Bulletin of the Michigan Ornithological Club. 



A. K. Fisher and Robert Ridgway. From 

 several other sources notes were obtained, 

 and a gist of all was published in 1893 in 

 the form of the state bulletin. Cook's 

 Birds of Michigan. This gave, in a con- 

 densed form, notes regarding relative 

 abundance and distribution in the state of 

 336 species. In nearly every case, facts 

 concerning the range and time of breeding 

 were given, with many other notes on the 

 food, habits and economic value of our 

 birds. From the facts that this was the 

 most complete and best work ever pub- 

 lished on Michigan birds, and that it was 

 not entirely the work of one man, but 

 represented the combined effort of many 

 of our best students, and also that it was 

 printed by the state and thus copies were 

 distributed free of charge so as to be 

 accessible to everyone, we may well con- 

 sider this the greatest factor in Michigan 

 ornithology in distributing knowledge 

 regarding our birds and increasing an 

 interest in their study. 



Within the last three years since Cook 

 published his list up to the present time, 

 there has been a more steady and widening 

 growth in our ornithology than there has 

 ever been before. A few new species 

 have lately been added to our fauna. 

 One of the most remarkable of late records 

 was the finding of a Brunnich's Murre by 

 Mr. Percy Selous, near Greenville, on Dec. 

 13, 1894. Mr. L. Whitney Watkins cap- 

 tured a Cory's Least Bittern near his 

 home at Manchester on August 8, 1894. 

 This was a remarkable find as it was not 

 only the first individual of this species 

 ever taken in Michigan, but it was one of 

 the few ever taken by an ornithologist. 

 Mr. L. J. Cole was the first to record 

 Baird's Sandpiper in our state. This he 

 took on August 20, 1895, at Spring Lake 

 in Ottawa County. Since then, however, 

 it has been found that this sandpiper was 

 not so rare as formerly supposed, and Mr. 

 N. A. Eddy (The Mdologist, Jan., '97), 

 states that he had previously known of its 

 occurrence in Michigan. 



It is impossible for me to state as to the 

 extent of ornithological work in our state 

 at the present time, but I am safe in say- 

 ing that there is now a far greater interest 

 taken in this study than ever before. We 

 are inspired by having in our midst an 

 active member of the American Ornithol- 

 ogists' Union, and one who is interested 



heart and soul in our progress. I refer to 

 Professor Walter B. Barrows of the Agri- 

 cultural College. Prof. Barrows has 

 spent a large portion of his life in study- 

 ing birds. For eight years he was assist- 

 ant ornithologist in the Department of 

 Agriculture at Washington. 



The present advancement in Michigan 

 ornithology is due largely to the work of 

 a number of enthusiastic students of birds 

 in our state. Among them are included 

 such diligent workers as J. B. Purdy, 

 Jerome Trombley, L. Whitney Watkins, 

 Edwin Arnold, N. A. Eddy, Dean C. 

 Worcester and Ed. Van Winkle. With 

 such men at the helm we may be sure that 

 the ship of ornithological progress will 

 sail on more staunchly and yet faster now 

 than ever in the past. 



From the time of Hughes, the number 

 of students in our field has constantly 

 been increasing, and the knowledge of our 

 birds has been growing • accordingly. 

 Thus we see that in the discovery of new 

 species in our state alone the advance has 

 been great ; there have been over 200 birds 

 added to our fauna since Sager's list was 

 issued in 1839. The great advance, how- 

 ever, has not been made in adding species 

 to our fauna, but in learning more about 

 the birds themselves, their distribution in 

 the state, their food, their songs and nest- 

 ing ways, and every other phenomenon con- 

 nected with their habits. 



Although much work has been done in 

 the past, there is still a broader field open 

 before us. Wonderful facts are constantly 

 being revealed to us from the mysterious 

 lives of birds. Every day new and diffi- 

 cult problems confront us. To solve these 

 there is no better way than by uniting our 

 powers and thus profiting by each other's 

 knowledge and experiences. We have 

 therefore formed an organization, the 

 Michigan Ornithological Club. From 

 you who are not yet members of this Club 

 and who love the study of our birds, we 

 ask support and assistance. Join our 

 fraternity of honest, earnest workers in 

 the development of a new epoch in the 

 history of our ornithology, and one which 

 we trust and hope will be characterized 

 by a co-operation of all Michigan ornith- 

 ologists in the proper pursuance of this 

 delightful study of nature's most beautiful 

 and most graceful creatures — the birds. 



Agricultural College, Ingham Co., Mich. 



