Sept., 1905 | 
IN MEMORIAM: WALTER E. BRYANT 
131 
neath Chick’s Cliff in the famed ‘Pine Canyon.’ The first thing in early day- 
break, with the last call of the poor-will, Bryant would turn over and say from 
under his night-cap: ‘Come, Emerson, a fire, a cup of coffee, and then off for the 
early bird.’ No matter where or how hard the tramp might be, he was ready for 
it, and would take you to the nesting grounds of the gnatcatcher or to the duck- 
hawk’s eyry in some ‘Castle Rocks.’ He was slow of movement but sure of 
purpose, and to tell him of some little known bird or animal was to start him off 
for it at once.” 
Our veteran ornithologist, Mr. Lyman Belding, on hearing of Mr. Bryant’s 
death, wrote the following appreciation: 
“He inherited a love of nature and a love of adventure which in early youth 
took him to the cliffs of Mount Diablo for eggs of the Prairie Falcon, and other 
ornithological prizes, and later to inhospitable Guadalupe Island and more distant 
parts of the Pacific Coast. He was a good observer, a facile writer, and a most 
agreeable companion. During a long, intimate acquaintance covering quite ex- 
tended collecting trips, the writer invariably found him genial and gentlemanly.” 
The Ornithological Writings of Walter E. Bryant 
BY JOSEPH GRINNEU 
A S will be noticed from a perusal of the following list of titles, the majority of 
Bryant’s published writings appeared from 1887 to 1889 the “Bulletin” 
and “Proceedings” of the California Academy of Sciences, and from 1890 to 
1893 in “Zoe,” a periodical published lor four years at San Francisco. These 
seven years marked the period of Bryant’s greatest activity in Natural History 
lines, and the articles resulting from this work evince an evident endeavor to ex- 
press plainly and accurately whatever he thought worthy of record. Not that his 
descriptions and recitals are tiresomely commonplace; for I have seldom read any- 
thing more fascinating to a naturalist than the accounts of his experiences while 
collecting in Lower California and on Guadalupe Island. These, in particular, I 
would advise every Condor reader to look up, and read, as well worth while. 
And as for the scientific value of Bryant's recorded observations, where can we 
find any more reliable and valuable contributions to West Coast ornithology? The 
life-histories of many of our remotely restricted species would remain today almost 
wholly unknown, if Bryant had not spent lonely months in their study, and then 
composed what he learned in the form in which we find it now so instructive. 
1880. Notes on the Habits of Rallus obsoletus, with a Description of its Eggs. 
<Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club V, April, pp. 1 24-125. 
1884. Nest and Eggs of Myiadestes townsendi. <Auk I, January, pp. 91-92. 
1885. The Relationship of Podiceps occidentalis and P. clarkii. <Auk II, July, 
pp. 313-314- 
1886. Additions to California Avifauna. <Forest & Stream XXVI, June, p. 426. 
1887. Piranga rubriceps and Tringa fuscicollis in California. <Auk IV, January, 
pp. 78-79. 
1887. Additions to the Ornithology of Guadalupe Island. <Bull. Cal. Ac. Sc. II, 
January, pp. 269-318. 
1887. Discovery of the Nest and Eggs of the Evening Grosbeak ( Coccothraustes 
vesper tina). <Bull. Cal. Ac. Sc. II. July, p. 449. 
