66 THE NIDOLOGIST 
Birds that Nest in Open Meadows,” and Pro- 
fessor Walter B. Barrows gave a paper upon 
“Food Habits of Michigan Birds.” A new 
section of Conchology was formed. It is to 
be hoped that this science will receive the sup- 
port which was denied the section of Ornithol- 
ogy. No compiled report was made upon our 
birds, and the selected- subject for the past 
season, the Warblers, was utterly neglected. 
Whether the subject was too little understood, 
or that the observers had no time to devote to 
the season’s specialty, will not be known. 
To the writer of this little rhyme 
The pleasing honor fell 
Of naming NID(1)oLocist; 
Yet critics now will tell 
Of scratching out one of my (I's), 
Perhaps it’s just as well. 
They say the words are hybrid, and 
Poke fun at my name, 
But that’s no matter when we think 
That critics’ views are tame; 
It ‘cuts no ice”’ with most of us, 
If our science is the same. 
Nipotoeist or Nid(i)ol— 
The magazine is fine, 
Long may success attend your work 
In our selected line; 
And may we strive with one accord 
To make your paper shine. 
We Ni Soa 
++} 
Cooper Ornithological Club. 
DECEMBER MEETING. 
HE Club convened at San José, Cal., De- 
cember 7. The following publications 
were reported as having been received 
from the Department of Agriculture and added 
to the Club library: Zhe Crow Blackbirds and 
Their Food and The Common Crow of the 
77. S. Proposed amendments to the constitu- 
tion were read and ordered submitted to a Club 
vote. The evening was given to the discussion 
of plans for systematic Club work. 
The Annex met at Pasadena, November 25, 
at the residence of Joseph Grinnell. The fol- 
lowing were elected to membership in the Club: 
M. L. Wicks, Jr., R. L. Garnier, and Otto J. 
Zahn, of Los Angeles. Club work was the sub- 
ject of the evening’s discussion. 
January MEETING. 
The Northern Division of the Club met at San 
José, January 4, in regular session. The amend- 
ments submitted to vote were carried, the result 
being that two coédrdinate divisions of the 
Cooper Ornithological Club are established for 
the better facilitation of study, to be known as 
the Northern and Southern Divisions respec- 
tively. The Club in its entirety is to be known 
as the Club-at-Large. The following members 
were elected at the meeting of the Northern 
Division: Miss Hattie E. Wilson and Claude 
Fyfe, of San Francisco. The annual election of 
officers for 1896 resulted as follows: President, 
Walter E. Bryant, Oakland, Cal.; Vice Presi- 
dent, W. H. Osgood, San José, Cal.; Secretary, 
C. Barlow, Santa Clara, Cal.,and Treasurer, R. 
S. Wheeler, Alameda, Cal. A paper from Henry 
B. Kaeding, of Amador County, on the Water 
Ouzel was read. In Eldorado County m De- 
cember, 1893, an Ouzel was noted on the river, 
and Mr. Kaeding describes its performance as 
follows: “The river at this point was quite 
narrow—barely seventy-five feet wide—deep, 
and swift, but the bird easily breasted the cur- 
rent, and occasionally would swim quite rapidly 
up stream. From time to time it would dive, 
going down head foremost. The water was clear 
as crystal and we could follow the Ouzel quite 
plainly under water, although we were not near 
enough to see whether or not it used its wings 
when diving. It did not dive deeper than four ~ 
or five feet, making the dive by a series of 
‘jumps’ or spurts of apparently six or eight 
inches each. It would then turn and come up 
like a cork, apparently without effort. A shot 
from the rifle scared the bird, and it made off 
up stream leaving no doubt as to its identity. 
Notes from others on this subject would be ap- 
preciated.” The Northern Division meets at 
Berkeley, February tr. 
The Southern Division met at Los Angeles, 
December 30, a good representation being 
present. A motion was carried providing for 
the collection of a scientific library for this 
division. The annual election of officers of the 
Southern Division resulted as follows: Presi- 
dent, W. B. Judson; Wice President, M. L. 
Wicks, Jr., and Secretary-Treasurer, Horace A. 
Gaylord. Mr. A. I. McCormick, of Los Angeles, 
was elected to membership in the Club. The 
Southern Division will meet at the residence of 
Mr. W. B. Judson, Highland Park, January 27. 
Tribute to William L. Kells. 
Epiror NIDOLOGIST. 
Dear Sir: I was pleased to see the face of 
Wilham L. Kells adorning one of the pages of 
the Nrpotocisr. He was an old contributor 
to the O. and O. I wish I could be with “ that 
old straw hat’ in the woods for a stroll. 
Long may he live to scatter his notes and ob- 
servations among us, from field and forest, like 
the fragrance of .sweet-scented flowers, or the 
beautiful songs of the birds, which he so dearly 
loves. |. 18, 1? 
Plymouth, Mich. 
