (Detroit). This is the first June record 

 of the capture of this species. The late oc- 

 currence of this bird in northern Michigan 

 and its relative abundance (several birds were 

 seen and heard which were not taken) sug- 

 gested that the bird was breeding in that 

 region. In the hope of settling this point, 

 as the breeding area of this bird was unknown, 

 this museum sent its taxidermist, Mr. N. A. 

 Wood, to Oscoda County to make a thorough 

 investigation of this question and to secure 

 specimens for the museum. Mr. Wood has 

 just returned from this trip and has had ex- 

 cellent success as is shown by his having 

 secured two nests with the young and one 

 egg, thus establishing beyond question the 

 breeding area of this species. A full account 

 of the results of Messrs. Wood and Frothing- 

 ham will soon be published. From an 

 ornithological standpoint this is a very im- 

 portant discovery. In the Auh for October, 

 1898, Mr. F. M. Chapman writes concerning 

 our knowledge of the North American war- 

 blers : " With the exception of several Mexican 

 species just reaching our border, we can now 

 write ' rare ; nest and eggs unknown,' only of 

 Kirtland's warbler." It is thus evident that 

 this is a discovery of considerable interest. 



Some unauthorized and incorrect reports 

 have been made public, which makes it desir- 

 able to make this preliminary statement. 

 Charles C. Adams, 



Curator. 



U.vivERSiTT Museum, 



University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. 



CURREXT yOTES OS ilETEOROLOOY. 



climate of c.-vmo. 

 In 1859 the Khedive of Egypt ordered the 

 reestablishment of the observatory which had 

 existed at Bulaq from 1845 to 1850, but had 

 then been closed. A site was selected and 

 regular observations were commenced in 1868. 

 The observatory is about three miles north- 

 east of Cairo, on the edge of the desert, 

 close to the military barracks of Abbassia. 

 In 1889 !Mr. J. Barois published a very 



