The Forty-Third Stated Meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union

68 Forty-thirdStated Meeting ofthe A. O.U. •a•n. THE FORTY-THIRD STATED MEETING OF THE AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION. BY T. S. PALMER. ThE Forty-third Stated Meeting of the AmericanOrnithologists' Union washeld at the AmericanMuseum of Natural History, New York, November 9-12, 1925. The headquarterswere at the ShermanSquare Hotel, Broadwayand 70th Street, within a few blocksof the Museum. This was the fourteenthmeeting in New York and the largestand one of the most successfulever held. As usual,routine businessoccupied the first day, discussionof scientificpapers three days, and the fifth day was devoted to excursions. One of the main attractions was the exhibit of bird paintingshung in the hall adjoiningthe main Bird Hall where most of the sessions were held. Attendance.--30 Fellows, 2 Retired Fellows, 27 Members and 146 Associatesbrought the attendanceup to 205, the largeston record. Among the number were two Founders, Charles F. Batchelderand Dr. A. K. Fisher;three elected at the firstmeeting, Ruthyen Deane, Dr. Jonathan Dwight and W. E. Saunders;and two of the five Retired Fellows, Dr. W. K. Fisher and Dr. F. A. Lucas. SeventeenStates, the District of Columbia and two Provinces of Canadawere represented, including all exceptthree of the States eastof the Mississippiand north of the Ohio and PotomacRivers and also California, Florida, Georgiaand West Virginia and the Provincesof Ontario and Quebec. The largestdelegations outside of New York were 33 from Pennsylvania,28 from Massachu- setts, 17 from New Jersey, 16 from the District of Columbia, 10 from Ohio and 9 from Canada. It is alsointeresting to mention that among those presentwere 3 who had recently returned from Africa and 3 others who had collected there within the last two or three years. Amongthe memberswho camefrom a distance were W. Leon Dawson and Dr. W. K. Fisher from Cali- fornia, Donald J. Nicholsonfrom Orlando, Fla., H. L. Stoddard from Beachton,Ga., and J. !t. Fleming, W. E. Saunders,P. A. VoL1926 XLIII1 I Pa.•,•ER,Forty-third Stated Meetinq ofthe A. O.U. 69 Taverner, R. M. Anderson,Mr. and Mrs. Hoyes Lloyd, Edward Arnold,Mrs. Melville Dale and L. L. Snyderfrom Canada. The Union also had the pleasureof entertaining Dr. Hugo Weigold, I)ireetor of the Museum at Hanover, Germany,who brought personalgreetings from the DeutscheOrnithologisehe Gesellsehaft. Greetingswere received by wire from Dr. W. H. Bergtold,Denver, Colo., Dr. T. S. Roberts,Minneapolis, Minn., and by eablegram from Dr. P. P. Sushkin,Leningrad, Russia. BusinessMeetings.--The business sessions on Monday were all held in the leeture room of The New York Aeademyof Seienees on the first floor of the Museum and ineluded two sessions of the Council at 10 A.M. and 2 P.M., a meeting of the Fellows at 4 P.M. and a meetingof the Fellowsand Members at 8 P.M. At the meeting of the Couneil the BrewsterMedal for the most meritoriouswork on AmerieanBirds publishedduring the last six years was awardedto W. E. Clyde Todd of Pittsburgh,Pa., and M. A. Carriker of Santa Marta, Colombia,for their joint work on the 'Birds of the Santa Marta Region, Colombia,' published in 1922. At the meetingof the Fellows,Ludlow Griseomof New York, and Dr. John C. Phillips of Wenham, Mass., were deeted Fellows,and an amendmentto the By-lawswas adopted ineteasing the number of Members from 100 to 125. At the eveningmeeting 28 Fellowsand 17 Memberswere present. Following the roll eall and reading and approval of the minutes of the previousmeeting, the report of the Secretarywas presented showinga total membershipof about 1,700,a gift of $500,and a bequestof $500 from the estate of John H. Sage,the latter to be paid when the estate is settled. The report of the Treasurer showed the finaneesof the Union in a satisfaetoryeondition. The President reported on behalf of the Investment Trustees that the invested funds of the Union now amount to $26,570.26 including$7,250 in the BrewsterFund. The eleetlonof offleers resulted in the re-eleetion of the offleers of 1925: President, Jonathan Dwight; Viee-presidents, Alexander Wetmore and JosephGrinnell; Seeretary, T. S. Palmer;Treasurer, W. L. MeAtee; Members of the Couneil, A. C. Bent, Ruthyen Deane, J. H. Flem- ing, H. C. Oberholser,C. W. Riehmond and T. S. Roberts. On reeommendationof the Couneil, two CorrespondingFellows 70 PALMER,Forty-third Stated Meeting ofthe A. O.U. •aUnk. and about 180 Associates were elected. Five Members selected from the list of Associateswere also elected, Ernest Golsan Holt of Pittsburgh, Pa., Hoyes Lloyd of Ottawa, Canada, William IsaacLyon of Waukegan,Ill. (Life Member), GeorgeMiksch Sut- ton of Harrisburg,Pa., and Francis BeachWhite of Concord,N. H. As a result of the elections there are now no vacancies in the classof Fellows,only one in that of Honorary Fellows,ten in that of CorrespondingFellows, and twenty-sixin that of Members. Provisionwas made for continuingthe work on the 'Ten Year Index of The Auk' and the' Check List of North American Birds,' for assistingin the publication of the 'Zoological Record,' for appointingan advisorycommittee to cooperatein the preparation of 'Biological Abstracts' and for taking part in the work of the National Conference on Outdoor Recreation. The Union voted to invite the Cooper Ornithological Club and the Wilson Orni- thological Club each to appoint a representativeto cooperate with a representativeof the Union in forming a committee to raisea fund as a memorialto the work of RobertRidgway. This project contemplatesthe acquisitionof Mr. Ridgway'shome near Olncy, Ill., where he has collectedthe native trees and shrubs and protectedthe birds, and the maintenanceof the area as a bird refuge in commemorationof the work of its founder. Resolutionswere adoptedextending the thanks of the Union to the President and Trustees of the American Museum, the Director and staffof the New York ZoologicalSociety, the President and Membersof the Explorers'Club, and the Presidentand Mem- bers of the Linnaean Society for courtesiesextended during the meeting. PublicMeetings.--The presentation of scientificpapers occupied three full days,November 10, 11 and 12 from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. with intermissionof an hour and a half for luncheon. The regular sessions were held in the main Bird Hall on the second floor and the technicalsessions in the lectureroom of the New York Academy of Scienceson the first floorof the Museum. By holdingsimultane- ous sessionson Wednesdayand Thursday morningsand limiting mostof the papersto 30 minutes,or less,ample time was allowed for discussion. The sessionon Tuesdaymorning was essentiallya memorial Vol.1920 XLIIIl I PALMER,Forty-third Stated Meeting ofthe A. O. U. 71 session. After 45 minutes allowedfor registration,the Union was called to order by the President,and the programopened with an addressof welcomeby Prof. Henry Fairfield Osborn,President of the Museum, followedby the unveiling of a bust and memorial tablet to Daniel Giraud Elliot, (1835-1915) one of the Founders, and the second President of the Union. Prof. Osborn referred to the organizationof the Union in the Museum in 1883 and to Dr. Elllot's activity in ornithology. In recognitionof his work in founding the bird collection of the Museum the memorial tablet and bust have been placedat the entranceof the main Bird Hall which has been dedicatedto his memory as the Daniel Giraud Elliot Hall. This hall has recently been renovated and rearranged. A domedceiling forms the backgroundfor a striking exhibit of birds in flight includingCondors, Eagles, Ducks, Geese, Albatrossesand Frigate Birds, The birds suspendedfrom the ceiling by invisible wires form a most pleasingeffect whether seenon enteringthe hall or from below. It wasbeneath the canopy of this unique exhibit that the main meetingswere held. One of the first papersof the meetingwas by Dr. Witruer Stone who presenteda memorialaddress on John Hall Sage,for 28 years Secretary of the Union and for three years its President. Later in the session,Mauusell S. Crosby presenteda memorial address. on Eugene Pintard Bicknell, one of the Foundersof the Union. It has been the custom,as a mark of respectto Fellows who have diedduring the year, to listento addresseson their livesand activi- ties and later to publishthese addresses in 'The Auk.' The series alreadypublished, beginning with Ridgway'saddress on Spencer Fullerton Baird, read at the fifth meetingin 1887,forms a notable contributionto the contemporaryhistory of Americanornithology. The ornithologicalpapers covered a wide range of topicsfrom exploration,geographic distribution and life historiesto technical discussionsof certain groups,and accountsof the resultsof bird banding. Naturally the subjectsof most general interest were those dealing with field work in foreign countries. The first of these was given by Dr. Pearsonwho outlined his recent trip to Europe to attend the International Conferenceon Bird Protection at Luxembourgand exhibitedsamples of someof the devicesused to capturebirds, including the nets usedin Italy, and a Belgian 72 PA•.•ER,Forty-third Stated Meeting ofthe A. O. U. [zAaUnk. device for attracting Skylarks by means of revolving mirrors. Tare gave an accountof his ascent of Mount Turumiquire, the highest peak in Venezuela,on whoselower slopesHumboldt and Bonpland collectedmany years ago. Rogers summarized the resultsof the PrincetonPanama Expeditionof 1923, Boulton gave an illustratedaccount of the recent Vernay Expeditionto Angola, West Africa, and Murphy showedan interestingseries of slidesand movingpictures of bird life in

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