May, 1920 
of Biology, Southern Branch, University of 
California, will be in Yosemite during part 
of the summer, and toward the end of the 
season he will conduct similar work at Fal- 
len Leaf Lake, in the Tahoe region. The 
programs include lectures on the plant and 
animal life of the mountains, to be illus- 
trated in part by lantern slides and moving 
pictures. Field trips will be arranged for 
parties of different ages. 
During the coming Summer Session at the 
University of California, June 21 to July 31, 
1920, a course on the birds of California will 
be offered by Mr. Tracy I. Storer of the 
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. The sub- 
ject will be dealt with in a manner adapted 
to the needs of persons having no previous 
knowledge of the subject. 
The probable fate of all private collections 
which are not destroyed by some such acci- 
dent as fire is illustrated in the case of the 
Grinnell collection of bird skins. This en- 
tire collection has been presented to the 
California Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 
which means that it is now the property of 
the University of California and hence of the 
State of California. The specimens number 
8,312 and were collected by Mr. J. Grinnell 
during the period from 1893 to 1907 inclus- 
ive. The collection contains twenty-seven 
types of subspecies; also specimens of at 
least three species of birds which are now 
extinct, and many “record specimens”. 
There are large series of such birds as the 
Willow Ptarmigan, specially selected to 
illustrate processes of molt, and long suites 
of birds gathered from appropriate territory 
to show facts in geographic variation. This 
collection adds importantly to the research 
material owned by the Museum of Verte- 
brate Zoology. The total ornithological col- 
lections there now amount to 40,438 speci- 
mens. 
Mr. William L. Finley has been commis- 
sioned by the National Geographic Society 
to secure motion pictures of the rarer birds 
and mammals of North America. Mr. and 
Mrs. Finley will spend May and June of the 
present year in Arizona and on the Gulf 
coast of Texas, in the pursuit of this work. 
Mr. Austin Paul Smith is collecting birds 
and birds’ eggs this year on the west coast 
of Guatemala, with headquarters at San 
Jose. 
The annual roster appearing in this issue 
shows an active membership in the Cooper 
Club of 649, with honorary 6, making a total 
of 655 members, the largest number in our 
history. As usual, Mr. J. Eugene Law served 
in compiling the roster, and changes or cor- 
rections should be reported to him so as 
to apply from now on to next year’s list. 
EDITORIAL NOTES AND NEWS 113 
BIRD BANDING WORK BEING TAKEN OVER BY 
THE BIOLOGICAL SuRvVEY.—The Bureau of Bi- 
ological Survey at Washington, D. C., has 
taken over the work formerly carried on 
under the auspices of the Linnzan Society 
of New York by the American Bird Banding 
Association. In taking over this work the 
Bureau feels that it should express the debt 
that students of ornithology in this country 
owe to Mr. Howard H. Cleaves for the de- 
votion and success with which he has con- 
ducted this investigation up to a point where 
it has outgrown the possibilities of his per- 
sonal supervision. 
Under plans now being formulated this 
work will give a great amount of invalua- 
ble information concerning the migration 
and distribution of North American birds 
which will be of direct service in the admin- 
istration of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, 
as well as of much general scientific inter- 
est. 
It is desired to develop this work along 
two principal lines: first, the trapping and 
banding of waterfowl, especially ducks and 
geese, on both their breeding and winter 
grounds; and secondly, the systematic trap- 
ping of land birds as initiated by Mr. S. 
Prentiss Baldwin, the early results of which 
have been published by him in the Pro- 
ceedings of the Linnzan Society of New 
York, no. 31, 1919, pp. 23-55. It is planned 
to enlist the interest and services of volun- 
teer workers, who will undertake to operate 
and maintain trapping stations throughout 
the year, banding new birds and recording 
the data from those previously banded. The 
results from a series of stations thus oper- 
ated will undoubtedly give new insight into 
migration routes, speed of travel during mi- 
gration, longevity of species, affinity for 
the same nesting-site year after year, and, in 
addition, furnish a wealth of information rel- 
ative to the behavior of the individual, here- 
tofore impossible because of the difficulty of 
keeping one particular bird under observa- 
tion. 
The details of operation are now receiv- 
ing close attention, and as soon as possible 
the issue of bands will be announced, with 
full information regarding the methods to 
be followed and the results expected. In 
the meantime, the Biological Survey will 
be glad to receive communications from 
those sufficiently interested and satisfactor- 
ily located to engage in this work during 
their leisure time, for it is obvious that a 
considerable part must be done by volunteer 
operators. It is hoped that a _ sufficient 
