*#^.-' 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNH 
 DAVIS 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 
 
 lii late: 
 
 James G. Cooper, M. D. 
 
 Hayward, Alameda Co., 
 California. 
 
 DECEMBER, 1902. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2007 with funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/biographicalsketOOemerrich 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 DAVIS 
 
DR. JAMES G. COOPER. 
 
 Born June /p, iS^o. Died July ig, igo2. 
 
 FROM A PHOTO TAKEN IN 1065. 
 
Dr. JAMES G. COOPER. 
 
 A SKETCH 
 [By W. O. Ktnerson, President of the Cooper Ornithological Club.J 
 
 IT is proper, and in accordance with the wish of the 
 Club, that the initial number of the Buli^ETIn 
 should contain a brief sketch of the life of him, in 
 whOvSe honor our Club is named, — Dr. James G. Cooper. 
 
 The fact that Dr. Cooper, though very feeble, is yet 
 alive, precludes us from entering upon any detailed 
 view of his private life, even though it be that phase 
 with which his friends most delight. We must, there- 
 fore, confine ourselves to the scientific aspect of his life, 
 as it is in this relation that he is best known to thous- 
 ands who have never met him, and who will be pained 
 to learn that it is almost impossible for him to receive 
 visitors, as it is difficult and painful for him to speak. 
 
 When it became necessary for us to visit him to 
 verify certain portions of this sketch, we noticed his 
 evident pleasure when he learned that the Club in- 
 tended to publish its own Buli.KTin, and he expressed 
 the wish to do all that he could to further its interests. 
 To us this meeting was at once a promise and a bene- 
 diction. For many years he had been to us a friend 
 and a guide, and necessarily our mind reverted to the 
 time when we learned of bird-life at his feet. As we 
 looked on his kindly face and listened to the almost in- 
 articulate words, in memory we traveled backward to 
 
the time of our first lesson in bird-life; he sitting on a 
 rock in the shadow of the trees, and the student watch- 
 ing the birds which he noted as they flew about us or 
 jumped from stone to stone, making the air vibrate 
 with their music. 
 
 Eighteen years ago! What a vista of time is here 
 unrolled. What changes this period has wrought, yet 
 in memory he is again giving his first field lesson, tak- 
 ing the Rock Wren for an object study as it sits on a 
 huge blue-gray rock singing to us its song of welcome. 
 Here he talked to us of Nature in all of her varied 
 forms; told of the birds, their songs, their flights, plum- 
 age and their homelife; of their loves and hates, joys 
 and sorrows! All of this was told in common language, 
 without scientific nomenclature, and thus we saw 
 Nature and her works through the eyes of one who 
 loved and had long questioned and learned many of 
 her secrets, until the setting sun found us yet worship- 
 ing in Nature's temple, and the student gaining his 
 first glimpse into that grand arcana. This was our 
 teacher's manner; thus he gathered around him the 
 young ornithologists and in the field taught them the 
 lessons of bird-life, and it was from the incentives of 
 these field studies that our Club w^as formed, and in his 
 honor named, and at the Club meeting held December 
 5, 1896, he was by unanimous vote placed on our roll as 
 an Honororary Life Member. 
 
 The Secretary of the Club, Mr. C. Barlow, fully ex- 
 
pressed the sentiments of all when, in advising Dr. 
 Cooper of the action, he wrote: ''The Club which was 
 named in your honor was organized June 22, 1893. * 
 
 * As an organization of comparatively young work- 
 ers, we all feel indebted to yourself and the few re- 
 maining veteran ornithologists for the excellent and 
 valuable material which you have prepared in the years 
 past." 
 
 James G. Cooper was born June 19, 1830, in New 
 York, being the eldest of a family of six children. In 
 the spring of 1837, ^^^ father, William Cooper, moved 
 to New Jersey and settled at Slongha, near Hoboken, 
 where James commenced his school life, but it was not 
 until he was ten years of age that his school life really 
 began, as prior to this time he was subject to many 
 and severe spells of illness. As he was obliged to walk 
 a mile or more through the j&elds, he took many of the 
 side paths for the purpose of hunting birds, shells, 
 snakes and other objects of natural history, thus early 
 showing the tendency which has marked his later 
 years. During this period and the succeeding years, 
 he was largely indebted to his father for his education 
 and real preparation for his after career. It may be 
 proper that we devote a few words to the father who 
 exerted so great an influence in the son. 
 
 His father, William Cooper, was born in the year 
 1798, and was the son of James Cooper, an English 
 merchant, who, coming to New York shortly after the 
 
Revolutionary War, accumulated a comfortable fortune, 
 and died in 1801. William gave up all ideas of busi- 
 ness and devoted his life to the study of Nature, inher- 
 iting these tastes from his mother, who was Miss 
 Frances Graham. At the age of nineteen William 
 Cooper united with a number of others and established 
 the Lyceum of Natural History of New York, which 
 became the school of many of our noted scientists. Sen- 
 ator Samuel L. Mitchell, M. D., was the first President, 
 who with Cooper laid the foundation of its magnificent 
 museum. Nathaniel Paulding, the poet, was its first 
 Secretary, and William Cooper was Secretary in 1818 
 when it was incorporated. For many years Dr. John 
 Torrey, who was the educator of many of our noted 
 botanists, was the curator of the museum, and the inti- 
 mate personal friend of Mr. Cooper, and to him Dr. Tor- 
 rey dedicated his first real botanical work, The Botany of 
 the No7'thern and Middle States. At this time Prof. 
 Eaton was, under the direction of Courtland Van Rens- 
 selaer, making geological surveys. These old records 
 of the Lyceum, which are before us as we write, vividly 
 recall the early struggling days of science in the United 
 States. What a list of scientific workers, do these old 
 files of proceedings recall. Mark the time, 1818 to 1854. 
 In 1 82 1 William Cooper departed for Europe in order 
 to perfect himself in zoology, and was the first American 
 member of the Zoological Society of London. He attend- 
 ed the lectures of Cuvier and those master minds of the 
 
Jardin des Plantes, and on his return to the United States 
 took up the study of Palaeontology, being among the first 
 in our country to engage in this science. He became the 
 warm friend of Schoolcraft who afterwards made for him- 
 self a name as a historian of the Indian races. William 
 Cooper was the friend, correspondent and co-laborer of 
 Lucien Bonaparte, and edited the last two volumes of 
 Bonaparte's works, who showed his appreciation of the 
 assistance by dedicating to Cooper one of the finest of his 
 new species, Falco cooperi, the type specimen of which 
 was shot by Cooper in Hudson County, N. Y., and an- 
 other type specimen, ^todrormas cooperi^ was also taken 
 by him, and it is unique in the fact that no second speci- 
 men has been secured. The result of William Cooper's 
 ornithological work is largely incorporated in Bonaparte's 
 works. He was the friend of Audubon, and Nuttall, and 
 gave them the use of his specimens and notes, and assist- 
 ed them in their works. He died April 20, 1864, and at 
 this time, he and his life long friend, John Torrey, were 
 the only surviving members of the original Lyceum, Mr. 
 Cooper having been a member forty-seven years. 
 
 Nurtured by such influences, his education superin- 
 tended by such a father, his earliest memory being of the 
 conversations of such men, it would be impossible for the 
 subject of our sketch to be other than that which he has 
 been, — an authority in his own field of study. In 1851 
 James G. Cooper graduated from the College of Phy- 
 sicians and Surgeons, New York, and henceforth will be 
 
known to us as Dr. Cooper. The succeeding two years 
 were spent in the City hospitals, when at the beginning 
 of the year 1853 we find him taking the initiatory step 
 that to him was the turning point of his life; a period in 
 which hope and ambition as regards certain directions be- 
 came ruling factors and decided his course. 
 
 We may be pardoned for dwelling a moment on a 
 period that strengthened his tendencies, and decided the 
 course of his ambitious future. At this time the Govern- 
 ment had determined to take some action in regard to a 
 trans-continental railroad, and was making arrangements 
 for a preliminary survey for a route between St. Paul and 
 Puget Sound, and, on April 27, 1853, Dr. Cooper signed 
 a contract with Gov. I. I. Stevens, (who had lately been 
 appointed Governor of the Territory of Washington, and 
 placed in charge of the survey) as one of the physicians 
 to the survey. This appointment meant more to him 
 than the mere $70.00 a month that he received, as it 
 brought him into direct contact with those bright and 
 able minds whose after acts became a large portion of the 
 history of our country, and of science. What a galaxy 
 of bright names have been clustered around this survey. 
 These were the men with whom our friend lived, thought 
 and acted. 
 
 To the Eastern division Dr. Suckley was assigned, 
 while Dr. Cooper was assigned to the Western under the 
 direct superintendence of Brevet Captain Geo. B. Mc- 
 Clellan of the Engineer Corps, to whom he reported June 
 
14, 1853. 
 
 At this point we must digress to note the names here 
 associated, which in a few years were to stand as the sup- 
 porters of principles whose final disposition was made the 
 basis of our Ci\dl War. Jefferson C. Da\ds wrote and is- 
 sued Dr. Cooper's instructions; Geo. B. McClellan was 
 his immediate commander; U. S. Grant was the Regi- 
 mental Quartermaster that issued his supplies; A. J. Don- 
 elson was in command of the escort and Hardie in com- 
 mand of the Division of the Pacific. As we read the or- 
 ders and documents signed by these men, what memories 
 are awakened ! 
 
 Connected with this sur\^ey was Mullen, who after- 
 wards became the roadmaker. There were John Torrey, 
 Asa Gray, F. V. Hayden, Gibbs, Meek, Baird, Le Conte, 
 Lesqueraux, Warren, Suckley and others who were co- 
 laborers with Dr. Cooper, and who have w^ritten their 
 names on the scroll of the world of science. From June 
 14, 1853, to April I, 1854, Dr. Cooper was engaged in 
 making botanical and zoological collections and meteoro- 
 logical obser\'ations. This latter work was the peculiar 
 duty that was always assigned to the surgeons of the 
 army, but until this time it had not been productive of 
 any tangible results, although Blodgett had attempted to 
 formulate some of the laws regarding climatic conditions, 
 and was busy in reducing the accumulated obsen^ations, 
 and Redfield had propounded his theory of storms. 
 \\niile engaged in the study of the forest growth of the 
 
Northwest, Dr. Cooper's attention was directly called to 
 the correspondence between the forest distribution and 
 climatic influences, which largely determined the envir- 
 onment. The result of this study was communicated to 
 the public through the Smithsonian Institute, and was 
 the first systematic statement regarding the forest growth 
 that was issued by the Government. 
 
 While Dr. Cooper can not be regarded as a profession- 
 al meteorologist, yet the reductions of the obser\^ations of 
 this survey are models, and these observations had a pro- 
 found influence on his future work. The survey was 
 disbanded April i, 1854, and McClellan ordered our 
 friend to report to Gov. Stevens at Fort Vancouver. His 
 specimens were transmitted to Prof. Baird at Washing- 
 ton, to which place he soon went for the purpose of pre- 
 paring his report. Returning to the coast he spent the 
 entire year of 1855 in collecting specimens of natural his- 
 tory, and it was at this time that his attention was so 
 strongly fixed upon that line of thought in which proba- 
 bly he is best known — that of Conchology. His report 
 on the ornithology of the survey has become a model, 
 and is marked by deep, searching and comprehensive 
 observations. Dr. Suckley was a joint author with 
 Cooper, and reported on a separate section. 
 
 lyate in the fall of 1855 Dr. Cooper went up the coast to 
 Gray's Harbor, joining the Indian Treaty Commission 
 under Gov. Stevens, intending to accompany the Gov- 
 ernor to the Blackfoot Council at Fort Benton, but in this 
 
he was disappointed. In the meantime he made a voyage 
 to the Straits of Fuca and spent a month on Whitby's 
 Island, collecting specimens, returning to Shoalwater 
 Bay in July where he remained until Oct. 4, when he 
 sailed in the Coast Survey steamer Active^ by invitation 
 of Capt. Allen, to San Francisco. He spent six weeks 
 in collecting specimens in the Santa Clara Valley, then 
 proceeding southward to Panama he collected shells for 
 his father, whose last scientific writing was a report on 
 West Coast shells. Pacific R. R. Report. This large col- 
 lection passed into the hands of the Chicago Academy of 
 Sciences and was destroyed in the great fire. Dr. Suck- 
 ley was not with him at this time, he having returned to 
 the East. Altogether Dr. Cooper spent two years and 
 three months in Washington Territory, and this was 
 really his school of preparation. From April i, 1854, 
 until 1857, all of the work that he did was by his own 
 private enterprise and in obedience to his love for science, 
 and it is at this point that we bid farewell to the botanist 
 and welcome the ornithologist and conchologist. 
 
 On April 22, 1857, ^^' Cooper was by the Secretary of 
 the Interior, appointed Surgeon to the Wagon Road from 
 Fort Kearney to the South Pass and Honey Lake. How- 
 ever, when the expedition reached the Rocky Mountains, 
 it became necessary to disband it, and the Doctor went 
 on a collecting trip through the Mojave desert. The re- 
 sults of this trip are contained in his various reports on 
 the fauna of Montana, Wyoming and the Mojave, and 
 
are scattered through his later writings. On April i6, 
 i860, Gen. W. S. Scott issued special order No. 47, di- 
 recting Dr. J. G. Cooper as Contract Surgeon, to report 
 at New York, and to proceed thence to Fort Columbus, 
 Department of Oregon, accompanying a detachment of 
 recruits. This duty terminated Oct. 19, i860, but his 
 contract was continued to Dec. i of that year. Again as 
 a student we find him collecting along the coast from San 
 Francisco to San Diego. From now henceforward we 
 view the energetic, thoughtful scientific mind. From 
 1 86 1 to 1874 was one continuous series of field observa- 
 tions and studies, the results of which are embraced in 
 his numerous publications until the year 1890. This 
 period will again be examined when we speak of his pub- 
 lications. 
 
 The gigantic struggle of the Civil War found him a 
 student and an active worker in the field of science. 
 Watching this struggle, listening to the roll-calls of the 
 dead, sick and wounded, he again sought service in the 
 army, and on May 24, 1864, Gov. F. F. Law com- 
 missioned him as Assistant Surgeon, 2d Cavalry, Cali- 
 fornia Volunteers, and he served with this regiment until 
 its muster out. Even during this period he did not re- 
 linquish his scientific work, which was that of identifica- 
 tion of individual specimens, of reference, and in publish- 
 ing his observations. He was now a sj^stematist and not 
 a collector. January 9, 1866, he was married to Miss 
 Rosa M. Wells at Oakland, California. 
 
It is not our purpose to draw aside the curtain that 
 separates his scientific and public life from the sanctity of 
 his home-life. At present we feel that we have no right 
 to enter the home and to paint the picture of the peace 
 and happiness of that home circle, where, surrounded by 
 wife and children, he, in perfect security and the loving 
 trust of a well spent life, calmly awaits the summons that 
 shall bid him move to another home. Sometime it may 
 be our duty and pleasure to draw the picture of his home 
 life and to write more fully of his scientific life, but the 
 time is not yet come, and it may be that other and better 
 pens than ours may perform this duty, but none would 
 bring to its accomplishment more loyal labor. Until 1871 
 Dr. Cooper was in the active practice of his profession, 
 when his health failing, he moved to Ventura County, 
 California, and remained there engaged in collecting un- 
 til in 1875 he moved to Hayward, California, where he 
 now resides. 
 
 Thus far we have carried a brief, running itinerary, as 
 it were, of his scientific life, recounting his movements 
 until the time that he moved to Hayward, at which it is 
 our purpose to leave this view of his life, and take up the 
 purely scientific portion and his publications. In 1858 
 Dr. Cooper was made a member of the New York Ly- 
 ceum, now New York Academy of Sciences. Although 
 not one of the charter members of the California Academy 
 of Sciences, he is one of its early members, and until fail- 
 ing health prevented, one of its earnest and active work- 
 
ers, holding for several years the office of Vice President 
 and one term as Second Vice President. During the time 
 of the auxiliary clubs he was the President of the Zoolog- 
 ical Club. Much of his active work in connection with 
 the Academy has been in palaeontology, and he was for 
 some time curator of this section. A large number of his 
 works were first published in the Proceedings of the 
 Academy. He did considerable work on the Geological 
 Survey of California under Whitney, a portion of this be- 
 ing in pure geology and a portion in palaeontology. He 
 compiled the catalogue of California Fossils for the Min- 
 ing Bureau. 
 
 Our first impulse was to give a full catalogue of his 
 publications, but having arranged a full list of titles, we 
 have thought it would meet the requirements of this 
 sketch in a better manner if a synopsis by subjects were 
 given in lieu of the catalogue: On Conchology, 43 papers. 
 Botany, 6 papers. Ornithology, 12 papers, Mammals, 8 
 papers, other scientific subjects, 7 papers. Total, 76. 
 While his scientific work has been a varied one, it is his 
 ornithological work that particularly interests our Club, 
 and it may be inappropriate for the BUI.1.KTIN to present 
 any other phase, yet before examining his ornithological 
 contributions we cannot retrain from mentioning other 
 work for the reason that it bears so directly on certain 
 phases of his purely ornithological work. Necessarily we 
 must omit any reference to conchology and palaeontology, 
 as the scope of the Buli^KTin will not admit of such dis- 
 
cussion. Nor is it our present purpose to critically ex- 
 amine his ornithological writings, but rather to draw at- 
 tention to the fact that Dr. Cooper is one of our best or- 
 nithologists, because, to many, the conchologist has over- 
 shadowed the ornithologist in his work. We wish now 
 to refer directly to the work that in reality was the result 
 of his meteorological observations and directed his atten- 
 tion to the question of the geographical distribution of 
 plants and animals. This subject has been distinctive of 
 all of his later work, and if we are not in error, he was 
 the first to note the particular laws governing the envir- 
 onment of bird-life. 
 
 At the time he presented his essay on the geographical 
 distribution of plants, no one in the United States, and 
 only De Candalle, Richard and Humboldt in Europe, had 
 critically examined this subject, and Michaux, on the ba- 
 sis of the forest growth of a portion of the United States 
 had noted it. While Purrsh, Bartram, Nuttall, Barton 
 and Torrey had preceded him, they are silent on the laws 
 or conditions governing the distribution, and while Doug- 
 las and Eschscholtz preceded him on the West Coast and 
 noted cases of geographical distribution, they were from 
 the very paucity of systematic observations unable to for- 
 mulate any scientific generalizations. Then we regard 
 this essay as the first systematic presentation ot this sub- 
 ject in the United States. From the plants he carried 
 this question into the life history of the MoUusccb, and 
 thence he laid the foundation of his generalizations re- 
 
garding the distribution of bird-life. There can be no 
 doubt that this question of geographical distribution has 
 marked and modified our views of the life history of birds, 
 and from the mere descriptive technology of ornithology, 
 we have opened a new and varied field of ornithological 
 study. In this particular field he has been a pioneer, 
 and it is a portion of the special work of this Club. To 
 the scientist the work of Dr. Cooper is of special value, 
 and this is acknowledged and emphasized by Prof. Baird, 
 who says: * 'By far the most valuable contribution to the 
 biography of American birds that has appeared since the 
 time of Audubon, is that written by Dr. J. G. Cooper in 
 the Geological Survey of California," — (Baird North 
 American Land Birds. Preface page i.) 
 
 While the number of his publications on conchology 
 exceeds those on ornithology, in the latter they have 
 taken the form of finished works or monographs, which 
 have such a value as attaches to the works of Audubon, 
 Baird, Wilson and Bendire. During his work on the 
 Pacific Coast Dr. Cooper discovered and established ten 
 forms, which will be made the subject of a paper in our 
 next issue. 
 
 Lewis' and Clarke's explorations to the head waters of 
 the Missouri River made known to us that vast expanse 
 of territory known as the Northwest and Audubon, Nut- 
 tall and Townsend were the first to describe and make 
 known its zoology. The exploration of Maj. Long in 
 1870, of which Dr. Edwin James was the scientist, 
 
 — 14 — 
 
reached to the south and west of the territory covered by 
 lyewis and Clark, but did not to any great extent enlarge 
 our knowledge of its zoology, as James was a better bot- 
 anist than zoologist. To a certain extent the same may 
 be remarked respecting the explorations of Fremont. 
 The botany of these several surveys and explorations was 
 particularly elaborated by Torrey, Gray, James and 
 Eaton, while the zoology was not so thoroughly elabor- 
 ated. 
 
 In 1 83 1 Sir John Richardson published the results of 
 his observations of a portion of the territory covered by 
 the Hudson Bay Company, but none of these, however, 
 explored Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and California, al- 
 though the work of Eschscholtz covered a portion, and it 
 was not until the Geological Survey of California under 
 Whitney that this territory really became known to sci- 
 ence. Thus this survey becomes a starting point and a 
 scientific epoch, as it were. To this survey Dr. Cooper 
 was assigned as zoologist and by mutual consent between 
 he and Whitney, the notes and specimens were to be 
 placed in the hands of Prof. Baird for elaboration at the 
 Smithsonian Institute, and to be finally published as a 
 portion of the work on The Land and Water Birds of 
 North America by Baird, Brewer and Ridgway. This 
 arrangement, however, was not practically carried out, 
 and a large portion of this work was published by Whit- 
 ney as a part of the California Reports. A portion of the 
 bird skins were deposited at the State University at 
 
Berkeley. 
 
 Thus it was the zoological work of Dr. Cooper in con- 
 nection with this survey that has so enlarged our real 
 knowledge of the zoology of this section. Thus, from 
 December i860 until April 1862, and a considerable por- 
 tion of 1863 he was collecting in the Colorado Valley near 
 Fort Mojave. This included the vicinity of San Diego, 
 San Pedro, Santa Barbara and the islands of the coast. 
 In 1864 he explored a portion of the coast from Bolinas 
 Bay to Santa Cruz, and during a portion of this time 
 (1862) was assisted by Dr. Edward Palmer. During this 
 period he did a large amount of gratuitous work, in the 
 way of elaborating the material in various branches of 
 the zoology of the Pacific Coast. In 1865 he prepared 
 his series of reports on the higher classes of animals. We 
 hope that this preliminary sketch will call attention to 
 Dr. Cooper's ornithological work, and while it is not in- 
 tended to be critical, we have attempted to do him 
 justice as an original observer and as an author. In a 
 subsequent issue of the Bui^i^KTiN we will give a detailed 
 catalogue of his ornithological publications expressly pre- 
 pared for students who wish to examine them. 
 
 — 16 — 
 
IN MEMORIAM: 
 Dr. James G. Cooper. 
 
 OUR beloved honorary member and distinguished 
 naturalist, Dr. James G. Cooper has passed 
 away, and with him we lose a man of sterling 
 worth and lofty character, a man who has gained an 
 enviable reputation in his chosen subject of Natural 
 History, and who has left many and valuable works in the 
 field of Ornithology. 
 
 It seems but a few years since I first met this slender 
 gentleman in the small country postoffice which he held 
 in connection with the only drug store in Hayward. 
 That was in 1877. Three years ago last March he sat 
 among us, for the last time in public, for the study of 
 his favorite work, ornithology. Tho not of a strong 
 constitution, he has been the last to answer the final call 
 of the Creator, of that original group of naturalists 
 gathered around the side of Prof. Baird in the early 
 days of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 Dr. Cooper's Hfe was one of strong work, earn- 
 estly done, as one who clearly saw the facts of natural 
 science, and who fully appreciated the bearing of one 
 branch of zoology upon another, and upon allied sub- 
 jects. This will be noted in his early study of forests 
 and distribution, and many are the younger zoologists 
 who will think of him in future years when they consult 
 
his work on the coast faunal ranges. He was a man 
 who could lead you in paths of Nature to the haunts of 
 birds, to the lurking places of shells, or to hidden fossils, 
 and could name for you the rocks, trees and plants of 
 the mountains, hills and plains. 
 
 Dr. Cooper is best known to us by his works on 
 conchology and ornithology. Of the former there are 
 forty-three separate papers and of the latter twenty-six. 
 His most important work was *Xand Birds" in the Geo- 
 logical Survey of California, and usually known as 
 "Ornithology of California." This book was edited by 
 Prof. Baird and includes most of the land birds west of 
 the Rocky Mts. 
 
 His was a quiet unassuming life, passed amid the 
 simple surroundings of his home. He was a tall, spare 
 man of soldiery bearing, with a dark beard well silvered, 
 clear blue eyes, delicate hands, a voice slow and not 
 given to a ready flow of language. But when touched 
 on his favorite topic, the man was forgotten, and he im- 
 pressed you as one of the true worshippers at Nature's 
 shrine — a noble man of lasting worth. At times he was 
 humorous, when stirred by the reminder of some early 
 days of exploring among the mountains and fields. Dr. 
 Cooper was a great lover of forests, and could never 
 bear to see a tree cut down, or even have it used for 
 fuel in his home. There stands beside his home today 
 a tall California laurel, which was transplanted from a 
 near ravine as a little sapling, and which now overtops 
 
his home. It was early in life that the naturalists* 
 traits manifested themselves, as he says in his autobio- 
 graphical summary. ''I was noted for planting tooth- 
 picks to raise geese, and for hugging goslings to death, 
 a budding of ornithological tastes. This occurred in 
 1837 and continued, say, to 1840. I went to a country 
 school in summer, walked a mile over hills and bad 
 roads, taking side paths thru the fields to hunt bird 
 nests, shells and reptiles, which I preserved till some 
 naturalist captured the specimens for little or nothing. 
 The most noted of these captures was a living copper- 
 head snake which my sister Mary and I found while 
 crossing a newly cleared field, and which finally went 
 alive to England. I had many hunts for quadrupeds 
 and preserved some up to the size of gray and fox squir- 
 rels, besides keeping red and flying squirrels, a racoon, 
 oppossum, and other animals as pets, which attracted 
 much interest among visitors. I had a boy's mania for 
 hunting, and altho I could only get small animals and 
 birds, I spent many a day in shooting, no doubt with 
 impoverishment to physical health. I would wade thru 
 snow knee-deep for miles with poor results as to game, 
 but thought if I ever went into a wild country the hunt- 
 er's life would be my choice. Why man could not live 
 happy on the natural products of the forests and streams 
 was a problem I expected to solve in the future. About 
 this time Tanner's 'Thirty Years Among the Indians of 
 Canada' showed me much of the difficulties in the way 
 
of such a mode of existence." 
 
 In this we have a little retrospect into the early- 
 life of Dr. Cooper from his own pen. The tendencies 
 thus early manifested were fostered by his father, to 
 whom Dr. Cooper owed his preparation for his later 
 work in life, and it was at the home of William Cooper 
 that such men as Samuel L. Mitchell, M. D., Nathaniel 
 Paulding, poet. Dr. John Torrey, the botanist. Prof. 
 Eaton, and Lucien Bonaparte were wont to meet. It is 
 not difficult to see how these men may all have exerted a 
 profound influence on the mind of the young naturalist. 
 At the age of twenty-eight. Dr. Cooper became a mem- 
 ber of the New York Lyceum, now the New York Aca- 
 demy of Sciences, his father, at the age of nineteen, 
 having been one of the founders. Dr. Cooper was one 
 of the early members of the California Academy of 
 Sciences, holding for several years the office of vice- 
 president and for some years being curator of the sec- 
 tion of palaeontolog}^ which he had given much time to 
 build up. His last actual work was the compiling of a 
 Catalog of California Fossils, issued as Bulletin No. 4 by 
 the California State Mining Bureau, Sept. 1894, Parts 
 II, III, IV and V. 
 
 Dr. Cooper is the last of that circle of distinguished 
 naturalists, who had been the foremost zoologists and 
 botanists in his early days. Such men as Asa Gray, 
 Baird, LeConte, Hayden, Meek, George Gibbs, Torrey, 
 Warren and Dr. Suckley were his colaborers. To the 
 
memory of Dr. Cooper we can have no better monu- 
 ment than the valuable researches which he carried on 
 for over forty years of his life, consisting of some seven- 
 ty-five papers on the birds, shells, fossils, geology, forests 
 and flora of the Pacific Coast. 
 
 W. Otto Emerson, 
 
 Hayward, California. 
 
A Letter from Dr. Coues to Dr. Cooper. 
 
 THE following letter, contributed by Mr. Emerson, 
 is of interest just now, in connection with the life 
 of Dr. Cooper. We have here a glimpse into the 
 past, showing us at once the friendship existing be- 
 tween Dr. Cooper and Dr. Coues, and the esteem in 
 which Cassin was held bv his fellow workers. 
 
 Fort Macon, North Carolina, February 21, 1869. 
 My Dear Cooper: 
 
 I have not heard from you for so long, that I don't 
 recollect which one of us owes the other a letter; but 
 that's no great matter after all! I have received the 
 two copies of your paper so kindly sent, and read them 
 with unusual interest and profit. You quote me, I 
 notice, very extensively. I have not the papers by 
 me or I should like to make a few notes that struck me 
 on first perusal. I consider the paper a highly inter- 
 esting and very valuable one. That one now printing 
 in the ''Naturalist" will also be of great practical ser- 
 vice. Please let me have a copy of all that you write. 
 I understand that your large work will be out before 
 long. I think I have seen it announced, in print, in some 
 publisher's prospectus, but can not recall definitely. 
 I look for it with eager interest. I have sent you, I think, 
 all the papers that I have published since my "Pro- 
 
drome," directing them for want of more definite ad- 
 dress to care of the S. F. Nat. Hist. Soc. Have you re- 
 ceived them? A short one, **Ivist of Birds Collected in 
 Arizona by Dr. Ed. Palmer," bears directly upon your 
 work. He got on the Gila desert 3 species not previ- 
 ously attributed to the Territory; and several kinds of 
 eggs not before known to the ornithologists. My large 
 work still remains in MSS; but is about ready for the 
 press. I have about 2500 pages of MSS. Yours and 
 mine together will, I think, about use up the subject. 
 Yours has the great desideratum of mine — illustrations. 
 I know these will be GREAT; have seen the proofs of a 
 great many of them, and they are first rate. Best 
 things out since Cassin's and the Pac. R. R. Reports!! 
 I deeply regret that my book can boast of nothing of 
 the sort; but I have no means of procuring any such 
 desirable embellishments. 
 
 After my long stay at Columbia, over 2)^ years, I 
 am at length moved. Fort Macon is on one of the long 
 islands off the coast of North Carolina just opposite 
 Beaufort. I did comparatively little at Columbia in 
 the bird line, my position being a very onerous one as 
 regarding official duties. I only managed to collect 
 data for a Synopsis of the Birds of the State (a copy of 
 which I sent you). Although the birds are of course 
 well known in the general run, I thought that a new 
 carefully prepared list might find an acceptable place 
 in our chronicles. I have as much time here at my dis- 
 
posal as you seem to have at drum barracks, and I hope 
 to put it to good account in the line of ornithological 
 studies. I have never before lived on the South Atlan- 
 tic seaboard. 
 
 Of course you heard the sad, sad news that John 
 Cassin's labors are ended. The loss to Science none of 
 us can measure; nor can those privileged to call him 
 friend adequately express the depth of that bereave- 
 ment. And many as are our American ornithologists — 
 high as some stand in American ornithology — there is 
 none left in all our land who can lift up the mantle 
 that has fallen from his shoulders. His good work is 
 accomplished, and he has gone to reap the rich reward 
 of a life nobly spent in the survey of Nature's beauties, 
 in drinking from the perennial fountain of Nature's 
 truths. Since Audubon passed away from the scene 
 of his usefulness, death has struck no such cruel blow 
 to our beloved science. As Dr. Brewer has said to 
 me, ''which one of our younger ornithologists will 
 undertake to stand, after thirty-five years of training, 
 where Cassin stood at his death?" The all-worthy time- 
 honored quartette has been rudely broken. Now only 
 a triangle, I^awrence, Brewer and Baird, remains of the 
 last generation of American ornithologists. Who shall 
 lead opinion when they too are gathered to their fath- 
 ers? A higher trust than we perhaps appreciate, is 
 laid upon the few of us of this later day who pay 
 devotion to the beautiful study of ornithology. It is 
 
no less than the keeping bright and untarnished, and 
 transmitting to our successors, the name and fame of 
 the science that has absorbed such minds as those of 
 Wilson, Nuttall, Audubon, Bonaparte andCassin. May 
 we prove worthy servitors, guarding with jealous care 
 our trust, watchful that the vestal fires shall ever burn 
 at the shrine where we worship with a clear and steady 
 flame. 
 
 Ever yours, faithfully, 
 
 E1.1.10TT CouBS. 
 Dr. J. G. Cooper, 
 
 Acad. Nat. Sciences, 
 
 San Francisco, Cala. 
 
The Ornithological Writings of Dr. J. G. Cooper. 
 
 BY JOSEPH GRIN NELL. 
 
 IN the present paper I have listed all the ornitholog- 
 ical writings of the late Dr. Cooper known to me. 
 These number twenty-six. It will be noted that the 
 majority were printed between i860 and 1880. While 
 the number of Cooper's titles was not great, his articles 
 thus appeared at a time when much less was written on 
 birds than now, and when much of the subject-matter 
 we might now regard as commonplace was new informa- 
 tion altogether. As all but two of his publications per- 
 tained at least in part to the birds of California we of 
 the Cooper Ornithological Club owe much to Dr. Cooper 
 as being a pioneer in our line of stud5^ Perhaps his 
 best known work is his **Ornithology of California** 
 which is a desideratum of every working bird-student. 
 Aside from his signed articles, Cooper furnished materi- 
 al, in the way of specimens and manuscript notes, 
 which was used by Baird in 1858 and 1864, and especi- 
 ally by Baird, Brewer and Ridgway in their colossal 
 "History of North American Birds," 1874 and 1884. 
 
 Birds which have been named in honor of Dr. J. G. 
 Cooper are Buteo cooperi Cassin (status now in doubt), 
 Podiceps cooperi Lawrkncb (==ColymbiiS holbixlli)^ Pyran- 
 ga cooperi Ridgway (==Piranga rubra cooperi) and Melo- 
 spiza fcLsciata cooperi Ridgway. 
 
i86o. Pac. R. R. Rep. XII. Book II. i860 —Part 
 III. Route near the forty-seventh and forty-ninth par- 
 allels, explored by I. I. Stevens, Governor of Washing- 
 ton Territory in 1853-55. Zoological Report. — No. 3. 
 Report upon the Birds collected on the Survey. Chap- 
 ter I. Land Birds, by J. G. Cooper, M. D. Chapter II. 
 Water Birds, by Dr. G. Suckley, U. S. A. pp. 140-291, 8 
 Pll. (This was Cooper's first published article on orni- 
 thology and pertains chiefly to the birds noted during 
 the survey of Oregon and Washington. There are also 
 a few references to Californian species, of particular 
 note being his account of the capture of the unique 
 type of Biifeo cooperi Cassin, at Mountain View, Santa 
 Clara County. Although Cooper and Suckley present 
 separate authorship for the **Land Birds" and "Water 
 Birds," respectively, each evidently contributed written 
 accounts to both chapters. Cooper's initial as a rule 
 follows the most extended and detailed field notes.) 
 
 1 86 1. New Californian Animals. — Proc. Cal. Ac. 
 Nat. Sc. II, July 1861, pp. 1 18-123. (Cooper here def- 
 initely records from the southeastern part of the State 
 Panyptila tnelanolezica [=Aeronatiies inelanoleucus\ Chor- 
 deiles texensis^ Tyr annus vociferans, Vireo belli [= V, 
 pusillus\ Harporhynchus \=Toxostoma\ lecontei, Icterus 
 cucullatus [nelsoni], and Hydrochelidon plumbea \_-=H. 
 suriname7isis\ as well as others from Fort Mojave. 
 He also describes two new species from Fort Mojave, 
 
Athene whitneyi \=Micropallas whitneyt] and Helmin- 
 thophaga lucice), 
 
 1865. On a new Cormorant from the Farallone Is- 
 lands, California. — Proc. Ac. Nat. Sc. Phil., January 
 1865, pp. 5-6. (Description of Graculus Bairdii \=Phal' 
 acrocorax pelagicus resplendens.']) 
 
 1868. Some Recent Additions to the Fauna of Cali- 
 fornia. — Proc. Cal. Ac. Sc. IV, November 1868, pp. 3-13. 
 (Mention, with occasional critical remarks, of forty-five 
 species, some of them for the first time recorded from 
 the State). 
 
 1869. The Fauna of Montana Territory. — Am. 
 Naturalist, 1869; II, January, pp. 596-600; III, March, 
 pp. 31-35; April, 73-84. Corrections, June, p. 224. 
 (More or less extended notes on about no species of 
 birds). 
 
 1869. The Naturalist in California. — Am. Natur- 
 alist III; June, pp. 182-189; November, pp. 470-481. 
 (Field-notes on many birds observed on the I^os An- 
 geles Plains, at Cajon Pass, along the Mojave River, 
 and in the vicinity of Fort Mojave, which latter place, 
 however, is on the Arizona side of the Colorado River). 
 
 1869. Notes on the Fauna of the Upper Missouri. 
 — Am. Naturalist III, August 1869, pp. 294-299. (In- 
 cludes numerous ornithological notes). 
 
 — 28 — 
 
1870. Geological Survey of California. | J. D. 
 Whitney, State Geologist. | — | Ornithology. | Vol- 
 ume I. I Land Birds. | Edited by S. F. Baird, | from 
 the Manuscript and Notes of | J. G. Cooper. | — | Pub- 
 lished by authority of the Legislature. | 1870. pp. i-xi, 
 1-592; with a great many figures. (This, Cooper's great- 
 est work, includes the birds of all the region west 
 of the Rocky Mountains. Most of the text is in the 
 nature of biographical accounts, and included most of 
 what was known at the time of publication. The tech- 
 nical parts were prepared by Baird). 
 
 1870. The Fauna of Cahfornia and its Geograph- 
 ical Distribution. — Proc. Cal. Ac. Sc. IV, February 
 1870, pp. 61-81. (Contains separate lists of birds for 
 different localities, including those observed on several 
 of the Santa Barbara Islands). 
 
 1 87 1. Monterey in the Dry Season. — Am. Nat- 
 uralist IV, February 1871, pp. 756-758. (Running ac- 
 count of thirty species of birds observed in the vicinity 
 of Monterey.) 
 
 1874. Animal Life of the Cuyamaca Mountains. — 
 Am. Naturalist VIII, January 1874, pp. 14-18. (Brief 
 mention of 84 species of birds observed in the vicinity 
 of the Cuyamaca Mountains, San Diego County). 
 
 1874. ** Verbal Remarks." —Proc. Cal. Ac. Sc. V, 
 December 1874, pp. 414-415. (Specimens of Urialomvia^ 
 
which later proved to have been the young of Uria cal- 
 if ornicay and Ster cor arius parasiticus from the coast of 
 California.) 
 
 1875. Notes on California Thrushes. — Am.Natura- 
 list IX, February 1875, pp. 114-116. (Corrections in re- 
 gard to the ''Ornithology of California:" Turdus 
 ustulatus and ''Z! nanus^) 
 
 1875. New Facts relating to Californian Ornithol- 
 ogy — No. I. — Proc. Cal. Ac. Sc. VI, December 1875, 
 pp. 189-202. (Extended critical and biographical notes 
 on a number of the less known species. 
 
 1876. Early nesting of the Anna Hummingbird. 
 — Am. Naturalist X, January 1876, pp. 48-50. (In the 
 vicinity of Haywards). 
 
 1876. Californian Garden Birds. — Am. Natural- 
 ist X, February 1876, pp. 90-96. (Running account of 
 about forty species nesting in the neighborhood of Hay- 
 wards. Incidentally Cooper names and characterizes 
 on page 91 a western race of the Tree Swallow, '' Hi- 
 rundo bicolor var. vespertina.'' It is interesting to note 
 that this was the only "variety" or subspecies Cooper 
 ever named, for as shown by most of his writings he 
 did not lean strongly toward trinomialism. In spite 
 of the fact that vespertina was ignored by Cooper's 
 contemporaries, and has until now remained almost com- 
 pletely buried, there seems to be a distinguishable 
 
western race of the Tree Swallow, and this should be 
 known as Tacky cine ta bicolor vesper Una (Cooper). 
 
 1876. Nesting Habits of the Californian House 
 Wren ( Troglodytes aedon var. parkmanni). — Bull. Nutt. 
 Orn. Club I, November 1876, pp. 79-81. 
 
 1877. C)n Seventy-five Doubtful West-coast Birds. 
 —Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club H, October 1877, pp. 88-97. 
 (Remarks concerning numerous species attributed to 
 California by early writers, but the occurrence of 
 which is now doubtful). 
 
 1878. Californian Prairie Chickens. — Bull. Nutt. 
 Orn. Club III, April 1878, p. 96. (On the status in Cali- 
 fornia of Tetrao columbianus [=Pedioecetes phasainellus 
 columbianus\ ) 
 
 1880. On the Migration and Nesting Habits of 
 West-coast Birds. Proc. U. S. N. M. II, January 1880, 
 pp. 241-251. (A list of 73 species, with dates of migra- 
 tion and nesting at several points in California). 
 
 1886. The 'Water Birds of North America'— A 
 Few Corrections. — Auk III, January 1886, pp. 124-126. 
 (Relating to the notes on California birds incorporated 
 from Cooper's writings into Baird, Brewer and Ridg- 
 way's work). 
 
 1886. The * Water Birds of North America'— Ex- 
 planations. — Auk III, July 1886, pp. 401-402. 
 
1887. Additions to the Birds of Ventura County, 
 California. — Auk IV, April 1887, pp. 85-94. (Extend- 
 ed notes on 29 species, with mention of many more). 
 
 1890. Note on Pacific Coast Birds. — Auk VII, 
 April 1890, pp. 214-216. (Explanations in regard to the 
 ^'Ornithology of California.") 
 
 1890. A Doomed Bird. — Zoe I, October 1890, pp. 
 248-249. (The California Vulture). 
 
 1 89 1. Unusual Nesting Place of Empidonax ham- 
 mondi, — Zoe II, July 1891, pp. 104-107. (Breeding 
 at Haywards). 
 
RETURN TO the circulation desk of any 
 University of California Library 
 or to the 
 NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 BIdg. 400, Richmond Field Station 
 University of California 
 Richmond, CA 94804-4698 
 
 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 
 
 • 2-month loans may be renewed by calling 
 (510)642-6753 
 
 • 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing 
 books to NRLF 
 
 • Renewals and recharges may be made 4 
 days prior to due date. 
 
 DUE AS STAMPED BELOW 
 
 UUL 1 2002 
 
 TO nnn /i i /or\ 
 
■—PAM PHLET B 
 
 r"" Sfock/ l-p 
 
 I fSnerson, W.o. 
 
 . J^°^^^p^^°^ sketch of I 
 
 ' ^^^ 1^*^ -Barnes G. Coonf 
 
 Call Nmnber: 
 
 QL31 
 
 C6 
 
 E6 
 
 
 296097 
 
m 
 
 -^'