102 
Thomas Mayo Breiwer. 
547c. Larus cachinnans, Pall. 
547 d. Larus afiinis, Reirih. 
549 a. Larus canus, L. According to recent determinations, these 
three species are to be added to my list. The first two have been decided 
to be distinct species, and the third, well known in Europe, has been dis- 
covered among my Labrador collections of 1860. 
626. Alle nigricans, Link. See Bull. Nutt. Ornith. Club, IV, Oct., 
1879, p 244. 
THOMAS MAYO BREWER. 
Dr. Thomas Mayo Brewer, so well known as an ornithologist, 
died after a short illness at his residence in Boston, January 23, 
1880. He was born in Boston, November 21, 1814, graduated at 
Harvard College in 1835, and three years later took the degree 
of M. D. at the Harvard Medical School. He entered immediately 
upon the practice of his profession, and was for some years dis- 
pensary physician for the “North End” section of his native city. 
His tastes were, however, strongly in other directions. As early as 
1837 he published a noteworthy paper entitled “Some Additions 
to the Catalogue of the Birds of Massachusetts in Prof. Hitchcock’s 
Report, etc.,” these additions increasing by one fourth the list of 
the birds then known as inhabitants of this State. His interest in 
ornithology began, however, at a much earlier date, since he was a 
friend and associate of Nuttall and Audubon, the latter of whom 
frequently speaks, in his great work on North American birds, of 
his indebtedness to his young friend, Mr. T. M. Brewer, for informa- 
tion and for rare specimens of birds. General politics occupied a 
large share of his attention, and his predilection in that direction 
was so strong that he soon abandoned the practice of medicine and 
accepted an editorial position on the “ Boston Atlas,” a leading 
Whig paper of the period, to which he had been previously a fre- 
quent contributor. He was not only a vigorous and bold writer, 
but his sagacity and soundness of judgment gave him much influ- 
ence with the leaders of the Whig party. The editorial letters from 
Washington, daily sent by him to his paper during several winters 
spent at the capital, have been referred to as furnishing the most 
reliable transcript of passing events that were to be found in the 
