Savannah sparrow

Paul Russell Cutright examines Theodore Roosevelt’s first two published works: lists of birds found in the Adirondack mountains and in Oyster Bay, New York. Cutright explores Roosevelt’s friendship with H.D. Minot who coauthored The Summer Birds of the Adirondacks in Franklin County, N.Y., and he also looks at Roosevelt’s Notes on Some of the Birds of Oyster Bay, Long Island. Cutright reviews the field work that went into each pamphlet, discusses some of the birds found in each, and compares the information found in them to observations in Roosevelt’s natural history notebooks. He also highlights the publications in which the pamphlets have been reprinted, and he lists the museums, libraries, and institutions that have these rare works in their collections. Two pages of endnotes and a biography of Cutright supplement the text.

 

The first page of The Summer Birds of the Adirondacks in Franklin County, N.Y. appears twice in the article along with a photograph of the Snow owl donated to the American Museum of Natural History by Roosevelt.

Paul Russell Cutright examines the donation of Theodore Roosevelt’s bird collection to the Smithsonian Institution and the American Museum of Natural History. Cutright focuses on the donation to the Smithsonian since it was very large, 622 bird skins, and he details how the collection was cataloged, where and to whom individual specimens were dispersed, and he highlights some of the more notable specimens like the Snowy owl.

Pictures of Theodore Roosevelt and his father and a copy of two pages of the accession records of the Smithsonian accompany the article. The cover of this issue features a picture of the Snowy owl shot, prepared, and donated to the American Museum of Natural History by Roosevelt.

A listing of the officers of the Theodore Roosevelt Association along with the members of its executive, finance, and Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace committees is on the second page of the article.