100 



The condor 



Vol,. X 



thological chat that occupied the evening be- 

 fore and after business. Adjourned. 



J. Eugene Law, Secretary. 



January. — The January meeting of the 

 Southern Division met with Dr. F. M. Palmer 

 in his offices at 371 Huntington Building, Los 

 Angeles, Cal., Thursday evening, January 30, 

 1908, with members L. A. Test, C. O. Esterly, 

 Jos. Grinnell, O. W. Howard, H. T. Clifton, 

 Willard Chamberlain, Howard Wright, Arthur 

 Howard, Wilson C. Hanna, Chas. H. Richard- 

 son, Jr., C. E. Cosper, C. B. Linton, Lester 

 Black, W. Lee Chambers, Virgil Owen and 

 J. E. Law present. In the absence of the 

 President and Vice-President, Mr. Clifton was 

 made chairman for the evening. 



On motion by Mr. Cosper, seconded by Mr. 

 Owen and duly carried, the Secretary was in- 

 structed to cast the unanimous ballot of those 

 present electing Miss Myrtle E. Johnson, 

 National City, Cal., Mr. Lester Black, Long 

 Beach, Cal., and Mr. Pingree I. Osburn, Pasa- 

 dena, Cal. , to active membership, and Mr. W. 

 M. Peterson, Neah Bay, to active membership 

 subject to the approval of the Club-at-large. 



The following applications were presented 

 for active membership: Arthur deC. Lowerly, 

 Anglo-Chinese College, Tientsin, China, by 

 Malcolm P. Anderson; Alfred Brazier Howell, 

 Catonsville, Maryland, by H. W. Marsden; and 

 J. M. Davis, 1438 Seventh Street, Eureka, Cal., 

 by H. E. Duprey. 



On motion duly carried, the resignations of 

 Mr. W. Scott Way and Mr. E. Crawford May 

 were accepted, their dues having been paid to 

 date. 



Two interesting letters from Malcolm P. 

 Anderson, now collecting in China, were read, 

 telling of his successes and hardships in that 

 field. 



Dr. F. M. Palmer in a short talk outlined the 

 plans for a distinctly southwestern museum in 

 southern California. This plan has progressed 

 so far that a site comprising something over 

 35 acres has been purchased and largely paid 

 for. The Archeological Society already has as 

 a nucleus for this museum its very fine col- 

 lection of archeological specimens, many of 

 which are almost unique, and are of great 

 scientific value. Dr. Palmer suggested the 

 cooperation of the Cooper Ornithological Club 

 in the directing and establishing of the orni- 

 thological branch of the museum, and hoped 

 that in some way not yet figured out, this might 

 be accomplished. On motion by Mr. Grinnell, 

 seconded by Mr. Owen and duly carried, the 

 chairman was instructed to appoint a coiumit- 

 tee of three, to consider these suggestions and 

 report at a future nieeting. Messrs. Grinnell, 

 O. W. Howard and Law were appointed as this 

 committee. 



Mr. Grinnell then gave us a brief outline of 



his recent trip of inspection thru the eastern 

 museums. In a trip covering five weeks in 

 December and January, he visited the Chicago, 

 Washington, D. C, Philadelphia, New York 

 and Boston Museums, and met a large number 

 of the ornithologists of these centers. An hour 

 went quickly in this rapid outline, and we 

 were given "inside touches" on all these 

 museums. Of special interest were the ac- 

 counts of the Field Museum, The American 

 Museum of Natural History, and the Thayer 

 Museum. Adjourned. 



J. Eugene Law, Secretary.. 



February. — The February meeting was 

 called to order by President Morcom at Faculty 

 Room, Throop Polytechnic Institute, Pasadena, 

 Cal., Thursday evening, February 20, 1908, 

 with members John Lewis Childs, O. W. How- 

 ard, Geo. Willett, Jos. Grinnell, Loye Holmes 

 Miller, L. A. Test, C. O. Esterly, H. T. 

 Clifton, C. B. Linton, C. E. Cosper, Walter 

 Taylor, Chas. Richardson, Jr., Howard Wright, 

 Pingree I. Osburn, Chas. W. Metz, Willard 

 Chamberlain and J. E. Law present, and as visi- 

 tor Mr. W. S. Wright of Pasadena. 



The minutes of the December, 1907, and 

 January, 1908, meetings were read and ap- 

 proved. 



On motion by Mr. Willett, seconded by Mr. 

 Cosper and duly carried, the Secretar}^ was in- 

 structed to cast the unaniiuous ballot of those 

 present, electing to active membership subject 

 to the approval of the Club-at-large, Alfred 

 Brazier Howell, Catonsville, Maryland, and J. 

 M. Davis, Eureka, Cal. 



Mr. Childs gave a short talk in which he ex- 

 pressed his interest in the activity of the Cooper 

 Club and his pleasure at being able to meet 

 with it from time to time. 



Mr. Grinnell read a paper on certain prob- 

 lems of bird population, calling the Club's at- 

 tention to the comparative stability in numbers, 

 i. e., that apparently the death rate equaled the 

 birth rate. This, he showed by illustrations 

 and observations, was primarily due to food 

 supply conditions, and that apparently any 

 given species was limited in numbers to those 

 that could find food supply in the season of 

 least food production. In other words, any 

 given locality held as many individuals as 

 could exist in that region in the period of least 

 abundance of the particular food the individ- 

 uals lived on, and that in this season of least 

 abundance, the bird population of any given 

 species is reduced to the average number thru 

 the death of those members not able to com- 

 pete in the strife for existence. 



Mr. Grinnell suggested that the Club 

 acquaint itself meanwhile with, and at the 

 next meeting discuss, Prof. F. E. L. Beal's re- 

 cent paper on the "Birds of California in Re- 

 lation to the Fruit Industry." Adjourned. 

 J. Eugene Law, Secretary. 



