JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Key more than the merely faunal work 

 wHch its title would imply— i. e., while 

 it is still emphatically a Key to North 

 American Birds, it contains more than 

 ever in the past, much general infor- 

 mation in regard to birds. 



7. An invaluable feature of preced- 

 ing editions — the scholarly explanation 

 of the etymology of scientific names — 

 is retained, and will continue 

 to make the Key unique among 

 works of its class. 



Throughout the Key — in all depart- 

 ments, life histories, descriptions, etc., 

 — Dr. Coues' famous descriptive pow- 

 ers are fully displayed as in the past. 



Trusting that the foregoing may 

 prove of interest to your readers, we 

 are, 



Yours very truly, 



DANA ESTES & CO. 



The above seems worthy and of suf- 

 ficient interest to our readers to pub- 

 lish in full. (Ed.) 



IN MEMORIAM. . 



For the first time in the history of 

 "The Maine Ornithological Society," 

 we are called upon to mourn the loss 

 of one of our active fellow workers, 

 who has passed out from our ranks, 

 into the great beyond, and it seems 

 fitting that here at our annual meet- 

 ing, we pay tribute to his memory. 

 Bro. Clarence Henry Morrill of Pitts- 

 field, our former editor and one of our 

 most active members, one of our 

 staunchest laborers in the field of 

 science, on the 15th day of July last, 

 heard and answered to the call to lay 

 down the work here and passed from 

 the known to the unknown. 



He was born at River Hobart. Nova 

 Scotia, February 27, 1872. When 

 he was still a young man his 

 parents moved to Pittsfield, 



at which place he spent the 

 greater part of his life. His interest 

 in bird life began when he was very 

 young, and as he grew older, his en- 

 thusiasm waxed greater for his chosen 

 life study. It ever grew deeper and 



continued even down to his last days 

 of illness am. pain. His love for the 

 birds seemed to occupy his mind and 

 soul, for as his parents have truly 

 said, "Everything else in life, even his 

 work was carried on vigorously, but 

 with that all absorbing end in view, 

 to further his work along the line of 

 bird study." His every spare moment 

 was grasped, eagerly and his whole 

 attention was turned to the birds 

 about him. 



While other boys, when a holiday 

 was offered them, would usually spend 

 their time in play, his only thoughts 

 were to get away among his feathered 

 friends. 



While but a boy he was working 

 along these lines alone, with but little 

 encouragement, for no one about him 

 was so deeply interested in his pet 

 hobby and so, he toileu on alone, feed- 

 ing his hopes and ambitions from his 

 own resources. But about '85 he saw 

 an "ad." of a small bird magazine, 

 "The Oologist," a bi-monthly on birds 

 published by a young enthusiast, 

 Frank H. Lattin of Albion, N. Y. This 

 he subscribed for eagerly and perused 

 its columns, till he nearly memorized 

 them. Hardly could he wait for the 

 next issue to come, so eager and 

 thirsty was he for the knowledge it 

 contained. Here he began to realize 

 there were others interested in this 

 all absorbing study and he began to 

 receive an uplifting influence and the 

 subject seemed to grow broader, as 

 the work progressed. Soon he began 

 to realize what an endless task he had 

 before him, to learn to know each 

 bird at sight or by song. He then 

 realized he needed books on the sub- 

 ject and no sooner had he been able 

 to procure one work, when he saw 

 others that he needed. 



This desire led him on to increased 

 activity, and he began to build up a 

 library on this most bewitching sub- 



