Page:Bird-lore Vol 04.djvu/33

 Bird Clubs in America

I, THE NUTTALL CLUB

BY FRANCIS H. ALLEN

HE Nuttall Ornithological Club of Cambridge is, I believe, the oldest

I organization of its kind in the country, and, therefore, in spite of

the modesty which beﬁts its age and experience, may very prop- erly be the subject of the ﬁrst of a series of articles on bird clubs. The beginnings of this Club date back to 1871, when a few of the young men of Cambridge. Mass, met weekly in an informal way to compare notes and read ornithological literature. It was not until 1873, however, that the Club was organized, taking its name from the famous ornithol- ogist of the early nineteenth century, who lived in Cambridge for many years. The original membership was nine, and the majority of these are still well known as ornithologists, though only two, Mr. Brewster and NIr. Purdie, are now resident members of the Club. The list was as follows: Francis P. Atkinson, Harry B. Bailey, William Brewster, Ruthven Deane, Henry W. Henshaw, Ernest Ingersoll, Henry A. Purdie, William E. D. Scott. and Dr. Walter Woodman.

This little Club was destined to make itself felt in the scientiﬁc world. Its most important service to ornithology was doubtless the publication of its ‘ Bulletin,’ an interesting account of the starting of which, as well as of the early history of the Club itself, was given by Dr. J. A. Allen in an early number of that journal. ‘The Bulletin of the Nuttall Orni- thological Club ’ ﬁrst made its appearance Mayo, 1876. It was not without much preliminary discussion that so important a step was taken, and the question of issuing a journal of its own for the publication of scientiﬁc papers and notes had been agitated two years earlier, when the Club was hardly a year old. ‘ The American Sportsman ’ had at that time been adopted as a temporary medium, but the main question had only been postponed till the time was ripe for such an undertaking. (The Bulletin,’ as every ornithologist knows, was immediately recognized as the leading ornitho- logical journal of the United States, and it won the instant support of scientific men all over the country. Its publication was continued until 1884., when it was succeeded by ‘ The Auk,’ virtually the same journal, and with the same editor, Dr. J. A. Allen.

As ‘The Auk' was the successor of ‘The Bulletin,‘ so the American Ornithologists' Union itself was, in a great measure, an outgrowth of the Nuttall Club. On retiring from the presidency of the Union in [890, Dr. J. A. Allen said in an historical address on the A. O. U.:

"‘ The American Ornithologists’ Union is the worthy offspring of the Nuttall Ornithological Club of Cambridge, Mass‘. . . . [The Nuttall

in)