80 THE ZOOLOGIST, 



OBITUARY. 



Dr. Elliott Coues. 



Another first-rate ornithologist has, we regret to say, gone 

 home to his last resting-place, and will be sorely missed, not 

 only in America, but also in Europe, and especially in England, 

 where he was personally known to so many of us. 



Dr. Elliott Coues, who passed away on Christmas Day last 

 at the comparatively early age of fifty-seven, was not only a 

 most painstaking and hard-working cabinet naturalist, but 

 equally good as a field naturalist, as shown by the good field- 

 work he did during the many years he served as assistant-surgeon 

 in the U.S. army. Not only was he one of the first authorities 

 on North American ornithology, but he also did excellent work, 

 in conjunction with Mr. J. A. Allen, in the study of North 

 American mammals, and especially in the publication of their 

 work on the ' Fur-bearing Animals.' His separately published 

 works, by which his name is best known, are the ' Key to North 

 American Birds,' ' The Birds of the North-West,' ' The Birds 

 of the Colorado Valley,' and * Check-List of North American 

 Birds'; but besides these, his various articles in periodicals are 

 numerous, and of considerable value. 



Dr. Coues was an unusually hard worker, as no trouble was 

 too great for him when working out a difficult problem ; and he 

 was also enthusiastic to a degree. On whatever subject he 

 wrote he displayed great originality of thought, and his pen was 

 verily that of a ready writer. A firm friend and an excellent 

 companion, he was also, as so often is the case, a somewhat 

 bitter enemy. 



The writer and he have been on friendly terms during the 

 past thirty years, and when he was in England he stayed with 

 him, and many and pleasant were the discussions on ornithology 

 that took place, especially those on trinomial nomenclature, on 

 which each held very different views. 



