926 



SCIENCE. 



[N, S. Vol. XIV. No. 363. 



of Executive Committee of National Irriga- 

 tion Association, Washington. 



Eaymond a. Pearson, 



Secretary. 



AMERICAN OBNITHOLOQISTS' UNION. 



The ISTineteenth Congress of the Amer- 

 ican Ornithologists' Union convened in 

 New York City, Monday evening, Novem- 

 ber 11. The business meeting of the Fel- 

 lows was held at the American Museum of 

 Natural History, and the public sessions, 

 commencing Tuesday, November 12, and 

 lasting three days, were also held at the 

 Museum. 



Dr. C. Hart Merriam, of Washington, 



D. C. , was reelected president ; Charles B. 

 Cory, of Boston, and C. F. Batchelder, of 

 Cambridge, Mass. , vice-presidents ; John 

 H. Sage, of Portland, Conn., secretary; 

 William Dutcher, of New York City, treas- 

 urer ; Frank M. Chapman, Ruthven Deane, 



E. W. Nelson, Witmer Stone, Drs. A. K. 

 Fisher, Jonathan Dwight, Jr., and Thos. S. 

 Roberts, members of the Council. 



The ex-presidents of the Union, Dr. J. 

 A. Allen and Messrs. William Brewster, D. 

 G. Elliot and Robert Ridgway, are ex- 

 officio members of the Council. 



Outram Bangs, of Boston, Joseph Grin- 

 nell, of Palo Alto, Cal., Dr. T. S. Palmer 

 and Professor F. E. L. Beal, of Washington, 

 D. C, and Dr. Louis B. Bishop, of New 

 Haven, Conn., were elected Fellows. 



Montague Chamberlain, of Boston, was 

 elected to corresponding membership. 

 Fifty-five associates were elected to the 

 new class known as members, and eighty- 

 three new associates were elected. 



By the adoption of certain amendments 

 to the By-Laws, at the present Congress, 

 the following classes of members are now 

 recognized by the Union, viz., Fellows, 

 Honorary Fellows, Corresponding Fellows, 

 Members and Associates. 



Dr. J. A. Allen, in his paper on ' The 



Present Outlook for Stability in Nomencla- 

 ture,' dwelt upon the American method and 

 its gradual acceptance by foreign ornitholo- 

 gists as well as by workers in other branches 

 of science. 



Mr. E. W. Nelson described a collecting 

 trip which he took through portions of Yu- 

 catan. In that country, occupied until 

 recently by hostile Indian tribes, he dis- 

 covered more than one hundred birds new 

 to science. 



Mr. Ruthven Deane exhibited books and 

 other relics from his own library which 

 were once the property of John James Au- 

 dubon. What he had to say on ' Audubo- 

 niana,' was of historic interest. 



The report of the Committee on Protec- 

 tion of North American Birds showed that 

 satisfactory results had been obtained dur- 

 ing the past year. Mr. Dutcher spoke of 

 the great good for protection made possi- 

 ble by the ' Thayer Fund ' — money raised 

 through the efforts of Mr. Abbott H. Thayer. 

 By its aid Dr. T. S. Palmer and Mr. Dutcher 

 had been able to appear before legislative 

 committees in many States, and new and 

 better protective laws had been passed. 

 Mr. Chapman referred to the present abun- 

 dance of bird life on Gardiners Island, N. 

 Y., the result of rigid protection. 



Professor W. W. Cooke traced the routes 

 of bird migration across the Gulf of Mexico, 

 bringing out many new and interesting facts. 



Excellent lantern slides from photographs 

 of birds in life were shown by Rev. H. K. 

 Job, and Messrs. Nelson, Chapman, 

 Dutcher and Baily. 



The New York Zoological Society invited 

 the members of the Union to visit its park, 

 and many availed themselves of the privi- 

 lege November 15. Director Hornaday con- 

 ducted the party through the grounds. 



Following is a list of the papers read at 

 the sessions. 



' The Present Outlook for Stability in 

 Nomenclature': J. A. Allen. 



