his inspiration from other fields as well, renders his loss to ornithology none the less.-W. S.

DR. ORA WILLIS KNIGHT, a member of the American Ornithologists' Union, died on November 11, 1913, from double pneumonia.

He was born in Bangor, Maine, July 15, 1874, son of George Willis and Nellie Ada (Blood) Knight. He attended the public schools of Bangor and in California, and graduated with honors at the University of Maine (then Maine State College), receiving the degree of B. S. in 1895. He continued to pursue post-graduate studies in chemistry at the University and received the degree of M. Sc. in 1897. While in college he was Sergeant and Second Lieutenant of Co. A., Coburn Cadets and on graduation, was recommended to the Adjutant General for excellence in military scholarship.

He was assistant in Natural History at the University during his postgraduate work and then became assistant chemist at the Maine Agricultural Experment Station. In 1903 he was appointed state assayer and at the same time entered into private business in the same field. He was chemist for the Lackawanna Foundaries and several other concerns and as a consulting chemist and microscopist had but few equals. He did much analytical work for prominent physicians, and came into prominence before the public as an expert in important court cases. He was sure of his ground in such cases and was ever zealous for right and justice. In recognition of his attainments Dr. Knight received the degree of Doctor of Science from his university in 1909, and was honored with the highest emblem of the Phi Kappa Phi Society of which he was a member.

Dr. Knight was married, very happily, August 11, 1899, to Miss Minnie Gertrude McDonald of Bangor, who has ever been an able assistant in his undertakings. In 1911 he removed from Bangor to Portland where he built a residence.

From early boyhood Dr. Knight was interested in birds and ornithology was always his pet hobby. He was elected a member of the Maine Ornithological Society in 1895, and was an active participant in the meetings, holding various offices and contributing many valuable papers to the 'Journal' of the society. He was also an expert and painstaking photographer and his illustrated lectures on bird life were always enjoyable. In 1897 the University of Maine published as Bulletin No. 3, his 'A List of the Birds of Maine' and in 1908 he published his portly volume 'The Birds of Maine.' These books constitute our authoritative works on the birds of the state.

Dr. Knight was elected an Associate Member of the American Ornithologists' Union in 1893 and a member in 1907 and was a frequent contributor to 'The Auk.'

His scientific activities were not however confined to ornithology. He possessed a thorough knowledge of botany and had formed a nearly complete herbarium of the plants of Maine, which he has bequeathed to the

Smithsonian Institution. He was a member and officer of the Josselyn Botanical Club and also a member of the American Chemical Society. He had formed a scientific library which he left to the Bangor Public Library.

In the death of Dr. Knight science has lost a most promising student and a large circle of associates, a valued friend. He had a very high sense of honor and was a noble example of true manhood. He was a deep student of human nature and weighed very carefully those with whom he came in contact. He did not make close friends as readily as some, but once he counted anyone a friend, he was his staunch supporter, and the word friend had a deep meaning to him.

The writer for many years has enjoyed his close friendship and has had the pleasure of many days association with him, wading the Orono Bog in the haunts of the Yellow Palm Warbler, or passing pleasant evenings in his home or in his chemical laboratory. To him Dr. Knight's death comes as an irreparable loss.-J. M. S.

FRED. BENJAMIN SPAULDING, an Associate of the American Ornithologists' Union, died on October 22, 1913, after a short and painful illness. He was born in the town of Lancaster, New Hampshire, on the 7th of June, 1867, and was the son of William C. and Harriet S. Spaulding.

His boyhood days were spent on a typical New England farm nestled close to the foot hills of the White Mountains. He attended the public school and proved a good student and on the expiration of his study there he entered the Lancaster Academy. On leaving the Academy Mr. Spaulding was employed by Frank Smith & Co., for several years and then entered the Eastman Business College. Here he learned practical business methods and upon leaving returned to Lancaster, where, in 1899, he joined with Mr. C. Moore in establishing a flour and grain business, of which he later acquired entire control.

Mr. Spaulding's fellow townsmen acknowledged his business qualities and he served terms as their Selectman, and was sent to the Legislature, in 1910, where he made an enviable record.

He married on June 7, 1892, Miss Hattie N. L. Connor and this union proved a very happy one, blessed with two children.

Students of bird life and lovers of the out door world have experienced a great loss in the death of Mr. Spaulding. He was a man loved by many and a model for field workers to follow, making a careful, studious, and conservative observer of nature. I recall with pleasure a few weeks spent with him at the delightful home which he and his wife made the living example of the word hospitality. During the bright days spent with him we were constantly in the field and each day he unfolded the home life of some avian resident that heretofore I had known only as a migrant. It is a pity more observers are not of his type. His idea was not only to compile a local list but to know each bird's household as his own.

Among the interesting results shown by his careful study are several

records for his state including the breeding of the Hudsonian Chickadee. Each year many an ornithologist journeyed to his hospitable home and time will never erase the grateful memory of those visits.

Besides his association with the A. O. U. he was a member of the Cooper Ornithological Club and the Maine Ornithological Society.- H. T.

DR. FREDERICUS ANNA JENTINK, director of the Leyden Museum and well known as a writer on mammals, especially on those of the Malay and Papuan Islands, died on November 4, 1913, in his sixty-ninth year. He was well known to ornithologists as editor of 'Notes from the Leyden Museum.'

DR. J. W. B. GUNNING, president of the South African Ornithologists' Union and director of the Transvaal Museum and Zoological Gardens, died in Pretoria, June 23, 1913. Dr. Gunning was born at Helversum, Holland, September 3, 1860, and came to South Africa in 1884, practicing medicine in the Cape Colony until 1892 when he was appointed director of the newly formed museum at Pretoria. It was largely through his efforts that the Zoological Garden was established and he was also active in founding the S. A. Ornithologists' Union.

DR. T. S. PALMER furnishes the following summary of Bird Protective Legislation for 1913, in continuance of his report in 'The Auk' for April, 1913, p. 321.

Now that the legislative record is closed a hasty review reveals the fact that about 200 new game laws were enacted during the year. While the number of statutes is less than that in 1911, the importance of the legislation is probably greater than that of any previous year. Of chief interest are the three Federal laws regulating protection of migratory birds, prohibiting importation of plumage, and the Senate Resolution authorizing treaties for the protection of birds with foreign Governments.

The migratory bird law was approved on March 4 and the regulations for carrying it into effect were duly prepared by a Committee consisting of T. S. Palmer, A. K. Fisher, and W. W. Cooke. These regulations were published on June 23, were later revised and adopted by the Department, and took effect when approved by the President on October 1. A beginning has been made in the herculean task of carrying the regulations into effect. The country has been divided into 13 districts and the organization of the field force in about half of these districts is now under way. On account of the small appropriation for enforcement, the main reliance is upon cooperation with State officials. Each district is in charge of an experienced Inspector appointed by the Department and from three to seven wardens are appointed by the Department on recommendation of the respective game commissioners for cooperative work from each of the States. This arrangement will provide a skeleton force of about 200 or 250 men distributed among the various States. A Chief Warden, six Inspectors and about 75 Wardens are already in the field. The work naturally differs in the various districts. In the one comprising the Middle

States very gratifying results have been obtained in law enforcement particularly in New Jersey and in Maryland at the head of Chesapeake Bay; in the Northwest district special attention has been given to educational work and to stopping the hunting on the Mississippi River. Preparations are now being made to secure certain amendments in the laws of the States whose legislatures convene in January so as to make the local laws conform with the regulations and thus avoid as far as possible any conflict in the close seasons under the State and Federal statutes.

The plumage provision in the Tariff Bill which owes its origin to a suggestion by Mr. Henry Oldys was actively championed by the National Association of Audubon Societies under the guidance of Secretary T. Gilbert Pearson and by the New York Zoological Society under the direction of Dr. W. T. Hornaday. The provision in the form proposed by Doctor Hornaday passed the House without change on May 8, but in the Senate was amended by the Finance Committee so that its effectiveness was largely destroyed. By action of the Democratic caucus on September 2, the proposed amendment was abandoned and the House provision was restored. The bill passed a few days later and was approved on October 3. The Treasury Department immediately enforced the plumage provision in the case of plumage worn by travelers as well as in the case of feathers imported for sale, and notwithstanding vigorous protests, all persons arriving at ports of entry with prohibited plumage either in trunks or on their hats, were compelled to relinquish such trimmings or to return them to the port of shipment.

A Senate Resolution authorizing the President to negotiate treaties with foreign Governments for the protection of birds was passed on July 7, 1913. It is to be hoped that a convention may be arranged with Canada at an early date for the better protection of migratory birds.

From an ornithological standpoint the most important State laws were those in Pennsylvania prohibiting the sale of aigrettes and certain other imported plumage after July 1, 1914; the comprehensive Florida statute providing for a game commission, a license system, and the repeal of all local laws; the special law in Florida removing Robins from the game list; and the establishment of 15 game preserves in the United States and four in Manitoba. Provision for enforcing the game laws was assured through the adoption of the resident hunting license system in Delaware, Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. In Illinois, Montana, Oklahoma, and South Dakota, the warden work was reorganzied and single commissioners were replaced by a Board. In Ohio an Agricultural Commission replaced several former State departments and the game warden service was placed under its charge. In Connecticut the Fish and Game Commission was increased from three to eight members, and in New Hampshire the Board of Fish and Game Commissioners was replaced by a single game commissioner.

Colorado was the only State which extended the open season for waterfowl in the spring but this action was largely offset by the Federal Regula

tions. Three States, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Vermont, withdrew protection from the European Starling and authorized destruction of the bird under certain conditions. In California several important changes were made, such as strengthening the plumage law, and protecting the Band-tailed Pigeons, rails, and smaller shorebirds but some of the bills failed to receive the approval of the Governor or were subject to referendum. In Vermont the restriction on the number of permits to collect birds for scientific purposes in force at any one time was removed. The interest in bird reserves was well illustrated in Wisconsin whose legislature memorialized Congress to set aside certain islands in the Great Lakes for the purpose of establishing bird reservations to be ultimately placed in charge of the States when they were ready to assume the expenses of maintenance. On the whole, the legislative record is highly satisfactory and shows substantial progress.

In view of the splendid results attained during the past year in the campaign against the feather-trade, it seems high time that bird protectionists take up another phase of the subject that comes much nearer home to every household in this country than does the killing of plume birds. This is the cat question. There is I think no doubt that for years past the greatest destructive agency to our smaller song and insectivorous birds has been cats.

In an editorial in 'Forest and Stream' for November 15, 1913, that is well worth reading, the subject is taken up from the standpoint of the sportsman and the destruction of young and adult quail effected by cats is rated as great as that from any other agency. "The English Keeper," the writer says, "well understands the injury done in the preserves by the domestic cat and wages against it a war as bitter, and as uncompromising, as that which he carries on against the stoat or any of the hawks."

The number of stray cats at large in the United States is enormous.. It is stated in Bird Lore' that the number put out of existence in New York City by the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals during the first nine months of 1905 totaled, 53,938! The stray cats are usually the worst offenders and if means could be adopted to effect their slaughter and to instruct people in the danger that they inflict upon bird life by allowing cats to run wild and leaving them behind when they move away, some good would be accomplished. The whole question of the economic value of the cat it seems to us would be a valuable line of investigation. If the destruction of mice offsets the destruction of game and insectivorous birds then the cat deserves consideration but if the keeping of cats is to be regarded as merely a 'luxury' or if they are proven to be more noxious than beneficial to wild-life then their possession should be guarded with stringent restrictions, embodying registration or taxation.

In 'The Warbler' (Vol. VII, 1913) Mr. G. K. Noble states that stray cats originally brought out to Muskeget Island to keep the rats out of hunters' shacks are playing havoc with the young terns in the protected colony although the warden is using every effort to exterminate them.