II >77 74 Proceedings ; 99 of ^Linnaean Society of New York ' 977~ l 995 On the cover: Selected examples of 77 specimens from the hybrid Collared/Spotted towhee (Pipilo ocai/maculatus) population of Cerro Viejo, Jalisco, Mexico. 1 hese eight specimens include the two extremes in the sample and some typical intermediate examples. See Charles G. Sibley, Hybridization in the Red-eyed Towhees of Mexico, page 6. Proceedings of the Linnaean Society of New York Figures i a and i b. Typical examples ofthe two species of red-eyed towhees ofMexico: upper, Pipilo ocai, Collared Towhee, lower, Pipilo maculatus, Spotted Towhee. Proceedings of ^Linnaean Society of New York The Linnaean Society of New York The Linnaean Society of New York, organized in 1 878, is the second oldest of existing Ameri- can ornithological societies. Regular meetings of the Society are held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month from September through May. The Annual Dinner, followed by the Annual Meeting and Election of Officers, is held during the second week of March. Informal summer meetings are held on the third Tuesday of each month from June through August. All meetings are open to the public and are held at the American Museum of Natural History. Persons interested in natural history are eligible for election to membership in the Society. The Society' conducts field trips and maintains a library for its members. It disu ibutes free to all members a monthly News-Letter and, at irregular intervals, an issue of Proceedings contain- ing longer articles, general notes, and annual reports of the activities of the Society’. Less fre- quently, the Societv publishes lengthy papers in its Transactions which members receive free or at a substantial discount. Communications about membership and inquiries about publications should be addressed to: Secretary, Linnaean Society of New York 15 West 77 th Street New York NY 10024 Please refer to pages 1 50 and 1 5 1 for a list of publications available from the Society. Officers of the Linnaean Society (Elected March 11, 1997) President Victoria H. Irwin Vice President Richard Rabkin Secretary Philip Dempsey Recording Secretary Ellen Kornhauser Treasurer Karen Hsu Editorial Committee Eric Salzman. Editor Joseph DiCostanzo Victoria H. Irwin Peter Joost Lorna Salzman Julio de la Torre Table of Contents vii President’s Note 1 Roger Tory Peterson: In Memoriam Julio de la Torre 4 Hybridization in the Red-eyed Towhees of Mexico Charles G. Sibley 25 A Field Study of the Golden-winged Warbler in the Pequannock Watershed, Sussex County, Newjersey Robert L. Scully 40 Albinism in the Sooty' Shearwater Paul R. Sweet 44 Bibliography of Writings of Eugene Eisenmann, 1944-1984 compiled by Mary LeCroy and Sheila Walker Secretary’s Reports 56 1977-78 60 1978-79 67 1979-80 72 1980-81 77 1981-82 82 1982-83 87 1983-84 91 1984-85 94 1985-86 98 1986-87 101 1987-88 104 1988-89 107 1989-90 112 1990-91 116 1991-92 120 1992-93 124 1993-94 128 1994-95 132 1995 -96 136 Treasurer’s Report 139 In Memoriam 140 Constitution 149 Special Funds 150 Publications President's Note T-A-hese are the first Proceedings of the Linnaean Society of New York since 1977 and the Society’s first publication of any kind since the Transactions of 1981 containing papers presented at the Society’s Centennial Symposium on Colonial Waterbirds, both under the editorships of Catherine Pessino and Marc Weinberger. Subsequent editors, Richard Cech, Katherine A. Ray, Jill Hamilton, and Eric Salzman, have worked on this current volume. The Society' plans an expanded publication program in the near future with publications on the natural history of the New York area as well as a more regular publication of both the Proceedings and Transactions. The Soci- ety7 therefore invites the submission of suitable papers and proposals. Joseph DiCostanzo President President’s Note vii Roger Tory Peterson: In Memoriam Julio de la Torre President, The Linnaean Society ofNew York is not often that an individual conies along who, in a modest and relatively unassuming way, not only dis- mantles an obsolete world view and transforms the foundations that under- lie the way we perceive reality, but provides a new framework, a new para- digm, to replace the old one. If Roger Tory Peterson had not lived, it’s a good bet that I would not be writing and you would not be reading these lines. The impact of his work and personality was so profound and so pervasive that it changed the study and appreciation of nature, a revolution in perception that led to a remarkable expansion and legitimization of field biology. Such powers are seldom accorded to any one man. When the gods have the grace to bestow gifts like these on someone like Roger, a man who was expansive, perserverant, enthusiastic, generous, charming and blissfully free of affectation, the world has a lot to be grateful for. Roger Peterson’s career was intertwined with the Linnaean Society for almost seven decades. He joined the society in 1927, the same year that his mentor, Ludlow Griscom, became president. It was Griscom who pioneered the conversion from fowling piece to field glass as the main weapon of field identification. His Birds of the New York City Region, published in 1923 by the American Museum of Natural History with the Linnaean Society, had become the bible of the young members of the Bronx County Bird Club, all disciples and acolytes of Griscom and all Linnaeans as well. Roger liked to say that he was the first non-Bronx member to be accepted into the BCBC and it was in the outdoor ambiance of the Club and the indoor give-and-take of Linnaean that the problems and achievements of the new, nascent field ornithology were hammered out. It was another Linnaean president, William Vogt (later founder of Planned Parenthood), who prodded Peterson into synthesizing these new Roger Tory Peterson 1 discoveries in visual and book form and who, on completion of the manu- script, took on the job of toting it around until a publisher could be found. It was the same Ludlow Griscom who field tested and approved the new work and Houghton-Mifflin of Boston (where Griscom had relocated) who finally put it out. The Peterson System was launched. Roger wrote handsomely about the Linnaean Society in his Birds Over America, winner of the John Burroughs medal in 1948. It is one of his finest achievements. Another is America written with Fisher, Wild ( 1955) , James the narrative of a transcontinental bird-listing romp in a successful attempt to topple the previous “Big Year” record of 497. Today’s Big Year totals are much higher but we are standing on the shoulders of giants. The Bird Watch- is ers' Anthology ( 1957) a lovingly gathered collection of gems from the trea- sure chest of ornithological literature. He introduced or wrote the foreword to what seemed like every book on birds ever published during his lifetime. Of the 45 or so volumes in the Peterson Field Guide Series, he authored or co-authored all the editions of the Eastern, Western, Texas and Mexico bird guides plus the guide to Eastern Wildflowers. The entire series, with all its constellation of satellite materials ranging from recordings to software pro- grams, is an enduring monument to the man whom many consider to have been the greatest force for conservation in our time. In recognition of his merits, the Linnaean Society elected him a Fellow in 1953. When the Society' celebrated its centennial in 1978, it was natural that Roger would be the featured speaker at the annual meeting (see the Annual Report for 1978-79 below) and the Eugene Eisenmann Medal was presented to him in 1986, an award that itself commemorated a Fellow and past presi- dent of the Society' (see the Eisenmann bibliography in this volume). In spite of all this, it should not be thought that Peterson’s relationship with Linnaean was purely a love feast. The Linnaean crucible can be a pretty hot place and no one knew this better than Roger who was roasted over the coals more than once. The measure of the man was his unfailing good will, inexhaustible energy and constant striving to better his own performance, even as he sought to inspire and encourage those around him to finer achievements of their own. He seemed constitutionally incapable of failing to hold out a helping hand—even to potential rivals. Peterson’s persistence at bettering his own performance is easily demon- strated in his art. Start with the 1934 first edition of the Eastern field guide (recently reissued by Houghton-Mifflin in a commemorative edition) and look at the warblers or the sparrows; then check out these birds in the 1947 2 The Linnaean Society oe New York revision and the early versions of the Western guide, the new Eastern guide of 1980 and the new Western of 1990. The pilgrim’s progress from artistical- ly minimal to acceptable to good to superb will be quite obvious. Roger wanted, above all, to be known as a great artist rather than as merely an illustrator and posterity will be the ultimate judge of his success in that. Painter and wildlife artist Don Eckelberry has pointed out that it was Peterson’s work, in all its range and breadth, that helped create the modern interest in nature and fascination with nature art, which has itself led to a renaissance of nature depiction as an art form. Roger really loved to go birding; to have seen him in action afield was an object lesson in mastery, grace and modesty.