Ornithological Work Research Articles

The Arctic ship Danmark

The steam barque Danmark, used on Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen's expedition to northeast Greenland (1906–08), was originally a Scottish whaler named Sir Colin Campbell, built in 1855 in Sunderland. After nine years of whaling out of Peterhead, in 1865 Sir Colin Campbell started the transportation of cryolite from the mines of Ivigtut in southwest Greenland to the United States and several European ports. This trade lasted for 103 years, until 1968. In the early 1870s, the ship was sold to Norwegian owners, renamed Magdalena, fitted with a steam-engine, and used as part of the Tønsberg sealing fleet. In 1894 she was the ship in which Roald Amundsen made his first voyage to the Arctic. In 1905 Magdalena was chartered by the estate of William Ziegler for a relief expedition to Bass Rock, northeast Greenland, to search for members of the Fiala-Ziegler expedition. The next year she was sold to the Danmark-Expedition and renamed Danmark. The main task for the expedition was to survey the coast from 77°N to Independence Bay, an area that was completely unknown. In addition to geographical exploration, much ethnographical, ornithological, zoological, hydrographical, meteorological, and botanical work was carried out on the expedition. In 1909, Danmark was sold to the mining company Grønlandske Minedrifts Aktieselskab of Copenhagen. She made voyages every year to Greenland, returning with copper and graphite. In 1916 she was chartered by the American Museum of Natural History to bring home the members of the Crocker Land Expedition. When in December 1917 she returned to Denmark, her captain did not know that, in their two years' absence, the coastal signals had been changed due to conditions in World War I. Danmark grounded off Høganes, Sweden; condemned, she was sold to a breaker's yard, and her masts, sails, engine, and other fittings were sold at auction the following year.

Avian taxidermy in Europe from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance

Research on textual and pictorial sources from the period 1200–1700, especially in Central Europe, has revealed the existence of considerably more and earlier examples of bird collections than previously suspected, as well as of a variety of motivations and manual skills required for the preserving of birds prior to 1600. Many 16th century natural history cabinets contained large numbers of mounted birds, often of exotic species. This has been documented in some inventories, e. g., that of the cabinet of arts of Emperor Rudolf II of Habsburg. However, it has so far gone unnoticed that numerous illustrations in the ornithological works of Gessner (1555), Belon (1555), Cyganski (1585), Aldrovandi (1599–1603) and in theThesaurus Picturarum of Marcus zum Lamm (from 1577–1606; Kinzelbach & Holzinger 2000) were made using preserved birds as models. In Gessner (1555) in particular, the great majority of the bird illustrations are of mounted or mummified specimens.

In Memoriam: V.C. Wynne-Edwards, 1906-1997

Vero Copner Wynne-Edwards, or as he was known to colleagues, died near Aberdeen, Scotland, on 5 January 1997, in his 91st year. With scientific publications spanning 68 years, Wynne-Edwards was a key player in the development of ecology from its very beginnings, and he will be remembered as one of the greatest natural historians and innovative ecological thinkers of his generation. He became a member of the AOU in 1936 and a Corresponding Fellow in 1959. Wynne-Edwards was born in Leeds on 4 July 1906, the last but one in a family of six. His father, a Canon in the Church of England and headmaster of Leeds Grammar School, imparted in the young Wynne a keen interest in natural history, especially botany. After school at Rugby, he went to Oxford to read Zoology, in which he obtained a first-class degree. While there, he developed an interest in marine biology and obtained his first working position at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Plymouth, studying crustaceans and fish. In his spare time, he mapped out all of the starling roosts in the region, his first independent ornithological work. After two years in Plymouth, he moved to Bristol University as an assistant lecturer, but within a few months, newly married, he was invited in 1930 to take up a post at McGill University in Montreal, where he remained for 16 years. On the transatlantic voyage, Wynne spent his time on deck, recording the numbers and positions of seabirds. He thereby discovered the basic pattern of inshore (coastal), offshore (to edge of continental shelf), and pelagic (deep water) marine zones, with different species in each. Subsequently, through a personal contact, he persuaded the Cunard Line to ferry him, free of charge, on round trips across the Atlantic in May, June, July, August, and September. This enabled him to work out the seasonal movements of seabirds, including the loop migration of the Greater Shearwater. For this work, he won the Walker Prize of the Boston Natural History Society and established himself as one of the pioneers of marine ornithology. While at McGill, Wynne-Edwards worked mainly on freshwater fishes, but he also studied montane plants and seabirds in northern Labrador. His work on the postglacial distribution of plants won him a second Walker Prize and fellowship of the Royal Society of Canada. In 1946, he returned to Britain to take up the Regius Chair in Zoology in Aberdeen, a prestigious position that he held until his retirement in 1974. These 28 years coincided with a period of expansion in environmental research in Britain, enabling Wynne to create one of the largest and most successful zoology departments in Europe. He established a special for research on Red Grouse, eventually based at nearby Banchory, and an ecological field station at Culterty, on the Ythan Estuary, 15 miles up the coast. He also became active and influential on committees, valued for his breadth of experience. For a time, he was Chairman of the Natural Environment Research Council, the major government-funded body for environmental research in Britain. His interest in the arctic resurfaced in 1950, when he participated in the Baird Expedition to northeast Baffin Island, from which he wrote an account of the birds (Auk 69:353-391, 1952) and a note on the huge colony of Northern Fulmars at Cape Searle (Arctic 5:105-117, 1952). In 1953, he took himself to Baffin Island, mainly studying seabirds, and later joined the end of Baird's second expedition. Wynne's major scientific achievement was his 650-page book Animal Dispersion in Relation to Social Behaviour (1962), in which he proposed that animals could regulate their own population levels, thereby avoiding over-exploitation of their food and other resources. The mechanism he proposed involved a new theory of genetic which he called group selection, in which groups that used their resources substainably thrived at the expense of more profligate groups, which died out. As Wynne appreciated, his idea ran contrary to the Dar-

Johann Christian von Mannlich (1741–1822) — ein bedeutender Vogelmaler des 18. Jahrhunderts

Between 1787 and 1799Johann Christian von Mannlich created an ornithological work entitled “Sammlung europaischer Vogel” with more than 300 watercolour paintings of birds. The paintings which are of a fine quality have so far been unknown to ornithologists. The work has never been printed so far. 31 of the watercolours are listed.

William Swainson's ornithological collections

The ornithological collections of William Swainson were largely disposed of in an auction and a private sale to the University of Cambridge before Swainson emigrated to New Zealand in 1840. Surviving documents tell us quite a lot about the bird collection although it is uncertain how much if any of it survives today. Much unpublished material, chiefly illustrative, documenting Swainson's ornithological work survives in libraries in New Zealand, and a newly rediscovered and long lost collection of ornithological drawings, part of the private sale of 1840 is discussed in relation to the larger collections in New Zealand.

In Memoriam: Constantine Walter Benson, O.B.E.

Constantine Walter Benson, known to all as Con, died in Cambridge, England on 21 September 1982. He was the last and perhaps the greatest of a long line of British Colonial officials who made major contributions to the ornithology of (former) British possessions; on his death an era of African ornithology came to an end. Born (1909) and educated in England, he was a fine athlete and a track star at Cambridge. He was completely tireless when tramping through the African bush, as this writer can attest; on safari with him in in 1965, I wondered why I had trouble keeping up with the old man over 20 years my senior disappearing down the track ahead of me. Throughout his career in the Colonial Service he left a trail of solid ornithological accomplishment. His 20 years in (now Malawi), 1932-1952, resulted in List of the of Nyasaland (1953), in addition to numerous papers. This was followed later by the revised and expanded Birds of Malawi (1977), coauthored by his wife Molly. A wartime stint in Ethiopia, 1941-1942, produced a large collection of birds, later written up in Ibis. It is said that his collecting gun was fired so often that the Italians refrained from attacking what they considered must be a large force. During his time in (formerly Northern Rhodesia) he published (with C. M. N. White) Check List of the of Northern Rhodesia (1957), and later The of Zambia (1971) with R. K. Brooke, R. J. Dowsett, and M. P. S. Irwin. He led the B.O.U. Centenary Expedition to the Comoros in 1958, and later published The birds of the Comoro Islands in Ibis (1960). After his retirement to Cambridge he reorganized and published on the bird collection in the University's Museum of Zoology. At his death he had almost completed (with his wife as coauthor) his manuscript on the Psittacidae for The of Africa. Constantly exploring and collecting in little-known areas, he discovered 7 species new to science and described numerous races. number of titles to his credit is close to 400. On his retirement from the Colonial Service in 1965 he was awarded the Order of the British Empire. Writing to congratulate him, I said I hoped he was being honored for his contributions to African ornithology, but supposed it was for his administrative work. He replied that the British Government took an enlightened view of the value of ornithology and had included his bird work in the citation. Of the many personal attributes that caused him to be loved and admired by so many, the one that impressed me most was his tremendous spirit of cooperation with everyone working in his field. He was in the purest sense a seeker after the truth. In a profession where many workers vigorously defend territories, he stood out as being the most unterritorial ornithologist I've ever known. He paid scrupulous attention to the acknowledgments sections in his papers, being careful to thank everyone even remotely connected with the project. Such selflessness is the mark of a great man. Con was buried in the village of Grantchester, near Cambridge, close to his favorite aunt Mary Hughes, who kindled his interest in birds as a child and always encouraged his ornithological work. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.

Eugene Eisenmann and the Study of Neotropical Birds

Eugene Eisenmann was born in Panama in 1906 and lived there for his first 10 years. His father was born in Philadelphia, his mother in Panama, and his family was prominent in Panamanian affairs; Gene always retained a deep interest and affection for his native country. He came to the United States for his early schooling, and after graduation from DeWitt Clinton High School in New York City, he entered Harvard College in 1 923. He continued at Harvard Law School, and after receiving his degree, commenced legal practice with a prestigious New York firm with which he retained a long affiliation as Senior Partner. He was secretly proud of having argued successfully before the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1956 he retired from his law firm to assume a full-time career in ornithology as Research Associate at the American Museum of Natural History; this continued until his death on October 16, 1981. Those are the minimal biographical facts about a remarkable person who has had a profound impact on ornithology in the Americas and influenced generations of investigators of the birds of that region. By his own account, Eugene Eisenmann's early and casual interest in birds did not take a more serious turn until 1 9 1 9 at a summer camp in the Adirondacks, when he was only 1 3. Before a visit to Panama in 1 923, he prepared his own field guide consisting of crayon drawings based on Ridgway's and Salvin and Godman's volumes and modelled after the pictures in Chester Reed's primitive booklets. His interest languished during his college and law school years, only to revive after he had settled into legal practice in the late 1930's. This revival was sparked by his participation in National Audubon Society field trips, acquaintances with John Bull, Allan Cruickshank, and Roger Tory Peterson, and especially membership in the Linnaean Society of New York, which held meetings at the American Museum. In the wartime 1 940's, attendance at the Society's meetings was small but included ornithologists of great distinction, among them, members of the museum staff. In addition to those previously mentioned, the participants included Dean Amadon, James Chapin, Joseph J. Hickey, Robert Cushman Murphy, and Ernst Mayr, who was then editor of the Society's publications. Eisenmann received great intellectual stimulation from a talk by Mayr on bird speciation, based on Mayr's forthcoming book, Systematics and the Origin of Species (1 942). He was also deeply impressed with Hickey's and Mayr's views on the importance of the contributions of amateurs to serious ornithological work, and was to become one of the most important of the serious amateurs, i.e., those originally pursuing a professional career in a field other than the biological sciences. Eisenmann continued to practice law with great success, but he devoted more and more time to ornithology and longed to do so on a full-time basis. He visited Panama almost annually, and in 1952 his first major publication, Annotated List of Birds ofBarro Colorado Island, Panama Canal Zone was issued. The prosaic-sounding title perhaps does not suggest a landmark contribution, but the study proved exceptionally valuable. Barro Colorado Island, formerly a large hill rising out of the lowlands, was formed by the gradual flooding of Gatun Lake from 1 9 1 2 to 1 9 1 4. The new island was designated a biological reserve in 1923. Its potential for ornithological study was soon recognized, but Eisenmann's 1952 paper was the first comprehensive account of the birds of the island. For 27 years his paper constituted the principal ornithological source for research by zoogeographers, population ecologists, environmental physiologists, and other ornithologists studying the avifauna of this unique biological preserve. Since 1979, a revised edition of the island's avifauna, coauthored with Edwin O. Willis, has become the standard reference. The two publications are of particular importance because they provide for the recognition and documentation of changes in species composition and individual abundance in a rich natural environment that became an island at a precisely known time, thus providing an excellent testing ground for theories of island biogeography and population dynamics. Eisenmann's summarizing accounts

THE NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS OF THOMAS PENNANT

Thomas Pennant was born at Downing, Flintshire, north-eastern Wales, 14 June 1726. His early education was in a private school, and he matriculated at Queen's College, Oxford, but took no degree. At the age of twelve he was given a copy of Francis Willughby's Ornithology (1678), and to this present he attributed his early taste for natural history. Pennant was born, lived, and died, as one of the landed gentry and was always able to indulge in whatever activity attracted him, to finance collaborators, and to pay artists to make drawings of any subjects he designated. He made tours of many parts of Great Britain and published accounts of most of them, but for that in Ireland he kept only an imperfect journal, such was the conviviality of the country. He also visited France, Switzerland, Germany, and Holland. His ornithological works included: The British Zoology (1761-66, and later editions), Indian Zoology (1769,1790), Genera of Birds (1773 and 1781), Natural History of the Turkey (1781), Arctic Zoology (the present subject; see below), and Histoire naturelle des oiseaux par le Comte de Buffon et les planches enluminies (1786). These and other writings on natural history were much valued in their time and contained the greater part of the information on their subjects then available. The first edition of Arctic Zoology, the only one of these works requiring indexing for our purpose, was published in 1784, 1785. As it was in two volumes, one on quadrupeds, one on birds, the ordinary assumption is that the volumes corresponded in emission respectively with the year dates cited. Be it noted, however, that the signature to the Advertisement in Volume I was dated 1 February 1785. Only the second volume, treating the birds, concerns

Grace's Warbler in Mexico

GRACE'S Warbler (Dendroica graciae Baird) can probably claim the dubious distinction of being the least understood of all of the widespread North American wood warblers. It is a typical inhabitant, at all seasons, of pine woods, though scattered pines in oak or oak-juniper woodlands suffice locally for its requirements. Virtually all standard ornithological works, up to and including the recent (1957) American Ornithologists' Union's Check-list of North American Birds, consider this species to have but two continental races, separated in the breeding season by nearly the whole of Mexico. The nominate race is said to breed south only as far as Sonora and Chihuahua, while D. g. decora Ridgway is supposed to reach Oaxaca, but no farther northwest. In contrast, Moore (in Miller et al., 1957) states that D. g. graciae breeds south along the Sierra Madre Occidental to Nayarit, and also in the Transverse Volcanic east to Mount western Vera Cruz. Actually, neither of these concepts is correct. It is quite true that Grace's Warbler nests in most of the mountains of western Mexico, south to Michoacan; but farther east in the main body of the Transverse Volcanic Province it is only a rare winter visitant. Its breeding range, in these longitudes, is confined to pine forests fronting, or near, the Pacific coast. Thus, if a population really exists on Mount Orizaba, it can be connected with other populations only through Oaxaca, a state inhabited by another race. We have not seen the material on which the Vera Cruz record is based, and can express no opinion on its validity. Otherwise, the range of the species is apparently more or less continuous along the mountains of western Mexico. The changes that occur from Arizona to Oaxaca are essentially clinal. Adequate series of specimens in fall plumage are at hand from Arizona, Nayarit, and Guerrero. Smaller numbers in fresh plumage from elsewhere serve to outline the ranges of the races, and show the desirability of recognizing by name the Nayarit birds. They may be known as

FIELD NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF BEAR ISLAND.

Summary. A brief account is given of the topography of Bear Island and of previous ornithological work. Thirty‐three days were spent on the island, the greater part of which was covered during a census of the bird‐life. A short ecological account is given of the breeding birds. The effect on the bird‐life of recent climatic trends in the arctic is discussed. Evidence is given for non‐breeding in a number of species. A systematic list of 28 species includes field notes.

II. Ornithological Work in the Northern Province

II. Ornithological Work in the Northern Province

Highlights of Ornithological Work in Utah

Highlights of Ornithological Work in Utah

The Birds of Dakota County, Nebraska

The first ornithological work done in this county was published in 1878 as a general list by Professor Samuel Aughey, of the University of Nebraska, at Lincoln. While this paper was intended primarily as an investigation of the utility of birds in controlling the locust plagues of the 60's and 70's, it nevertheless reported a list of about two hundred and fifty species for the state at large; it was thus an important faunal list, supported by specimens in most cases. Aughey's paper includes ninety species clearly credited to Dakota County, and thus forms our basic list. Fisher's economic study of the hawks and owls (1893) repeated a number of Aughey's records, but gave no new ones. Bruner (1896) published a state list which added three new species, namely, the Green-winged Teal, the Downy Woodpecker, and the Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker.

Suggested Ornithological Work for Bird banders

Suggested Ornithological Work for Bird banders

Ornithological Field Work in 1917

Ornithological Field Work in 1917

Henninger on the Ornithological Work of Dr. E. I. Shores The Diary of a New England Ornithologist. An Appreciation Mr. Henninger

Henninger on the Ornithological Work of Dr. E. I. Shores The Diary of a New England Ornithologist. An Appreciation Mr. Henninger

Boyd Alexander and his Ornithological Work

Boyd Alexander and his Ornithological Work

Notes on the Ornithological Works of John James Audubon

Notes on the Ornithological Works of John James Audubon

A Bibliography and Nomenclator of the Ornithological Works of John James Audubon

A Bibliography and Nomenclator of the Ornithological Works of John James Audubon

The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds

THE two volumes on the birds of India, which Mr. Oates has recently published, will supply a much needed want. The period of twenty-six years which has elapsed since the publication of Jerdon's “Birds of India” has been prolific in ornithological work, to such an extent that a new adjustment of the scattered details which had accumulated since that time had become an absolute necessity. Mr. Oates has already won his spurs in the field of Indian ornithology; for his “Hand-book of the Birds of Burma,” published in 1883, has always been looked upon as a standard work; and by coming to England, at great personal sacrifice, to write the bird volumes of the “Fauna of British India,” he has deserved the gratitude of all zoologists. Those of us who are acquainted with the “Hand-book ” before mentioned, will not be surprised to find that in the present volumes Mr. Oates has done his work in a thoroughly conscientious manner. Without commencing, as Jerdon did, with a general outline of ornithology, for which space was not available, Mr. Oates has contrived to give a condensed introduction, which will give the student some small idea of classification of passerine birds, with which this volume deals. We could have wished that the author had followed a more natural arrangement of passerine families, as his scheme of arrangement results in some very incongruous affinities, but these will doubtless be further explained when the author gives a detailed arrangement of the orders and families of birds in his third volume. As the furlough which has been granted to Mr. Oates is quite insufficient for him to finish the work in anything like a reasonable period, we are glad to learn that a representation has been made to the Government of India, by some of our leading men of science, for a further extension of leave, to enable the author to finish the work, which he has begun so creditably. It would be a thousand pities to see the completion of this book intrusted to less capable hands, of which there seems to be some fear expressed in Mr. Blanford's preface. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma. Published under the authority of the Secretary of State for India in Council. Edited by W. T. Blanford. Birds. Vol. I. By Eugene W. Oates. Pp. i.—xx., 1—556. (London: Taylor and Francis, 1889.) The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds. Allan O. Hume C.B. Second Edition. Edited by E. W. Oates. Vol. 1. Pp. i.—xii., 1—397. (London: R. H. Porter, 1889.)