AT CHARLESTON, S.C., NOVEMBER 20-22, 1928.--The selection of Charleston for the A. O. U. meeting of 1928 proved to be a decidedly happy .choice, for the charms of southern hospitality, climate, and "atmosphere" combined to produce most felicitous results. 'Some doubts may have been felt as to a large attendance amid untried surroundings, but the Union has become bolder of late years in following new paths and the turn-out of members was all that could have been desired. Nearly everyone came, and nearly everyone brought his wife! The California representatives (Mail- liard, Miller and Swarth) were first to arrive, Sunday morning, foil.owed at once by the Washington contingent, twenty- nine in number. Members of the local committee (Messrs. Williams, Sprunt, Sass and Simons) were on hand to greet arrivals at the hotel, and on Sunday afternoon they and their friends took everyone out for a drive through the city and in the surrounding country. Many additional arrivals toward evening added to the success of the informal "get-to- gether" that from then on was in prog- ress at all times not occupied by the for- mal sessions. The meetings were held mostly in the Charleston Museum, where Miss Bragg, the Director, and her several assistants, were thoughtful and considerate hosts. The length of the program necessitated double sessions on two mornings, the tech- nical papers being given in a smaller room while those of more general inter4 est were delivered in the large auditorium. The "memorial session," Tuesday eve- ning, was most appropriately held in St. John's Lutheran Church, memorable as the church where Bachman once was pastor. The session devoted to motion pictures was held in the Charleston High School, on the site of Bachman's home. An appreciated feature of the meeting was the abundant opportunity for every- one to see something of the surrounding country. Besides the hastily organized drives on Sunday, there was on Tuesday afternoon a motor trip fifteen or more miles from town, covering some of the collecting grounds of Catesby, Audubon and Garden, and taking in also the fa- mous and beautiful Middleton Gardens. Then, the whole of Friday was devoted to a field trip by boats to Dewees Island, where members were the guests of Mr. and Mrs. C. D. Huyler at their attractive winter home. The western members of the party, at least, will long remember the sail over the placid waters of the bay and along the winding channels, and the walk through the unfamiliar woods of- Dewees Island. The annual dinner, with perhaps 200 present, was held in Hibernian Hall, in a huge, high-ceiled room with the chande- liers hung with ropes of smilax. The dinner was followed .by a feature prob- ably unique in the annals of the Union, an entertainment by a Charleston ama- teur musical organization, "The Society for the Preservation of Spirituals." The negro religious songs thus delivered were applauded by an appreciative audience, who could realize the historical and senti- mental value attached to the preservation of this most charming and characteristic music. Preliminary to the public sessions were the several business meetings, occupying Monday afternoon and lasting far into the night. One Fellow was elected, Arthur T. Wayne, of Mount Pleasant, on the outskirts of Charleston, the outstanding ornithologist of the southern states at the present time. It was a pleasing circum- stance that permitted his election at this meeting, but i was a disappointment to the membership that Mr. Wayne was too ill to attend the sessions, or to meet any- one. Another local man, Alexander Sprunt, Jr., of the Charleston Museum, was elected Member. One new name was added to the Council, that of P. A. Taverner. At this Meeting there were to be seen the familiar faces of most of those on whom the Union has depended for guid- ance during many years past There was one, however, whose absence was keenly felt, Dr. Jonathan Dwight, prevented fom attending by illness, and absent from an A. O. U. meeting for the first time since he joined the society in 1886. Dr. T. S. Palmer, secretary, guide, courier --the Pooh-Bah of the organization-- was here, there and everywhere, from the moment when he herded his Wash- ington associates into the hotel, to the time when he saw them all safely em- barked upon the departing busses. In- defatigable .himself, he saw that others, too, were occupied. In clear, resonant tones he told us where to go and when; what tickets to buy, at what price, and what for; when the trains left, and where transportation could be arranged. Nor shall we soon forget the emphasis with which he urged--no, instructed-every- one to be sure to catch the earlier depart- ing of the fleet of boats in which we made our field trip. No wonder that, when he, himself, strolled leisurely down to the wharf at the last minute to em- bark upon the largest, swiftest, and least crowded of the boats (the last one to leave the dock), an embittered member, bereft of his early morning sleep, hurled the epithet "Mussolini" after him! The program of papers and talks was a long one. In fact there was expression of opinion from several people present that fifty-four papers was too many 'for all to receive the attention they were justified in demanding. A few contri- butions by absentees were necessarily omitted, but even so, though of the re- mainder none was markedly curtailed in length, nor were many discussions cut short, there was a feeling of hurry to keep up with the program, that, with the present writer, at least, militated against complete enjoyment of the sub- ject matter presented. Such general com- ment and discussion as was evoked by Griscom's talk on "The Green Herons of the World," and by Roberts' on "Changes in Distribution of Certain Birds in Minne- sota during the Past Fifty Years," are among the most valuable features of such a meeting, but there were not many cases where such supplementary remarks could be carried to any length. "Popular" bird talks illustrated with excellent slides, and some with remark- ably fine and instructive motion pictures, and an exhibition of bird paintings and drawings in one of the rooms of the Charleston Museum, were attractive to all, and held the attention of many who were not particularly drawn to technical discussions. A surprisingly large number of those ia attendance remained in Charleston for most of the day following the formal close of the occasion, affording again portunity for the social foregathering that is such an enjoyable and valued fea- ture of the A. O. U. meetings. The Charleston meeting has passed into his- tory, and the local committee and their collaborators may well feel content with the result of their efforts, and with the pleasure they gave to an appreciative assemblage of visitors.--H. S. SWARTH.