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July, 1919 AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 171 FIRST SPI?CIMI?N OF BAIRD'S SANDPIPI?R COLLI?CTI?D IN TI-I]? ]?AST Meantime my own collection of local birds was growing apace, and it was about this time (August 27, 1870) that I took a specimen of Baird's Sandpiper on Long Island, Boston Harbor, the first ever known to occur east of the Mis- sissippi. This specimen proved something of a puzzle to Brewster and myself, and eventually led us to the Agassiz Museum and to J. A. Allen, then Curator of its bird and mammal collection. He very soon verified our identification, and v?e speedily came to know him very well. If I mistake not he was then at work on his "Mammals and Birds of East Florida", an epoch-making book, which appeared in the following April. Subsequently, at the request of Dr. Coues, I sent the sandpiper to Washington for examination, and in this way, perhaps, became known, by name at least, to Professor Baird, Dr. Coues, and Mr. Ridgway. ACQUAINTANC]? WITH DOCTOR T. M. BREWER It must have been about this time, too, that I became acquainted with Doc- tor Brewer, then ?ell-known in Boston as a publisher and book dealer. Though possessing a somewhat peppery disposition; he was a most kind and courteous gentleman, and was particularly fond of young people, and ever ready to lend a helping hand or speak a word of cheer to the aspiring young ornithologist. He came to my house to see some of my treasures, particularly a set of Sharp- tailed finoh's eggs taken in Cambridge on the Charles River marshes, and more than once invited Brewster and myself to his house where we examined with pleasure his large collection of eggs. This he willed to the Agassiz Museum. It was somewhat later than this--I do not recall the exact year--that through him I was offered the position, then vacant, of Secretary of the Bos- ton Society of Natural History. This I declined, not liking the confinement of an indoor position. In my mind Dr. Brewer was the living link connecting Audubon with our own times, and he often spoke of the pioneer ornithologist and of his acquaint- ance with him. Dr. Brewer knew Professor Baird intimately, and it was, per- haps, largely through him that I became known in Washington as a "promising young.bird collector". Later, when I became attached to the Wheeler Survey, he al?ays called at my office when visiting Washington and examined witIt great interest my bird and egg collections from the west. He died in 1880. (To be continued) FROl FIELD AND STUDY Oorreoti0n of Impreaslon.--I have fomtd that at least one person regards the last paragraph of my "Trinomials and Current Practice" Communicatioi? in the last CO?DOa (xx?, 1919, p. 92), in which I deplore the attitude of certain "quasi-ornithologists", as em- bodying my personal opinion of Mr. P. A. Taverner. As one has thought this, others un- doubtedly will; but such a possibility never entered my head. I have the greatest re- spect for Mr. Taverner as a man and as an ornithologist, and would not dream of trying to belittle him. I added the last paragraph merely to condense two of my ideas into one communication, and mednt exactly what I tried to imply--that I have no patience with those who give all their time and attention to eggs, butterflies or big-game hunting, and yet indulge in a mighty outburst of lamentation whenever a new bird is described.--A. B. HOWELL, Co?)ina, California, April 21, 1919. N?te* ?n Some Catali'na Island Birds.--On reviewing Mr. A. B. Howell's paper, "Birds o? the Islands off the Coast of Southern California", in connection with observa-