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threatened extinction of the Trumpeter Swan {Olor buccinator) * 

 the largest of the known Swans, as it slightly exceeds the Mute 

 Swan in size, though in all other respects it closely resembles 

 the Whooper, save for having the bill and face all black ; and 

 Dr. E. W. Shufeldt gives some notes on the last specimen of the 

 formerly super- abundant Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migra- 

 torius) known to have existed, a specimen which was bred in 

 captivity in the Cincinnati Zoo and died there at the age of 

 about twenty-nine years. What happens to American birds when 

 they get rare is well illustrated by Mr. Frederic H. Kennard's 

 paper " On the Trail of the Ivory-bill," in which he tells us hardly 

 anything about this splendid Woodpecker, now apparently con- 

 fined to Southern Florida, except that he shot the only one he saw. 

 Such cynical destructiveness on the part of people who are 

 supposed to be naturalists makes the execution wrought by those 

 who kill for economic reasons pardonable by comparison ; there 

 is enough of this in all conscience in the valuable records of the 

 past history of the Wild Turkey, diligently collected by Mr. 

 Albert Hozen Wright ; these are classified according to political 

 divisions and arranged in chronological order, and occupy 

 considerable space in both numbers to hand. It is noteworthy 

 that the older writers quoted, speaking of the days of early 

 settlement, when white men were scarce and Turkeys common, 

 constantly mention forty pounds as the weight of adult males ; 

 it would thus seem that the northern race of Wild Turkey 

 in its palmy days grew quite as large as the less known Mexi- 

 can wild form from which our tame birds were originally 

 derived, though this has been credited with larger size. Several 

 authors also refer to the Indian stuffs of a plush-like character 

 made by weaving Turkey-feathers with twine. Mr. John C. 

 Phillips discusses his attempts to discover what possible effects 

 acclimatization has had on the Common Sparrow in America ; 

 but this philosophical enquiry has proved difficult to prosecute, 

 as collectors, both professional and amateur, would not or could 

 not bother about Sparrows. What data were to hand led to the 

 conclusion that the enquiry would be better called "A study of 

 the stability of a species under wide-ranging climatic and 

 geographical conditions." 

 * Cygnus buccinator of the ' British Museum Catalogue of Birds,' vol. xsvii. 



