i88 
'I'HH CONDOR 
I Vol. Ill 
ACTION OF THE A O. U. ON MEMBERSHIP. 
[Special liispatch to Tni'. Condou.] 
“New York, N. Y., Nov. 12, 1901. 
“(A'innell, Beal, Bishop, O. Bangs and T. vS. Palmer elected Fellows. 
Walter K. Fisher.” 
'I'hc American Ornithologists’ Union held its business meeting in New York Monday even- 
ing, Nov. II and as shown by the above advice, has added hve additional names to its list of P'el- 
lows. It should be remembered that the former active membership of the Union is now desig- 
nated as Fellows. It is expected that a new class of 50 Active Members to be elected from the 
pre.sent associate membership will be created, but no action had evidently been taken up to the 
date of the above telegram. Ornithologists will appreciate the fact that so substantial an addition 
has been made to the Fellowship of the Union, while Californians warmly hail the recognition 
shown Mr. Jose[)h (.'Trinnell by his election. 
® tiiii liiki ® ® 
GENERAL NEWS NOTES. 
Walter K. E^'isher, Associate Editor of Thpi Condor is visiting his home in Washington, D. 
C.. where he will remain until Jan. i It is not unlikely that Mr. F'isher will grasp nian3' 
Eastern ideas in magazine puldishing, which will later reflect improvements in The Condor. 
new land tortoise is described in the October number of Novitaies Zoologicae hy Hon. 
Walter Rothschild as Testndo becki \n honor of its collector, Mr. Rollo fl. Heck. Its habitat is 
given as Cape Berkeley, the northern point of ,\lbemarle Island, Galapagos .\rchipelago. The 
tortoi.se was taken on the recent Heck-.Adams expedition to the islands. 
Mr. Otto Holstein of Cline, Texas records a curiouslv loc'ated wren’s nest. It was built in the 
hook of a semaphore signal placed there for the jmrpose of hanging a semaphore light at night. 
The distance from the grouiul w'as 40 feet and the semaphore arms were used on an average of 
fifteen times a da\', jarring the jiole each time, The nest held one egg when found but had to 
be removed to accommodate the lamp. 
Willis 11 . Jackson of Pescadero, Cal , records a nest of the Barn Swallow on .Aug. 21 con- 
taining three eggs, the birds having previously reared two broods for the season. .Also on Sept. 
24 he discovered a nest of the California Partridge containing fen eggs on which the female bird 
was setting. The eggs were partially dried up and the jjarent bird must have patiently set on 
them from the time they were laid. 
W. W’. Price will conduct his usual winter excursion of zoologists this year, the chosen route 
being through the canyons of the Colorado River from Needles, Cal , to Yuma, Ariz., a distance 
of'350 miles. The party w ill leave Needles about Dec 20 and .some fifteen days w ill be consumed 
in making the trip, which will doubtless prove most interesting under Mr. Price’s direction. 
The Nineteenth Congress of the American Ornithologists’ Union convened at the .American 
Museum of Natural Histor\' in New York on November 12 fora three da\-s session. .Although 
the ])rogramme has not reached the Coast up to the present writing, an array of able papers and 
discussions is assured, such as makes each annual meeting of the Union memorable to those who 
attend. The interesting business feature of the Congress will be the election of several new Fel- 
lows and the inauguration of the new .Active Membership, consisting of 30 ornithologists from the 
ranks of the |)resent associate list. The Condor hopes to receive advice of the residt b\’ wire, 
and to announce it in the present issue. 
.As we go to press another Galapagos expedition is being ouifitted under the supervision of 
Rollo II. Beck, who will be th? ornith )logis‘; in c’lirgj. The scho)ner Miry Sach<; has been 
chartered and the partv will sail about Nov 13. It is expected that all of the islands will be 
visited and a sjiecial study will be made of the tortoise question. The summit of Narborough 
Island will be carefully explored, it being a region that has not been worked in recent years. It 
is also the intention of Mr. Beck to collect as far as practicable specimens of all the breeding 
land birds with their nests. .A gasoline launch will aiil materially in visiting many of the islands 
which adverse currents and winds sometime make it difficult to reach. 
