Curator Of Birds Research Articles

The Call of the Hoatzin: Ecology, Evolution, and Eugenics at the Bronx Zoo

From 1908 to 1922, William Beebe, the curator of birds at the Bronx Zoo, tried unsuccessfully to bring tropical birds known as hoatzin to the zoological park in the Bronx run by the New York Zoological Society. Beebe was committed to bringing hoatzin to the zoo because he thought they could reveal scientific truths about ecology and evolution to him and the visiting public. While contemporary scholarship about zoo science in the United States has focused on how environmental conservation shaped the scientific practices of zoos at the turn to the 20th century, Beebe's efforts to bring hoatzin to the Bronx shows that evolutionary theory and ecology were central issues at the institution. Beebe wanted to use zoo displays to conduct research into the relationships between organisms and environments in order to investigate how certain animal behaviors, such as flight, developed. Beebe's employers, Madison Grant and Henry Osborn, were less interested in Beebe's experimentation with zoo exhibits, and more invested in using the zoo as a place to disseminate evolutionary ideas they already understood as scientific truths about heredity, racial hierarchies, and eugenics. Whereas Beebe saw his scientific practice as dependent on ecological connections, Grant and Osborn stressed a narrative of purity and separation (of species and race) that governed the conservation projects and scientific focus of the Zoological Society, as well as the presentation of animals on zoo grounds. Ultimately, Grant and Osborn's evolutionary concerns and their vision of a hierarchical natural world dictated the scientific direction of the Bronx Zoo in a way that prevented the institution from becoming a site for ecological research.

Neotropical bird evolution and 100 years of the enduring ideas of Frank M. Chapman

The processes of bird diversification in South America have long been a focus of evolutionary biologists and this paper partly acts as an introduction to a selection of such work published in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society and collated into a Virtual Issue (http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/bij/neotropical-bird-evolution). At the beginning of the 20th century, Frank M. Chapman, curator of birds at the American Museum of Natural History, conducted a series of expeditions in Colombia and Ecuador to ‘discover the geographic origins of South American bird-life’. The expeditions produced almost 30 000 specimens, obtained in a sampling scheme aimed at revealing the geographical and elevational distributions of birds. Chapman proposed a series of ideas about the evolutionary origins of the tropical Andean avifauna. Despite being nearly 100 years old, Chapman's evolutionary hypotheses on the role of the appearance of new environments and geographical barriers on speciation, have an enduring influence. With the development of molecular methods and tools for the study of the mechanisms and timing of speciation events, Chapman's hypotheses have seen a revival in the recent scientific literature. Recent work has provided support for some of Chapman's hypotheses, but has also revealed greatly complex processes of biotic differentiation in the Neotropics. What is remarkable is that with means that today seem precarious, Chapman envisioned evolutionary processes at a continental scale that remain valid, in fields that currently advance at an accelerated rhythm and soon render older ideas obsolete.

To the Curator of Birds

To the Curator of Birds

Resolution of Respect: Professor Paul Schultz Martin 1928–2010

Resolution of Respect: Professor Paul Schultz Martin 1928–2010

Ernst Mayr: 1904 – 2005

One Long Argument, the title of one of Ernst Mayr's later popular books on evolution, in many ways sums up the core of his intellectual life. Mayr, a leading evolutionary biologist over many years of the past century, who died aged 100 last month, was an explorer, naturalist, ornithologist, philosopher, historian of science and Harvard academic.Like Darwin, he was studying medicine when his focus was diverted to natural history. In his 20s he grasped opportunities for tropical expeditions and his travels shaped his life. His achievements were the result of being profoundly enthralled by the wonders of nature and applying his sharp inquisitive mind to finding logical answers, supported by scientific research.Mayr was a birdwatcher from childhood, influenced by his father, Otto. At 10, he could identify many species around the southern German town of Kempten. But the most significant event that year was his sighting of a pair of red-crested pochards, not recorded in Germany since 1846. He recalled that his life would have been completely different had it not been for those ducks.They brought him to the attention of Professor Erwin Stresemann, curator of birds at the Berlin Natural History Museum; Mayr was invited to work there during vacations, classifying tropical bird specimens. He recalled it was like being ‘given the keys to heaven.’An ornithology doctorate followed in 1925, and he became the museum's curator in 1926. At the 1927 International Zoological Congress at Budapest, he met the banker Lord Walter Rothschild, who had a private museum at Tring, in southern England. Rothschild was assembling the world's most comprehensive bird collection, and Mayr did not hesitate when offered the job of New Guinea staff naturalist. His 1928–29 experiences there included journeys through six unexplored mountain ranges.He was then invited to lead a 1929–30 expedition to the Solomon Islands, sponsored by the American philanthropist Harry Payne Whitney. This made important contributions to biology, discovered scores of species and filled a hall at New York's Museum of Natural History.View Large Image | View Hi-Res Image | Download PowerPoint SlideIn the early 1930s Mayr was briefly curator of Rothschild's Tring collection and might well have stayed in England. But when the banker plunged into financial crisis, 280,000 of his bird skins were sold to the New York museum. This was Mayr's base for 21 years – as the Whitney-Rothschild collection's associate curator from 1932 to 1944, and curator to 1953.View Large Image | View Hi-Res Image | Download PowerPoint SlideHis early work guided Theodosius Dobzhansky's Genetics and the Origin of Species (1937), which founded the synthetic theory of evolution. With Julian Huxley and George Gaylord Simpson, he helped incorporate new discoveries by naturalists and population geneticists into the framework of Darwinian theory.Harvard was important to the second half of his life, he was professor of zoology from 1953 to 1975 and also directed the university's Museum of Comparative Zoology from 1961 to 1970. His interest in evolutionary biology, and the history and philosophy of biology grew. His Animal Species and Evolution (1963) had new views on the nature of species.His later years were dominated by continuing his argument into the development of a philosophy of biology. Mayr was acutely aware of the distinction between biological principles and those of the physical sciences. As physical science had an increasing input into the workings of biology his plangent voice grew stronger. His one long argument, backed by a lifetime of solid practical work, is sure to endure. “I'm an old-time fighter for Darwinism,” he told the Harvard University Gazette in 1991. “I say: ‘Please tell me what is wrong with Darwinism. I don't see anything wrong.’”

Ned K. Johnson, 1932–2003

Ned K. Johnson, for many years Curator of Birds at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and Professor of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, died on 11 June 2003. He had served as President of both the American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. He was America's foremost authority on the taxonomy and biogeography of the birds of western North America and his research and expertise extended from the field to the museum and into the molecular laboratory. Ned Johnson was born in Reno, Nevada, on 3 November 1932; he grew up in Reno and attended the University of Nevada, graduating in 1954. By that time he was already enamoured of birds and had begun publishing his natural history observations in journals such as Condor and the Great Basin Naturalist. He served with the US Army Medical Service in Germany from 1954 to 1956 and subsequently entered graduate school at the University of California at Berkeley. For his doctoral research, Ned worked on determining species status in sibling species of New World tyrannid flycatchers in the difficult genus Empidonax. His was one of the first studies to involve tape recordings and playback experiments on the breeding grounds. Upon completion of his PhD, Ned was hired as a faculty member at the University of California and its associated Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. Ned took up the path of his predecessors, Joseph Grinnell and Alden Miller, the latter his doctoral dissertation advisor. Like them, he felt a deep affection for the fauna, flora and landscapes of the western United States, and especially for those of the Sierra Nevada and the Great Basin ranges. At the end of each academic year, he would pack up his truck and spend much of the summer collecting specimens at localities carefully chosen to elucidate taxonomic or biogeographical problems. Ned was also an avid fly fisherman, and so the summers in the mountains gave him the opportunity to pursue this pastime. Ned continued studies of Empidonax and other tyrannid flycatchers throughout his career. More generally, however, he was interested in taxa that were morphologically or vocally differentiated across the western US. He was never a prisoner of the past; as new techniques were developed and shown to be useful, Ned adopted them. Thus, his second monograph on Empidonax in 1980 included multivariate morphometric analyses, a computer-based technique that had not been available at the time of his PhD dissertation. Allozyme studies of intraspecific variation became feasible at about this same time, and Ned incorporated them into his research. This led to the inclusion of liquid nitrogen dewars on his field trips. We both remember his stories of misadventures in South America with authorities confronted with ‘smoking’ nitrogen tanks for the first time. By 1990, mitochondrial DNA studies became feasible and Ned pursued this research for all his favourite groups. Incorporation of molecular techniques led to an interest in higher level systematics, something he had not shown much interest in beforehand. In all these studies Ned made lasting contributions; our knowledge of variation and speciation of the avifauna of western North America was profoundly affected by his unflagging and technologically evolving attention. For his research, Ned was awarded the AOU's Brewster Medal, the highest honour that the society can bestow. In addition to his research, Ned was very active in academic ornithology at local, national and international levels. He taught the undergraduate ornithology course at UC Berkeley throughout his tenure and earned the affection of students with local field trips; in the spring, for example, he required his natural history class to meet before first light at Tilden Park in the Berkeley Hills to experience the dawn chorus. Although Ned did not take on large numbers of graduate students, many of those who received their degrees under his guidance also worked on problems in speciation and geographical variation in birds and subsequently went on to occupy major academic and museum positions. Ned took on many leadership roles in American ornithology in addition to serving terms as President of its two major professional organizations. For three decades he was an active force in the AOU's Committee on Classification and Nomenclature – the arbiters of the official Checklist of North American birds. He enjoyed travelling to the International Ornithological Congresses every four years and served as a permanent member of the International Ornithological Committee. At meetings he was gregarious and especially complimentary to students and beginning ornithologists; consequently, his friendships extended to every generation of active researchers. Ned was an outstanding figure in twentieth century North American ornithology. His legacy includes a coterie of well-respected students, a series of classic papers, and a much-revised understanding of the biogeography and species status of western North American birds.

IN MEMORIAM: RALPH J. RAITT, 1929–2000

The passing of Ralph J. Raitt on 12 December 2000 ended a lifetime of dedication to high professional standards and personal integrity. His death, in the midst of the planning for yet another of his beloved fishing trips to the mountains of northern New Mexico, was sudden and unexpected. He was preceded in death by his first wife Imogene. He is survived by their two sons James Raitt of Houston, Texas, and Bill Raitt of Albuquerque, New Mexico, his brother Tom Raitt of St. Paul, Minnesota, and his second wife, Helen Raitt of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Ralph was first and foremost a scholar who sought truth in all he undertook. He was known for his kindness, his candor, and his dislike of hypocrisy. He was liked and respected by his peers and cherished and revered by his students. He formed enduring friendships, best typified by the annual fishing trip he enjoyed each year with high school friends from California. His many friends recognized and appreciated the loyalty he expressed in so many ways. For example, he picked up a disabled colleague for the weekly gathering of retired faculty members at a local coffee shop, and took another disabled friend on an extended fishing trip to a remote mountain site. There seemed no end to his personal generosity and consideration of others. Family was very important to Ralph. On long research trips to remote areas of Mexico, I often heard him express how much he missed his boys. On longer research trips to Central and South America, his family often accompanied him. He made his family an important part of his life and his work. Ralph's lifelong passion for the outdoors centered on hunting and fishing, and eventually brought him to the field of biology. Born in Santa Ana, California on 9 February 1929, Ralph graduated form Ventura High School in 1946. At Stanford University, he chose geology as his major before discovering that zoology was his real obsession; he completed his BA in 1950. He went on to graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where he worked on California Quail (Lophortyx californicus) under the direction of Starker Leopold. After one year in graduate school, a two-year stint in the army delayed his return to Berkeley to complete his studies. Hired a year before he completed his Ph.D. in 1959, he spent his entire career at New Mexico State University until 1990, and then stayed to retire in his beloved Las Cruces. Ralph was a classically trained field ornithologist, schooled in the importance of meticulous field notes, careful observation, and thorough documentation. As an avid scientific collector and preparer, he served as Curator of Birds in the Department of Biology from 1958 to 1990, and did much to build the scientific collection. His research included classic works on quail, bushtits, Mexican and South American thrushes, New World jays, and others. Much of this work was conducted at rugged undeveloped locations in the western United States, Mexico, and Central and South America. He, with his field companions, would establish a remote camp that served as temporary home, laboratory, and museum while heading out daily for weeks at a time to make observations, record data, and collect specimens. Some of his research was close to home, and some involved the birds and bird communities of the Chihuahuan Desert. Much of that was done in conjunction with his many graduate students, with support from the National Science Foundation, and other sources. Rich in diversity and productivity, his research brought many new insights to Neotropical ornithology. Ralph was an effective and dedicated scientist whose many accomplishments advanced

Inventorying biodiversity: an African perspective

Although the increased awareness of biodiversity preservation has highlighted the crucial role of biological collections in museums, seemingly little attention has been given to the urgency of inventory work. In Joris Komen’s view, making a collection accessible and useful to the world community should be a major museum priority. The author is curator of birds at the National Museum of Namibia. He has spent many years working on the endemic avifauna of the south‐western arid zone of Africa, focusing on behavioural and vocal character comparisons, mating systems and other ‘non‐traditional’ biological systematic methods.

A Wilderness Apprenticeship: Olaus Murie in Canada, 1914–15 and 1917

In late May 1914, a large, gray Peterborough freight canoe carrying four men outfitted for a summer of scientific field work cleared the bank of Quebec's Bell River, 185 miles east of Cochrane, Ontario, and entered the northbound current heading for Hudson Bay., Among the four was Olaus J. Murie, a twenty-five-year-old American biologist. Murie's fellow travelers were the expedition leader, W. E. Clyde Todd, and Native American guides Paul Commanda and Jack (Jocko) Couchai. Todd, a curator of birds at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which sponsored the expedition, described the guides as Objibwa Indians of ability and intelligence.2 Although professionally unknown at the time, Murie became one of the world's premier biologists and a major environmental spokesperson. He later conducted seminal field studies of caribou and other faunal species in Alaska, performed a comprehensive scientific assessment of the wapiti or American elk in Wyoming's Jackson Hole and surrounding areas, and pioneered in the study of many other mammals and birds before his retirement in 1945. Murie played a local role in the expansion of Grand Teton National Park and later, as president and director of the Wilderness Society, worked to preserve a number of wild areas in the contiguous United States and Alaska including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He also extensively promoted and lobbied for passage of a national wilderness preservation system, which Congress established in the Wilderness Act of 1964, the year following Murie's death.3 Murie became a prolific author and award-winning conservationist. He wrote and illustrated numerous books including Alaska-Yukon Caribou and Fauna of the Aleutians andAlaska Peninsula, scientific monographs based on his fieldwork. The National Wildlife Society judged his comprehensive wapiti study, The Elk of North America, the outstanding publication on terrestrial wildlife in 1951. Murie wrote and illustrated A Field Guide to Animal Tracks in the acclaimed Roger Tory Peterson Field Guide Series. He shared authorship of Wapiti Wilderness with his wife, Margaret E. Murie, who also completed her husband's memoir, Journeys to the Far North, after his death. Writer and historian J. Frank Dobie personally selected

Breeding Pesquet's parrot: Psittrichas fulgidus at Loro Parque, Tenerife

International Zoo YearbookVolume 29, Issue 1 p. 102-108 Breeding Pesquet's parrot: Psittrichas fulgidus at Loro Parque, Tenerife ROSEMARY LOW, ROSEMARY LOW Former Curator of Birds, Loro Paryue, Punta Brava, Puerto de la Cruz Tenerife, Canary Islands Curator. Breeding Centre, Palmitos Park. Apto 107. Maspalomas. 35200 Gran Canaria. SpainSearch for more papers by this author ROSEMARY LOW, ROSEMARY LOW Former Curator of Birds, Loro Paryue, Punta Brava, Puerto de la Cruz Tenerife, Canary Islands Curator. Breeding Centre, Palmitos Park. Apto 107. Maspalomas. 35200 Gran Canaria. SpainSearch for more papers by this author First published: January 1990 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-1090.1990.tb03338.xCitations: 4 AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume29, Issue1January 1990Pages 102-108 RelatedInformation

Breeding the White‐tailed sea eagle Haliaeetus albicilla at Kansas City Zoo

International Zoo YearbookVolume 13, Issue 1 p. 115-116 Breeding the White-tailed sea eagle Haliaeetus albicilla at Kansas City Zoo STEPHEN R. WYLIE, STEPHEN R. WYLIE *Curator of Birds, Kansas City Zoological Gardens, Swope Park, Missouri, USA1Search for more papers by this author STEPHEN R. WYLIE, STEPHEN R. WYLIE *Curator of Birds, Kansas City Zoological Gardens, Swope Park, Missouri, USA1Search for more papers by this author First published: January 1973 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-1090.1973.tb02119.x Authors is now Assistant Curator of Birds, Philadelphia Zoo, Philadelphia, Pa., 19104, USA. AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume13, Issue1January 1973Pages 115-116 RelatedInformation

A new genus, Alainchabaudia (Nematoda: Spirurinae), from coraciform birds in Australia

A new genus, Alainchabaudia, is proposed, apparently close to Hartertia, but differing in the presence of modifications of the anterior end of the buccal capsule, which is prolonged dorsally and ventrally and ends in four submedian teeth. Two species are included: the type species, C. alcedinis sp.nov., from Halcyon sanctus (Queensland and South Australia) and Dacelo gigas (New South Wales); and A. aegotheles (Johnston & Mawson) syn. Habronema aegotheles J. & M., from Aegotheles cristata (South Australia).The specimens from Queensland were lent by Dr John Pearson of the School of Parasitology of the University of Queensland. The bodies of the other two birds were sent to me for dissection, Dacelo gigas by Mr H. J. de S. Disney, Curator of Birds in the Australian Museum, Sydney, and Halcyon sanctus by Mr H. Condon, Curator of Birds in the South Australian Museum, Adelaide. I am most grateful to these gentlemen for their assistance.

Nematodes from Australian waders

Records are given of helminth infection found by the dissection of 122 waders belonging to 19 species, some migratory and some resident in Australia. In the examination of the nematodes from these, and some other hosts, the following species were identified and described: Capillaria triloba (Linst.) (Lobibyx novae-hollandiae, Himantopus leucocephalus, Recurvirostra novaehollandiae); Capillaria recurvirostrae sp.nov. (R. novaehollandiae); Amidostomum chevreuxi Seurat (H. leucocephalus); Porrocaecum lobibycis (L. novaehollandiae); Contracaecum spiculigerum (Rud.) (H. leucocephalus); Schistorophus longicornis (Hemp. & Ehr.), and Sciadiocara umbellifera (Molin) (Calidris canutus); Schistorophus limosae sp.nov. and Viktorocara limosae sp.nov. (Limosa lapponica); Viktorocara sp. (Calidris canutus); Echinuria heterobrachiata Wehr (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus, Charadrius alexandrinus, Erolia ruficollis); Chevreuxia australis Johnston & Mawson (Charadrius melanops); Skrjabinoclava horrida (Rud.) (Charadrius rubricollis, C. alexandrinus); Streptocara crassicauda (Creplin) (Ch. alexandrinus); Stello-caronema charadrii sp.nov. (Ch. cucullata); S. glareolae sp.nov. (Glareola isabella); Tetrameres nouveli (Seurat) (Him. leucocephalus, Ch. alexandrinus, Recurvirostra novaehollandiae); T. cladorhynchi sp.nov. (C. leucocephalus); T. calidris sp.nov. (C. canutus); T. lobibycis sp.nov. (L. novaehollandiae); T. scolopacidis sp.nov. (Erolia acuminata, E. ruficollis, Tringa glareola); Pseudaproctella sp. (Lobibyx miles).I am particularly indebted to the Director, Dr Peter Crowcroft, and the staff of the South Australian Museum; without their help it would have been impossible to obtain many of the parasites. Some birds were presented by Mrs Joan Paton and some by Mr Max Waterman. Specimens from Limosa lapponica were lent by the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in Sydney, from Lobibyx novaehollandiae (from Queensland) by Dr John Pearson of the Department of Parasitology of the University of Queensland, and from Lobibyx miles from Dr M. J. Mackerras of the C.S.I.R.O., Division of Entomology, in Canberra. Mr Condon, Curator of Birds in the South Australian Museum, has helped with information on the habits and correct names of the birds, and my colleague, Dr S. J. Edmonds, with names of new species. I also wish to thank Dr W. G. Inglis of the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) who was good enough to read the paper.The holotype and paratypes of Viktorocara limosae sp.nov. and Schistorophus limosae sp.nov. are in the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in Sydney. Other holotypes are in the South Australian Museum, and paratypes in the Helminthological Collection of the Zoology Department of the University of Adelaide.

SCRIPPS FLIGHT CAGE AT SAN DIEGO ZOO

International Zoo YearbookVolume 2, Issue 1 p. 72-72 SCRIPPS FLIGHT CAGE AT SAN DIEGO ZOO Kenton C. Lint, Kenton C. Lint Curator ofBirds at San Diego Zoo, USASearch for more papers by this author Kenton C. Lint, Kenton C. Lint Curator ofBirds at San Diego Zoo, USASearch for more papers by this author First published: January 1961 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-1090.1960.tb02735.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume2, Issue1January 1961Pages 72-72 RelatedInformation

TURKEY HYBRIDS

Journal Article TURKEY HYBRIDS: (Meleagris ocellata × Meleagris gallopaVo) Get access F. W. LORENZ, F. W. LORENZ Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar V. S. ASMUNDSON, V. S. ASMUNDSON Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar N. E. WILSON N. E. WILSON *Poultry Department, University of California, Davis. We are greatly indebted to Mrs. Belle Benchley, Executive Secretary, and Mr. K. C. Lint. Curator of Birds, both of the San Diego Zoological Society, and to the Society for gifts of birds; to Mr. J. R. Carson, who furnished the hens for the original crosses; and to Mr. Robert H. Adolph, Farm Advisor, who handled local arrangements for the care of the birds and shipment of eggs Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Journal of Heredity, Volume 47, Issue 3, May 1956, Pages 143–146, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a106625 Published: 01 May 1956

Hugh McCormick Smith

D URING my embryonic and post-larval stages of development as an ichthyologist, the name of Dr. Hugh McCormick Smith was familiar to me as an outstanding authority in fisheries, because at that time his name appeared on popular and scientific articles indicating that he was U. S. Commissioner of Fisheries. Little did I realize then that I would have the privilege and honor, two decades later, to study fishes and share the same laboratories and office rooms with such an eminent and internationally known and highly start..... honored scientist. It is my intention in this memorial number of COPEIA to review certain aspects of Dr. Smith's life and contributions to science. Dr. Smith came from one of the oldest fami i es in Washington, as he represented the fifth generation born in the District of Columbia and his grandchildren the seventh. He was born November 21, 1865, near 5th and M Streets, N.W. His mother, a Hazard of Virginia, was born on a farm adjoining Wakefield, where George Washington started life. His father, Thomas Croggon Smith, was a well-known and much loved physician in Washington from his graduation in 1864 to his death in 1913. The real name of the family may be said to be Howard-not Smith-because the grandparent, five generations previous to Dr. H. M. Smith, when a small boy, started from England in a sailing ship with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Howard. On the way both died and the boy was cared for by fellow passengers named Smith, who settled in Maryland where they brought him up and he became known by his foster parents' name. Dr. H. M. Smith began his natural history studies when he was a small boy, owing largely to his father's interest in the birds, snakes, and other small animals on his farm in Virginia. Several hundred of these specimens, collected before Smith was 18 years of age, were still in his possession. During Smith's attendance at Central High School, D.C., he was made first president of the Natural History Society which he helped organize and while in this office obtained specimens and display cases from Prof. Spencer Fullerton Baird. Upon graduating in 1884 he secured work in the bird department of the United States National Museum under Mr. Robert Ridgeway, Curator of Birds. Later he was transferred to the Library and on January 1, 1886, to

A Review of the Grackles of the Genus Holoquiscalus

THE Grackles of the genus Holoquiscalus comprise several closely related species and subspecies limited in their distribution to certain islands in the West Indies and the Caribbean coast of South America. It has always been customary to treat each one of these insular forms specifically, but I believe that the group falls naturally into four species, each with one or more geographic races, as I shall shortly endeavor to demonstrate. The genus is not represented in the Bahamas; and there is a considerable gap in its distribution including the Virgin Islands and extending southward into the Lesser Antilles until Guadeloupe is reached; and for some inexplicable reason no representative is found on Dominica. The Museum of Comparation Zoology is very fortunate in the quantity and quality of its West Indian material, and consequently it has not been necessary to draw on other institutions for loan of skinsexcept to borrow a single specimen of the female of Holoquiscalus insularis (Richmond) from the U. S.National Museum. It has not been possible to borrow any skins of H. orquillensis nor have the types of H. mexicanus or H. rectirostris been seen by me. Thanks are due to Dr. C. W. Richmond, Asso. Curator of Birds, U. S. National Museum for the loan of a female of Holoquiscalus 1. insularis, and to Mr. T. E. Penard for verifying several references and for calling my attention to several others.

Birds of South Carolina . By Arthur Trezevant Wayne, Honorary Curator of Birds in the Charleston Museum. With an introduction by Paul M. Rea, Director. Contributions from the Charleston Museum, I. 8vo, pp. xxi + 254. Charleston, S. C. 1910.

<i>Birds of South Carolina</i> . By Arthur Trezevant Wayne, Honorary Curator of Birds in the Charleston Museum. With an introduction by Paul M. Rea, Director. Contributions from the Charleston Museum, I. 8vo, pp. xxi + 254. Charleston, S. C. 1910.

The Bird: Its Form and Function . By C. William Beebe, Curator of Birds, New York Zoological Park. New York, Henry Holt &amp; Co. 1906. 8vo. Pp. 496, with over 370 illustrations.

<i>The Bird: Its Form and Function</i> . By C. William Beebe, Curator of Birds, New York Zoological Park. New York, Henry Holt &amp; Co. 1906. 8vo. Pp. 496, with over 370 illustrations.