2 THE. A\U DIU TB ON) BOs beret 
Though unsuccessful in selling the idea to these Fellows of the Ameri- 
can Ornithologist’s Union, we decided to go ahead anyway with the support 
of the amateur ornithologists in our acquaintance. At that time there was 
a graduate student in the University of Chicago who had been an excep- 
tionally fine assistant in my course in ornithology. He had also helped me, 
through his acquaintance with graduate students interested in birds, in 
getting assistants for my course. This was Ralph W. Chaney, who later 
became a distinguished paleobotanist and has been professor of paleobotany 
at the University of California since 1922. Chaney assisted in contacting 
ornithological possibilities for the Society. 
The first meeting was held December 11, 1912, in the lecture room of 
the Department of Zoology at the University of Chicago, and there were 13 
persons present who became charter members. Some of these were as 
follows: Dr. Alfred Lewy, who is a prominent ear, nose, and throat spe- 
cialist; Dr. Charles H. Swift, who is a professor in the Department of 
Anatomy at the University of Chicago; Mr. Warralo Whitney, deceased, 
was a teacher of biology in one of the Chicago high schools; Dr. Morris M. 
Wells, deceased, was a member of the Department of Zoology at the Univer- 
sity of Chicago and later founded the General Biological Supply Company; 
Elliot Downing was a professor in the Department of Education in the 
University of Chicago; Dr. John W. MacArthur, then a graduate student, 
later became a distinguished professor of genetics at the University of 
Toronto; Mr. Leon Walter was a taxidermist at Field Museum, later dis- 
tinguished for his important contributions to the technique of taxidermy 
and model-making. Only three of these are still members: Dr. Alfred 
Lewy, Dr. Charles H. Swift, and the writer. 
The next meeting was on January 14, 1913, and another meeting was 
held on June 28, when a constitution was adopted and officers for the year 
elected. Mr. Ruthven Deane was the speaker at the meeting on January 14. 
Two people were present at the third meeting who were to have much 
infiuence in the Society for a number of years: Mr. and Mrs. Percival 
Brooks Coffin. Mr. Coffin was a bond broker, and his wife had been an 
alert and enthusiastic member of a small class which I had conducted the 
preceding spring for people not regular students in the University. I had 
been impressed by her alertness and enthusiasm. 
The Society adopted a policy of restricting membership to persons with 
considerable knowledge of ornithology, and all candidates for membership 
were considered carefully by a membership committee before election. 
Presumably, this policy and the relatively long distances which members 
had to travel to meetings were responsible for the relatively small size of 
the Society. 
As the dues were small, and the membership less than one hundred, 
there was little income for necessary expenses. Mr. Rudyard Boulton, 
curator of ornithology at Field Museum, was elected president in 1938. He 
started a movement toward more liberal requirements for membership 
with the result that both membership and attendance have increased some- 
what. The dues were also raised from one dollar to two dollars per year. 
With so small an income it was not feasible for many years to rent 
