As many of you know, I have been digging around in Ohio ornithological history. I am especially puzzled by one topic, and I wonder if any readers can cast some light. We cannot understand today's birds--their populations, foods, behaviors, timings of migration and nesting, etc.--without finding out everything we can about them yesterday. For some reason, three of the state's respected ornithologists chose 1903 as a time to describe Ohio's avifauna. In that year Lynds Jones of Oberlin published his "The Birds of Ohio," and Wm. Dawson of Columbus his own "The Birds of Ohio." Both are in libraries and used-book stores, and texts are on the internet. A third prominent ornithologist, Oliver Davie of Columbus, had by that time published seven books between 1884 and 1902, four of them devoted to birds, concentrating on eggs. By some strange coincidence it was also in 1903 that he announced he had completed a work, "Life Histories of the Birds of Ohio: A State Textbook," of some 700 pages, with 100 colored plates. It was offered by Fred Herr, a prominent Columbus publisher. I can't find a copy of it. Nothing in the Ohio Historical Society, the OSU Museum, or the state libraries. There are some rather unreliable published mentions and offhand reviews of this seemingly significant work, but I have the feeling it was never finally published. Surely there was a text, a draft with illustrations, but it seems lost. I'm thinking there are clued-in folks who read this list who may have information about a draft copy or at least a manuscript, or maybe only a review with information, about this work, or even about where there may be a trove of Davie's manuscripts. Please get in touch if you do. Thanks, Bill Whan Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]