Walter Deane papers

132

Cambridge, Mass. 1901 Sept. 28

Clear, sunny, cool day, rather warm in the sun.

Oecanthus nigricornis This noon I saw for the first time Oecanthus nigricornis. I saw the fellow on a leaf of Golden rod (Solidago rugosa) in the middle of the Garden. He raised his wing covers till they were in a plane, perpendicular to and at right angles to the axis of the body. The wings partially lapped over each other thus: — [drawing]. He kept them in this position for a second or two, and then set them in rapid vibration, in the same plane, and erect as before. The wings never overlapped each other more than in the first position. The rubbing of the strong veins against each other produces the loud steady trill which is kept up sometimes for several minutes. The wing covers are slightly convex on the upper surface.

I have captured and examined the antennae of Oe. {Oecanthus} nigricornis. The marks are exactily as in Wm. Bentenmüller's Orthoptera fifty miles arounds New York City. Sometimes the antennae of nigricornis are entirely black.

133

Concord, Mass 1901 Oct. 25

I have been engaged as usual at the Museum since my last entry.

Today I was obliged to run up to Concord to see Will Brewster at Ball's Hill on some business. I enjoyed the the short trip very much for it was a clear, cool day and the vegetation has assumed its fall hue with the deep reds of the oaks, the yellow of the birches and the many varied patterns of field & wood. I took the train to Concord, electrics to West Bedford and from there I was rowed across the river. I reached the cabin a little after one o'clock and left there a little before four. I wandered over Ball's Hill and the neighborhood enjoying the views.

I noted a few birds :– Circus hudsonius, beating the Meadows. Corvus americanus, several flying over. Cyanocitta cristata, one screaming Ammodramus s. savanna [Ammodramus savannarum savanna], one, Great Meadows. Junco hyemalis, a flock of 10 or 12 near boat landing. Zonotrichia albicollis, several near boat landing Dendroica coronata, two calling by the cabin Parus atricapillus, two or three on Balls Hill Merula migratoria, 10 or 12 near boat landing.

134

Milton, Mass. 1901 Oct. 27

M. & I took the 12.19 train (Dartmouth St. Sta.) for Readville and spent the day with Dr. & Mrs. Kennedy. We had a beautiful time. Dr. K. met us at the station and drove us to the house. Hal, Sinclair & Mildred were away. After dinner we all took a drive through the Blue Hill Reservation. M. has never been over the drive and she was delighted. We went between Blue Hill and Hancock Hill on to Hillside Street and then to the Houghton Place where I saw the hybrid oak (Quercus cinerea X regia) referred to in my Park Flora. We drove round Hoosicwhisick Pond in the woods. The views of the hills with the foliage of many hues was very beautiful. A Marsh Hawk, a large brown female, soared past us low over the trees and a Bluebird perched on small tree close to us, while Robins were flying about in flocks. Returning to Hillside St. we continued to Canton Ave., passing the old station for Smilax glauca. The plant is still there by the road at the base of Blue Hill. Following Canton Ave. south to Ponkapog {Ponkapoag} we returned to the house, and Dr. Kennedy & I discussed plants in his herbarium till tea time. After tea we took the 7.29 train home.

I always enjoy a day with Dr. Kennedy immensely.

135

A week at the A.O.U., New York, N.Y. 1901 Nov. 10–17

William Brewster, M. & I took the 1:09 P.M. train at the Dartmouth St. Station, Boston, for New York to attend the meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union. Mrs. B. accompanied us as far as Providence. We had a very pleasant run and enjoyed the beautiful views as we skirted the sound bordered by extensive salt marshes and lighted up by the clear bright sun. The absence of pines along the southern part of Connecticut is very striking. The only birds seen were a few Herring Gulls at various point along the shore. We reached New York at 7 o'clock and went straight to the Murray Hill Hotel where we staid during our visit. Ruthven arrived at the Hotel from Chicago about the same time that we did and we saw him constantly throught the week. We got through dinner about nine o'clock and retired early.

Nov. 11 Cloudy, rainy, [?]. Ruthven and Will have been all day at meetings and M. & I have been left to ourselves. This morning we took the elevated to 87th Street and walked across Central Park. We passed the obelisk and stood before this wonderful monument. I stood before the Temple of the Sun near Cairo, Egypt, where it was erected by Thothmes III (1591–1565 B.C.). This obelisk & a companion stood there till 12 B.C. when Augustus removed them to Alexandria and set them up before

136

New York, N.Y. 1901 Nov. 10-17 Nov. 11

The Temple of the Caesars. In 1877 one was taken to London and erected on the Thames Embankment. Our Obelisk, called Cleopatra's Needle was in the same year, 1877, presented to the United States by the Khedive of Egypt. It was brought over to this country and erected in Central Park in 1881. It is a monolith of syenite, from the quarries of Syene, Egypt, and was transported one thousand miles to Heliopolis, near Cairo. It is a mystery how this was done for it weighs 448,000 pounds and is so hard that stonecutting instruments of the present day make no impression on it. The column is covered with hieroglyphics and we saw that those on the west side were eaten away by the centuries of blowing sand over the Libyan desert.

We then went into the Metropolitan Art Museum and enjoyed an hour or two there. I was much impressed by the models, 1/20 of the original size, of the Parthenon, Pantheon, Notre Dame. Most of the time was spent among the paintings and we found much to interest us. I was glad to see Rosa Bonheur's Horse Fair, the original picture purchased in 1877 by Cornelius Vanderbilt for $55,500 and presented to the Museum. We returned home by cable car and spent the P.M. and evening in the hotel as I was pretty tired.

137

New York, N.Y. 1901 Nov. 10-17 Nov. 12

Tuesday, the 12th, was rather rainy and windy clearing in the evening. This morning we all went up to the Amer. Museum Nat. Hist. {Amercian Museum of Natural History}, Central Park and attended the morning and afternood sessions, enjoying them very much. I met many acquaintances, Dr. J. A. Allen, Frank M. Chapman, Jonathan Dwight, jr., Wm. Dutcher, John N. Clark, C. Hart Merriam, A.K. Fisher, J. {John} H. Sage, L. Fuertes, Mrs. Olive T. Miller, H. {Harry} C. Oberholser, Miss E. P. Moore

{F. B.}Spaulding of Lancaster, N.H., [Reunsch?] of Phila. and others, H. K. Job, E. W. Nelson, T. S. Palmer & W. Palmer, etc. A pleasant lunch divided the two sessions. We had time to see a few of the mammal & bird groups in the Museum. They are very wonderful and life-like. The surroundings of the creatures are wonderfully true to nature and the Moose wader in the Maine forest over the beds of moss and the muskrats are seen in their natives breeding holes in the banks and in their winter huts which are all sectioned to show the inside.

We dined with Dr. Mrs. J. A. Allen this evening on 103d Street. Dr. Merriam, Dr. {Edgar A.} Mearns Will Brewster and relatives of Mrs. Allen was there and we enjoyed a very pleasant evening. Dr. Merriam showed us photographs illustrating his summer experience in the high Sierra Nevada Mts. in California. We reached home about 11.

138

New York, N.Y. 1901 Nov. 10-17 Nov. 13

Wednesday the 13th was clear & cloudy with sun and wind. After breakfast we went to the Amer. Mus. {American Museum of Natural History} and spent the entire day at the sessions till 4.30 P.M. I enjoyed meeting the members very much. Ruthven {Deane} gave a very intereting and well delivered talk on some books and articles relating to Audubon. The illustrated lectures in the afternoon were great interest. We managed to get time to walk about some what through the building to see the groups of mounting. They are very fine. The most recent is a scene at Bird Rock Gulf of St. Lawrence closing following the photographs of Chapman and illustrating the birds on the ledges either sitting on the eggs or caring for young or flying or standing. It is very wonderful and Dr. Meriam pronounces it the finest piece of work of its kind in the world. The birds inhabiting the Rock and all represented, Murre, Brunswick's Murre, Puffin, Razor-billed Auk, Kittiwake Gull, Leach's Petrel, Gannet. Descriptions & illustrations of the birds and photographs of the birds & Rock are hanging near. On the bank above the grass and white clover are as natural as if growing. In one place a section of the bank is made, showing a Puffin and a Petrel sitting at the end of the hole

139

New York, N.Y. 1901 Nov. 10-17 Nov. 13

This evening we dined at Dwight's, 2 E. 34th, close to the great Waldorf Hotel. We met Mr. & Mrs. Dwight, Dr. J. Dwight, jr. & his bride of a few months. Dr. Dwight is the fifth in the direct line from Jonathan Dwight of early colonial days, and they have pictures of them all. Two oil paintings of the 1st & 2d Jonathan Dwight hang on the walls. Dr. Louis B. Bishop of New Haven, Conn. dined with us also. We had a very bright jolly time. After dinner we were shown the wedding presents and I sat sometime with Dr. Dwight in his study going over the work he is now doing on the Index to the Bulletins and Auks. This includes twenty four volumes. I indexed two of the volumes last spring. Dr. Dwight's work of bringing together all the separate indexes is immense, and shows the very best kind of systematic work.

Mr. Jonathan Dwight is an engineer and he has charge of a section of the tunnelling for the subway in the city. The work is going on all over the city and as the excavating is from the surface it makes great confusion. Loud reports of the blasting are heard at intervals. This goes on in front of the Murray Hill and renders the place most undesirable. We returned home after a most pleasant evening.

140

New York, N.Y. 1901 Nov. 10-17 Nov. 14

Wednesday the 14th was cloudy and windy with occasional sun. This morning M. went down town shopping, while I skipped the morning session of the A.O.U. and took the cable cars to 116th St. on Amsterdam Ave. to the Columbia University. I was much impressed by the buildings and the fine location. The Low Memorial Library is a magnificent structure of Indiana limestone, of classic Greek architecture in the form of a Maltese cross with an immense dome in the center. I went through the building and saw the large and handsome reading room. I then went over to Science Hall and was sorry to find that Prof. Underwood was away. His assistant showed me about and was very polite. I saw the plan for the grounds and the various buildings and then walked over to the Riverside Drive and I visited Grant's Tomb. I was much impressed by it all. The building is composed of white Maine granite with white marble within and is 150 feet in height. Through an opening in the floor you look down upon the two sarcophagi containing the remains of Ulysses S. & Mrs. Grant.

From here I retraced my steps and walked down 116th Street to the elevated, seeing on the way, the famous

141

New York, N.Y. 1901 Nov. 10-17 Nov. 14 (2)

Sturnus vulgaris St. Luke's Hospital and site of St. John's Cathedral. Of this latter an immense stone arch of imposing magnitude stands. While going down Morningside Heights to the train, a flock of six Starlings whirled past me and alighted in the shrubbery close by. With my glass which I constantly carried with me for just this very occasion I had a nice view of them. They picked away at the vines for two or three minutes before flying away. This was my first view of the European Starling which is naturallized in New York City & Brooklyn. Returning to the Amer. Museum I lunched and attended the afternoon session which was mainly devoted to bird protection and was illustrated by beautiful slides. After the meeting we recorded our names with Mr. W. T. Hornaday who extended an invitation to us to visit Bronx Park the next day.

Three pictures were exhibited on the platform; a painting of the Wild Turkey by J. J. Audubon in 1826, loaned to the Mus. {Museum} by Miss M. {Maria} R. [?] Audubon, painting of a Deer & Hounds, called "Last Resort," by John W. Audubon, owned by the Mus. {Museum} and a small painting of J. J. Audubon, probably by himself about 1824, loaned by Dr. D. G. Morrell.

We called on Dr. & Mrs. J. A. Allen and after dinner at the Hotel on Miss Nora Pettibone,