October 17, 1884.] 



SCIENCE 



375 



In order to show the union the character and ex- 

 tent of the labors of the committee, the chairman had 

 requested the superintendents of all districts east of 

 the Rocky Mountains to prepare reports upon five 

 common, well-known, and widely distributed birds, — 

 the robin, catbird, Baltimore oriole, purple martin, 

 and nighthawk; and these reports were presented for 

 examination. 



The chairman called attention to the action of the 

 International ornithologists' congress held in Vienna 

 last April, stating that he had been instructed (in 

 common with the delegates from other countries) to 

 represent the cause of the committee to the national 

 government, begging it "to further to the utmost the 

 organizing of migration-stations," and "to appro- 

 priate a sufficient sum for the support of these sta- 

 tions and for the publication of annual reports of the 

 observations made." The council was instructed to 

 memorialize the U. S. congress, and the parliament 

 of Canada, in behalf of the work of the committee on 

 bird-migration. 



The report of the committee on the eligibility or 

 ineligibility of the European house-sparrow in Amer- 

 ica was presented by Dr. J. B. Holder. Dr. Holder 

 said that a circular of inquiry had been printed, and 

 about a thousand copies circulated in Canada and the 

 United States. Particular pains had been taken to 

 secure evidence from those who advocated the cause 

 of the sparrow. A large number of returns had been 

 received, and the evidence for and against the natu- 

 ralized exotic had been carefully sifted and summa- 

 rized. The result overwhelmingly demonstrated that 

 the sum of its injurious qualities far exceeds and 

 cancels the sum of its beneficial qualities: in other 

 words, it was the verdict of the committee that the 

 European house-sparrow is not an eligible bird in 

 North America. The union sustained the decision 

 of the committee. 



The report of the committee on faunal areas was 

 presented by Mr. J. A. Allen. Mr. Allen said, that, 

 for the purposes of the committee, North America 

 had been divided into several districts, each of 

 which had been placed in charge of a member of the 

 committee, as follows : arctic and British America 

 and the northern tier of states bordering the Great 

 Lakes, from New York to Minnesota inclusive, were 

 being worked by Dr. C. Hart Merriam ; Canada 

 south of the St. Lawrence, and New England, by 

 Mr. Arthur P. Chadbourne ; the eastern and middle 

 states from New Jersey to Florida, and west to the 

 Mississippi River, by Dr. A. K. Fisher ; the Rocky 

 Mountain region, by Dr. Edgar A. Mearns ; and the 

 Pacific region, by Mr. L. Belding. It was the plan of 

 the committee to collate and tabulate the required 

 data from all published sources, to avail itself in 

 like manner of the material contained in the returns 

 of the observers of bird-migration, to illustrate the 

 facts thus obtained by colored maps showing the sum- 

 mer and winter range of each species, and to gen- 

 eralize the final results and place the same before the 

 union, accompanied by colored charts, showing, with 

 as much precision as possible, the exact limits of the 

 several faunal areas in North America. 



Dr. P. L. Sclater said he was glad to know that 

 North America, which he knew as a nearctic region, 

 was being worked in so thorough a manner by so 

 competent a committee, and that the results obtained 

 could not fail to be of great interest and value. 



The matter of the wholesale slaughter of our native 

 birds for millinery and other purposes was brought 

 forcibly before the union by Mr. Brewster, and a 

 committee was appointed for the protection of North- 

 American birds and their eggs against wanton and 

 indiscriminate destruction. 



Dr. Leonhard Stejneger exhibited a stuffed speci- 

 men of a willow grouse from Newfoundland, which 

 he regarded as a new geographical race, differing 

 from the continental form chiefly in the possession 

 of more or less black upon its primaries. Mr. Brew- 

 ster said that he had recently examined nearly one 

 hundred and fifty specimens of ptarmigan from New- 

 foundland, and had observed the peculiarities pointed 

 out, but did not consider them constant. He was in- 

 clined to regard the characters mentioned as seasonal, 

 and possibly to some extent individual. Dr. Stejne- 

 ger replied that this coloration of the wing-feathers 

 could not possibly be seasonal, as they (the prima- 

 ries) were moulted but once a year. Dr. Merriam 

 stated, that, during a recent visit to Newfoundland, he 

 had examined a very large number of willow grouse 

 in the flesh, and was still engaged in investigating 

 the change of color in this species. His studies led 

 him to disagree with Dr. Stejneger' s last statement. 

 Dr. Merriam was convinced that the change in color 

 in individual feathers did take place both independ- 

 ent of and coincident with the moult. Mr. D. G. 

 Elliot agreed with Dr. Merriam in considering the 

 change of color of individual feathers an established 

 fact. An animated discussion followed, and was par- 

 ticipated in by many members. 



In response to a call from the president, Dr. P. L. 

 Sclater said he hoped the members of the union 

 would excuse him if he offended the feelings of any 

 one by the remarks he was about to make. It had 

 grieved him much to find in this country three large 

 and valuable collections of birds which were not un- 

 der the care of paid, working ornithologists. One of 

 these is in Boston, one in New York, and the third 

 in Philadelphia. Each contains what all ornitholo- 

 gists admit to be most valuable typical specimens. 

 A grave responsibility rests upon the possessors of 

 types of species, and the loss or injury of such speci- 

 mens is a great and irreparable loss to science. The 

 collection of the Boston society of natural history 

 (known as the LaFrenaye collection) has been much 

 damaged by neglect; and the entire collection ought 

 now to be catalogued, and so arranged as to render 

 any particular specimen readily accessible. In the 

 American museum of natural history in New York 

 are the types of the celebrated Maximilian collec- 

 tion, and many other specimens of exceeding great 

 value. A large number of these have never been 

 properly identified, and some of them are missing 

 and have doubtless been destroyed by insect pests. 

 The value of others has been lost through neglect, 

 by the displacement of labels, and by the omission of 



