£76 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Oct. 21, 1887. 



THE CONDITIONS OF THE DEED OF GIFT. 



Bditor Forest and Stream: 



Your comments on the revision of the deed of trust of the inter- 

 national yacht cup won by the America, which appeared in your 

 issue of Oct. 13, were very timely and to the point. 



The various rules of measurement, which from time to time 

 nave been m force for measuring yachts for allowance of time in 

 yacht, racing, have been the primal cause of bad models, besides a 

 fruitful source of contention in challenge races. 



In regard to the rules to be laid down in the new deed of trust, I 

 beg to offer two or three suggestions which will leave no room for 

 contention in the future, and will prevent the Cup from being won 

 by unfair rules of measurement or by a fluke. 



Let the measurement be the total dimensions of a yacht, by add- 

 ing together the length over all, extreme beam and depth of hold. 

 It is plainly evident that this is tbe only rule which will not tax 

 the model ot a yacht or cause designers to go to extremes in the 

 dimensions not included in the rule of measurement, such as the 

 extreme overhang fore and aft of theTolunteer and Thistle. 



No race should be made unless the winning yacht averaged eight 

 statute miles or more per hour over the course. This would pre- 

 vent the Cup from being won by a fluke in a drifting match and 

 without a test of models. 



NO single-masted vessel should be allowed to compete for the 

 Cup which measured less than 100 nor more than 150ft. in total 

 dimensions, and no two-masted vessel measuring less than 130 nor 

 more than 180ft. in total dimensions should be allowed to compete 

 for it. 



A limit to the total dimensions of yachts competing for the Cup 

 should be made, because the total dimensions of the America is 

 133ft., and a 30-ton yawl should not be allowed to capture a prize 

 won by such a noble specimen of marine architecture as the 

 schooner yacht America. 



The foregoing rules should govern in all future contests for the 

 international cup, no matter on which side of the Atlantic it may 

 be, because some of our yachtsmen have gone nearly daft on cut- 

 ter models, and would sooner see the Cup lost than 'won by a cen- 

 terboard boat. 



Total dimension measurement, however, should govern in 

 future contests for the Cup, more particularly because under 

 other measurement rules we have not improved the model of our 

 yachts since the America was built in 1851. 



The Volunteer, with all the wind she wanted from start to fin- 

 ish, was not able to average ten statute miles per hour in her 

 second race with the Thistle, and her time has been beaten several 

 times over the New York Y. C. course by yachts not as well rigged 

 and ballasted as she. 



Unquestionably we have improved in rig and ballast but not in 

 models. 



The. total sum of the dimensions of the Thistle is 142Wft., the 

 Volunteer 140ft. and the America 132ft. In a 20-mile race to wind- 

 ward and return the Thistle should allow the Volunteer 50 seconds 

 and the America 3J4 minutes. If the America was sloop rigged 

 and ballasted equal to the Volunteer, she would undoubtedly 

 prove to be the best model either on or off the wind. O. F. B. * 



Brooklyn, Oct. 19. 



IWe cannot agree with our correspondent in his views as to 

 measurement; the first result of such a rule as he proposes would 

 be to cut off practically all the overhang of both Volunteer and 

 Thistle, at once destroying all their beauty without improving 

 them in any way. Until it is proved that an overhang at either 

 end is a detriment no rule should be passed which would prohibit, 

 it. The direct tendency of such a rule, too, as long as most races 

 are sailed in light weather, would be to encourage the old skim- 

 ming dish, certainly a most undesirable type of boat. On the 

 measurement given for Volunteer, 140ft., it would be possible to 

 design an old sloop, say 100ft. over all, 05ft. waterline, 10ft. hold 

 and 30ft. beam. Of course in any moderate weather no honest 

 yacht would have any chance against the sail spread this craft 

 would carry, her depth of keel being left unrestricted by the pro- 

 posed measurement, depth of hold. It is impossible to frame any 

 rule with a reasonable certainty that in a few years it will not be 

 out of date and working to the detriment, of yachting. Looking 

 back ten, fifteen, twenty years, the faults of the various rules 

 then in vogue are plainly seen, and who can say that another 

 dozen years may not witness such advances in yachting as 

 will make the best of the present rules obstructive and had. 

 While it now seems probable that a length and sail area 

 rule in some form will be the rule of the future, it is 

 still a question which one, and as to the present rule of the New 

 York y. C. there can be no doubt as to its faults and disadvantages. 

 The extent to which oversparring is encouraged is becoming more 

 and more evident each season, and the rule itself will have to be 

 modified sooner or later. To lay down a fixed and permanent rule, 

 however good it may seem now, which shall govern all coining 

 Cup races, is such an absurd and impossible undertaking that 

 there is little likelihood of it receiving any serious consideration 

 from the committee on the revision of the deed of gift. The 

 action of every rule depends more or less on Circumstances and 

 conditions which are constantly changing, and which cannot be 

 relied on from one year to the next. Improvements in construction, 

 greater perfection of model, new ideas as 1 1 sparring, increased 

 excellence in sailmaking, the many advances and discoveries in 

 naval architecture and engineering all lead to constant changes 

 in yachting: and any attempt to limit this advance by fixed rules 

 can only result in robbing the international competition for the 

 Cup of the value that lias accrued to it of late j r ears. There are 

 some points which can bo settled permanently now, before any 

 further races are sailed, but the question of rules and measure- 

 ment is one that must grow and expand with the development 

 of yachting.] 



THE INVENTION OF THE CENTERBOARD. 



THE English papers are still discussing the centerboard, and 

 there seems little doubt that some cent erboard yachts will be 

 built abroad this winter. Whether the board will be tried on a large 

 scale is doubtful, considering that the Y. R, A. will not admit 

 such a yacht to its races, but the report is current that Mr. Geo. 

 Clark will build a large centerboard yacht, probably of Volun- 

 teer's size, from a design by Mr. Wm. Fife, Jr., and that should 

 Mr. Sweet's challenge tail, Mr. Clark will challenge with the new 

 boat. All things considered it does not seem likely that such a 

 boat will be built in the face of the Y. R. A., nor is it at all prob- 

 able that the rule prohibiting centerboards will be altered at 

 present. Should such a yacht be built, then in Scotland or Eng- 

 land she would be barred from all regular events, while there is 

 little likelihood that she would be able to get any private matches 

 with the keel boats. It is probable that the centerboard, thus far 

 confined to small catboats (Unas) and cruising and fishing craft, 

 will be tried more thoroughly than ever before, perhaps in connec- 

 tion with a heavy keel and depth, and such trials may be attended' 

 with some valuable results. Should they come into competition 

 with the smaller keel cutters the results cannot fail to be interest- 

 ing, but there is little likelihood that the keel will over be super- 

 seded by the board in British waters, or that the board will ever 

 be used other than as an auxiliary, a makeshift for shoal water. 

 Just now a strong movement in favor of the centerbonrd is evi- 

 dent among British yachtsmen, and if it leads to a recognition of 

 centerboard craft as legitimate yachts, and their admission on 

 fair terms to the races, it will be good for British yachting. 

 Should it lead to the adoption of the centerboard, instead of a 

 further improvement of the keel fleet, it will work harm rather 

 than good in the future. 



Concerning the propriety of the claim of the British origin of 

 the invention, the following extract is conclusive. There is a link 

 still missing, the early development of the board in America, 

 which some of our readers may be able to supply. Mr. H. A. 

 Schauk, a grandson of Captain, afterward Admiral John Schank, 

 writes as follows to the Field: 



"From the manner in which Volunteer thrashed Thistle, there 

 can belittle question that, centerboard yachts are the fastest, most 

 weatherly and handiest vessels in existence; then why do we not 

 build a centerboard and fight the Americans with their own 

 weapons? (which to my mind is the only way of bringing the 

 America Cup back to this country). There would probably be an 

 outcry if we adopt and make use of the invention; but by saying 

 let us fight them with their own weapons, I do not admit that the 

 centerboard is American, although, as you remark, they have had 

 an almost exclusive monopoly of this contrivance for more than 

 half a century and have become to regard it as of purely Ameri- 

 can origin; so with apologies for any plagiarism, it may be of in- 

 terest to many of your readers to know that it was in America 

 during the fatal contest between the mother countries and her 

 colonies that Admiral John Schank, in a conversation on the art 

 of shipbuilding with His Grace the Duke of Northumberla nd (then 

 Earl Percy), who was on service there with his regiment, that the 

 idea of sliding keels first suggested itself to the former. His Grace 

 observing that 'if cutters were built much flatter, so as to go on 

 the surface and not draw much water they would sail faster and 

 might still be enabled to carry as much sail and keep up to the 

 wind by having their keels descend to a greater depth; and that 

 the flat side of the keel when presented to the water would even 

 make them able to spread more canvas and hold better wind than 

 on a construction whereby they present only the circular surface 

 of the body to the water.' 



"Admiral Schank coincided in tins opiuion, and observed that 

 if this 'deep keel was made movable and to be screwed upward 

 into a trunk or well formed within the vessel, so as that on neces- 

 ity she might draw little water, all the advantages might be ob- 

 tained.' 



"After mature consideration of the principle thus suggested, 

 Admiral Schank, in the year 1774, solicited Lord Percy, then at 

 Boston, to permit him to build a boat for his lordship upon that 

 construction. He did so, and it was found to answer in everv 

 respect. This boat was built with a single sliding keel, which 

 reached almost her entire length. In 1789 he built a boat at Dept- 

 ford with three sliding keels, and the following year the Trial 

 cutter was built at Plymouth. Several other vessels were built on 

 the same construction, and were in the service of the Government 

 at the beginning of the present century, among them the Cynthia, 

 sloop of war of 22 guns, which, from a portrait I have of her, 

 appears to have been built with top sides, much after the style of 

 the third-rate frigates of those days, ship rigged, with single top- 

 sails, topgallant sails, but no .royals. The Lady Nelson, a brig of 

 60 tons, was also built with sliding keels, and in January, 1800, left 

 the Thames on a voyage of discovery to Australia, and after a 

 safe and rapid passage discovered and named the land between 

 Cape Northumberland and vVilsou's Promontory, her log being 

 the most interesting I have ever read. There is a model of this 

 vessel in the Naval Museum at Greenwich. The. papers and certi- 

 ficates relating to these vessels are rather voluminous, therefore I 

 will not trespass upon your valuable space with long extracts; but 

 there is no doubt they were all smart, handy craft and most sea- 

 worthy. 



"The Trial cutter was f ^r many years engaged as a revenue cut- 

 ter on this coast, and had to take the 'rough with the smooth;' all 

 her officers and men were most unanimous in their praise of her 

 seagoing qualities. She had a large keel amidships, 6ft. wide, a 

 smaller one forward and another aft, each 3ft. wide, and all 

 dropped Oft. Lieut. M. Mabton and her oflicors certify that thev 

 were never in any vessel of her size that sailed faster or carried a 

 greater press of sail; that she held a good wind, was very sti ff, and 

 could tack and wear away very quickly; also that none of the 

 King's cutters ever beat her. It is sometimes held as a reason that 

 wo do not have ceuterboards because they w ould not be of any 

 use outside the Solent. I do not think that is so, as, from the evi- 

 dence of the vessels I have named, t hey proved themselves very 

 seaworthy; and I should say centerboards would be found most 

 suitable for cruisers. After the Trial had been inspected at Wool- 

 wich Yard, she left that place, and Wag proceeding to her station 

 at Plymouth. Mr. James Templer, of Stover, Devou, who had 

 given much of his attention to the improvement of naval archi- 

 tecture, was desirous of seeing the operations and effect of the 

 keels in working the ship. He went on board and sailed in her to 

 the coast of Devon, and on landing wrote that lie was more than 

 ever convinced of the great utility of sliding keels. During the 

 voyage the Trial ran into shallow water, and the keels rose and 

 fell without the aid of the winch and without damage. It would, 

 therefore, be a very great advantage to yachts to be able to get 

 into shallow or bar harbors, or to be able to run over rocks, 

 shoals, etc., without coming to grief. Sir Samuel Bentham seems 

 at one time to have, been impressed with the advantages of sliding 

 keels, and adopted them in the sloops Arrow and Dart, also the 

 Netley, schooner; but they were afterward taken out on account 

 of the wellsleaking; however, this slight difficulty might easilybe 

 overcome nowadays with all our modern skill in naval architec- 

 ture. With tbe wouderf ul qualities of the Volunteer before us, I 

 cannot see how we can go wrong in building centerboards, so hope 

 to see them ere long among our yachting navy." 



HAMILTON NOTES.— Yachting promises to look up next year 

 about Hamilton, Ont. The yacht club has given new signs of life 

 and will take an active part in the Lake Association races. A new 

 steel cutter from designs by G. L. Watson is to be added to the 

 fleet, also one by Burgess on l ines similar to the Pappbose, and the 

 plans of a third cutter have already been received, concerning 

 which we take the following f om the Hamilton Spectator: "The 

 design and plans of the cutter to be built for Collector Kilvert and 

 several friends have arrived. They are beautifully finished and 

 complete in all details. The cutter will have a waterline of 32ft. 

 with 10ft. beam, and the lines give an idea of a boat of great 

 stability, comfort and speed. The lower sail area will be 1,100 

 sq. ft. It will also be provided with a commodious cabin. The 

 gentlemen who propose to build the yacht are very well pleased 

 with the plans. C. P. Kunhardt, of New York, deserves great 

 credit for his work." 



AN EXPLOSION ON A STEAM LAUNOH.-On Oct. 23 the 

 small steam launch May lay at the foot of 116 th street, East River, 

 the owner Carl Schmidtke being busy getting up steam for a 

 trial trip, though hull and boiler were both old. John and 

 Patrick Cunningham, were in the stern of the boat. When the 

 boat was nearly ready to start the boiler exploded with great voi- 

 lence, throwing the men into the water. Schmidtke was not 

 seriously injured, but both the others were instantly killed, the 

 bodies being lalmost cut to pieces by fragments of the boiler, the 

 force of the explosion being principally backward. The boat at 

 once sank, 



NEW STEAM YACHTS— Mr. N. L. Munro has sold fie Now 

 Then and it is reported that he has ordered from the Herreshoff 

 Co. a seagoing steam yacht of 135ft. over all to be built of mahog- 

 any on tbe firm's double skin system. The yacht will be designed 

 for great speed. Mr. Munro will also have a smaller boat from 

 the same yard. Mr. John L. Frisbie, of Boston, has latoly de- 

 signed a steam yacht 100ft. long for Mr. Secoinb, of New York. 

 She will be built of wood, by Story, of Essex, Mass., at an East 

 Boston yard. 



THISTLE AND GALATEA.— Nothing has been heard of Galatea 

 since she was reported a few days out from New York, but on Oct. 

 18 Thistle was spoken by the schooner Martha A. Bradley, lately 

 arrived at Gloucester. The two were then in lati 42deg. Ibnin., 

 and long. 57deg. 46min. A dory from the schooner boarded the 

 yacht and received a supply of water. All were well on board and 

 a good passage thus far was reported. On Oct. 19 the schooner 

 encountered a heavy southerly gale. 



ATALANTA.— Mr. Jay Gould's steam yacht sailed from South 

 Brooklyn on Oct. 25, her ostensible destination being Gibraltar, 

 with a stop at Payal for coal. She will wait at some Mediterranean 

 port for her owner, who proposes to cross by steamer, leaving New 

 York about Dec. 1. The Atalanta is in charge of young Oap.ain 

 Shackford, while ber regular commander will cross with Mr. 

 Gould. 



ANOTHER CUTTER FOR AM ERICA.— Daisie, one of the Clyde 

 3-tonners, will be brought out next year by Mr. William Clark. 

 She is a Watson boat 28ft. l.w.l. by 4ft. Sin. beam, and has been 

 quite successful in Scotland. 



NAPHTHA LAUNCH RACING— A second race between the 

 naphtha launches of the Eleotra and Corsair took place on Oct. 25, 

 from Tebo's pier around Buoy 18, Corsair winning by 30sec. 



CARRD3 E. PHILLIPS.— This name has been chosen for the 

 new Burgess fisherman, in honor of the wife of the principal 

 owner. The boat will be 'aunched this week. 



PAPPOOSE— It is reported that Pappoose has been sold to a 

 New York yachtsman, and that. Mr. Adams will build another 

 yacht from Mr. Burgess's designs. 



The city contains a goodly number of enthusiastic sports 

 men, and already they have made the best record by far of 

 any season for many years. Prominent in this line are A. P. 

 Barrows, J. G. Belrose, Henry R. Conger, W. L. Stone, J. 

 Van Sicklin, W. F. Hendee, and Frank. Dtuibar. Wildfowl 

 along the lake shore have been and are extraordinarily plenty, 

 and sportsmen are having immense luck. As an example, 

 Messrs. Stone, Conger and Dunbar brought in from "the 

 Sandbar blind," north of the city, as a result of only a few 

 hours shooting last week, live geese and fifteen black ducks 

 and mallards; and Messrs. Belrose, Barrows and Van Sicklin, 

 five geese and two ducks. The geese averaged nearly eleven 

 pounds each, and were splendid specimens. The ducks also 

 made a fine showing. Since then large bags of this variety 

 of game have been brought in every day, and the sport is at 

 its height. The marshes and bogs all along the lake arc full 

 of birds that stop over for a day or two on their way south. 

 Over sixty plump geese and five hundred ducks have been 

 brought into the city by local sportsmen thus far this fall, 

 and the season has hardly begun. The lake has unlimited 

 attractions for fall shooting, and is beginning to be appreci- 

 ated by sportsmen from a distance— Burlington (Vt.) Cor- 

 respondence Argus and Patriot. 



\mivtrn to (^otnn$onAmt$. 



Igf 3 " No Notice Taken of Anonymous Correspondents. 



X., New York.— Madge won 6 races out of 7 sailed in America. 

 H. S. W., Larchwood, la.— Write to Dr. Van Hummell, Caldwell, 

 Kan. 



G. W., Concord, N. II.— The gun youname is a good one for the 

 price. 



F. L.— We have learned of no accidents in connection with the 

 use of the gun. 



A. N. O., Newburyport, Mass.— We have no record of the dog, 

 write to his former owner. 



F. V. W., Dardanelle, Ark.— "Training vs. Breaking" is the 

 book you want, for sale at this office, price ft, 



C, Linden, Mass.— Turk is by imported Rajah and out of im- 

 ported Brenda. Countess is by Turk and out of Jule (Pierce's 

 Grip— Baby). 



F. E. T.— For lice on dogs use Persian insect powder, or a decoc- 

 tion of quassia wood. .See full instructions in Forest and Stream, 

 Jan. 27, 1887, page 11. 



C. P. O., New York.— There are few such boats about New York. 

 A small cruiser would cost $100 to build and there are few second- 

 hand ones to be had. 



K., Eau Claire, Wis.— Marco (A.K.R . 2477) is by Mainspring (Mike 

 —Romp) and out of Chic (Croxteth— Vinnie). Vinnie was by 

 Dilley's Ranger and out of Corcoran's Bess (Taylor's Shot— Bev- 

 in's Nell). 



W. E. B., Bristol, R. I.— So much depends upon the rearing of 

 dogs, especially of the larger breeds, that it is impossible to give 

 the average weight or height that puppies should attain at any 

 given year. 



B. . Earlville, N. Y.— It is impossible to give an intelligent criti- 

 cism of a dog from a photograph. Distemper is contagious, use 

 Glover's distemper cure. Would not advise you to dock your 

 dog's tail. 



J. P. C, Leonia.— A, B, C and D are shooting clay-pigeons, the 

 money is divided in two parts, first and second. A, B and C each 

 break 21 out of 25. D breaks 19. Who is entitled to second money? 

 Ans. If class-shooting, D. 



W. S., Fruit Vale.— Hunting rail with a setter or pointer is very 

 apt to seriously injure the dog for hunting other game, as it un- 

 SteadieB him, and he is liable to acquire the habit of rooting up 

 his birds instead of pointing them. 



DeW. P., Salem.— Could a man train a bird dog so that it would 

 be good for anything after studying a book on the subject? Ans. 

 Yes, if there is any material in the dog to work on. Thousands of 

 dogs have been trained by Hammond's book, "Training vs. Break- 

 ing," and thousands more will be. We publish it and the price is 

 a dollar. 



W. G. V., New York.— We do not know of any fishing places 

 within two or three miles of the City Hall except from the 

 wharves and piers, where boys and some men take a few fish. 

 Occasionally a fair sized bass or other good fish is taken off the 

 Battery. For better fishing go to Staten Island or to Coney Island 

 Creek or down to Jamaica Bay. 



L. D. C, New Orleans.— Lloyd's Register would be of little use 

 to you, the price is 15s. per year, about $10 in this country. The 

 term "three beams" signifies only that the length is three times 

 the beam, and refers simply to proportion and not to absolute size. 

 The "Cruise of the Coot" ran through 30 numbers and the "Cruise 

 of the Pilgrim" through some of the same numbers and also 

 through six numbers in 1887. These issues can be had at 10 cents 

 each except a few which will cost 25 cents. 



Jfw §ttMimtiatt^ 



A CANADIAN BOOK ON SPORT. 



Chasse et Pechk au Canada. Par J. M. Le Moine. Quebec: 

 N. S. Hardy, 1887. Paper, 302 pages. Illustrated. 



Mr. Le Moine is an industrious and painstaking writer, who 

 delights to delve in grounds overlooked by others, and to bring 

 forth rich treasures of historical and legendary lore. His con- 

 tributions to the history of Canada have given him a permanent 

 place in the literature of the Dominion. Strange as it may appear, 

 our author h ,s had an opportunity to gratify this penchant for 

 labor in fields neglected by other literary workers, even in the 

 preparation of a work on so common a subject as "Hunting and 

 Fishing." If we are not mistaken, "Chasse et Peehe" is the first 

 book on this topic that has come from the French press of Can- 

 ada. Considering the wealth of that country m game and fish, 

 the great number of ardent sportsmen and the size of the French- 

 speaking population, it is remarkable that when Mr. Le Moine 

 came, to prepare a comprehensive sportsman's manual in French 

 for Canadians he should have found the field unoccupied. This, 

 too, might be reckoned by any author a bit of good fortune, for in 

 these days it is difficult to find a pathway of literary endeavor 

 which has not already been trodden. 



"Chasse et Peehe" is designed to be for Canada in scope and 

 mode of treatment what, Mr. Mullock's "Gazetteer" is for North 

 America at large. The first part (dedicated, by the way. to Mr. J. 

 U. Gregory, of Quebec) relates to the hunting of large and small 

 game, treating of the natural history of each species, the methods 

 pursued in its capture, equipments of the chase, dogs, expedients, 

 etc., and the resorts where game is found. These, chapters are 

 plentiful^ besprinkled with incident, anecdote and bits of curious 

 information, and the reader is constantly made mindful in a 

 pleasant way of the author's antiquarian tastes. Here, for in- 

 stance, is the account of the great game preserve of Uouverneur 

 Montmaguy in 1040, which our readers will remember as described 

 by Mr. Le Moine in the columns of this journal some months ago. 



"The second division of the work treats of fish and fishing, and is 

 supplemented by a series of chapters reviewing the literature of 

 Canadian sport, being a valuable resume of the works of English, 

 Canadian and American authors, among them being R. B. Roose- 

 velt, Chas. Laimiaiij Chas. Hallock, A. M. Mayer, H. P. Wells and 

 Geo. M. Fairchild, Jr., whose portrait we recognize as the caribou 

 hunter on page 84. For his labors in their held as contained in 

 this volume, the hunters and anglers of Canada are under obliga- 

 tion to Mr. Le Moine, and we hope that "Chasse et Peehe" may be 

 rewarded with the recognition it deserves. It is a pity that the 

 publisher did not see fit to put the book into the board covers it 

 was worthy of. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



A Manual of North American Birds. By Robert Ridgway. 

 ProfuBoly illustrated by 404 outline drawings of the generic char- 

 acters. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippiucott Co. Royal octavo, cloth, 

 gilt. Price $7.50. Deferring for the present our review of this 

 work, we quote from the prospectus: "The object of this work is 

 to furnish a convenient manual of North American Ornithology, 

 reduced to the smallest compass by the omission of everything 

 that is not absolutely necessary for determining the character of 

 any given specimen, and including, besides the correct nomen- 

 clature of each species, a statement of its natural habitat, and 

 other concomitant data. The analytical keys are unlike any pre- 

 viously used for an^*ornithological work in America, and aro a 

 model of simplicity, conciseness and utility. They answer exactly 

 the purpose tor which they are intended, all the essential charac- 

 ters Deing given, while their strictly dichotomous and antithetical 

 arrangement is so entirely free from the confusion of headings 

 and various complications of the older synoptical tables, that the 

 merest tyro is able to at once understand and use them with abso- 

 lute certainty of satisfactory results. Not only are the essential 

 characters of every species and subspecies given, but the various 

 plumages of each, depending on sex, age and season, are carefully 

 distinguished. The nest and eggs are concisely described, the 

 measurements of the latter expressing the average dimensions of 

 a number of specimens selected for the purpose, and from which 

 all abnormalities have been excluded. Measurements of the birds 

 themselves are, whenever desirable for greater exactness of com- 

 parison with allied forms, made, whenever practical, from large 

 series, in which case not only the extremes but also the averages 

 are given. The geographical limits of the work also conform to 

 those adopted by the American Ornithologists' Union; but it has 

 been deemed advisablo, for the special benefit of observers or in- 

 vestigators along our southern border, to include in the synopses 

 all Mexican Cuban and Bahaman species of each North American 

 genus, and also, in the keys to the genera, additional Mexican 

 genera. Special exception to geographical limitation has been 



