THE OOLOGTST. 



collection and I was lucky enough to 

 obtain them with several other nice sets 

 fi'om him. Mr. Gilmore had at the 

 time 1 obtained this set another of five 

 eggs collected in the same locality by a 

 friend in 1888. He also stated that he 

 was positive of the identification as he 

 had on two occasions shot the birds." 

 Should the"Owen Aggregation"prove 

 a "howling success" an elaborate an- 

 notated conclusion to tliis rambling 

 "pointer" will undoubtedly be given by 

 Bro. Taylor in an early issue of the 

 Nidiologist. 



Koy G. Pitch. 



Roy G. Fitch, aged nineteen years, 

 the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Charles 

 L. Fitch of Grand Rapids, Mich., was 

 killed on the morning of July 18th, in 

 the elevator at the Alma,(Michigan)San- 

 itarium. He had been at that place for 

 five weeks taking treatment for debility 

 following a long attack of malarial 

 fever, which he had last spring. He 

 was much improved in health and was 

 expected home on the night of the date 

 of the accident to remain until August 

 19, when he intended to enter the Agri- 

 cultural College at Lansing. 



When the accident occured he was 

 attempting to run the elevator in the 

 momentary absence of the man in 

 charge. He slipped and fell in such a 

 way as to be caught between the cage 

 and the wall. It is thought his injuries 

 wei'c not sei'ious enough to have proved 

 fatal, but that the shock and fright pro- 

 duced heart failure. 



Roy was a great favorite in his neigh- 

 borhood and with his teachers and 

 classmates. His disposition was gentle 

 and affectionate and his habits were 

 studious. He was a great lover of birds 

 and for several years had made their 

 habits a study. He was vice-president 

 of the Kent Ornithological Society, or- 

 ganized last winter, and he had a large 

 collection of specimens and books that 

 he shared with the club in pursuit of its 



studies. A gentleman who has always 

 known him says: "Had he lived he 

 would have become eminent in the 

 science toward which his tastes seemed 

 to tend." — A statement of which there 

 is little question would have been more 

 than fulfilled. 



Through correspondence the ed- 

 itor of the OoLOGiST had known 

 Roy for a number of years, 

 and in the fall of '94, while in atten- 

 dance at the West Michigan Fair at 

 Grand Rapids, formed his personal ac- 

 quaintance. Roy was the Judge of the 

 Natural History department — which 

 was one of the most creditable displays 

 we had ever seen at a State or County 

 fair. 



He was a frequent contributor to or- 

 nithological publications, and as such, 

 was better known under the nom de 

 plume, "Amicus Avium." His most 

 valuaole contribution, which is one of 

 the most valuable and wonderful ever 

 written, on the Spotted Sandpiper and 

 from an "observation" standpoint, we 

 think we are safe in saying, on any 

 species, appears in this issue of The 



OoLOGIST. 



The Spotted Sandpiper mss. was sent 

 in September, at which time Roy's 

 father writes as follows: 



"My object in writing now is to hand 

 you an article on the Spotted Sand- 

 piper, which Roy completed shortly 

 before going to Alma. I say "com- 

 pleted," but that is only in a sense true. 

 He had written the article in full with 

 a pencil, even to the signature at the 

 foot, and had started to copy it with a 

 pen, but had only written a little more 

 than two pages in that manner before 

 leaving home for the last time. I have 

 therefore written out on the typewriter 

 a transcription of the pencilled manu- 

 script, which I hand you. I send it to 

 you, because Roy has several times 

 mentioned the article to me, and had 

 said that he intended to send it to you 

 when completed," 



