Charles Barney Cory

Charles Barney Cory

Charles Barney Cory (born January 31, 1857 in Boston , † July 31, 1921 in Chicago ) was an American ornithologist.

biography

At 16, Cory developed a keen interest in ornithology and began collecting bird hides . With his father's fortune, he had the opportunity to travel far and thus amass one of the largest collections of birds from the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico . Cory attended Harvard University and the Boston University School of Law , but after a short time he continued to travel. In 1883 he was one of 84 ornithologists who helped found the American Ornithologists' Union . When Cory's collection of over 19,000 bird skins grew too large, he donated the entire collection to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago . Cory assumed the post of curator of the bird department. In 1906, Cory lost his private fortune and could therefore no longer continue his work in the ornithology department. After the resignation of zoologist Daniel Giraud Elliot as curator of the Department of Zoology at the Field Museum of Natural History, Cory Elliot became his successor.

Cory wrote many books on Caribbean bird life, including The Birds of Haiti and Santo Domingo (1885), The Birds of the West Indies (1889), and The Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin (1909). His last major work was the four-volume Catalog of the Birds of the Americas , which was completed by Carl Eduard Hellmayr after his death .

Dedication names

In 1888 Hans Hermann Carl Ludwig von Berlepsch named the ocher-browed thistle tail ( Schizoeaca coryi ) after Cory. In the Anglo-American language area, the yellow-billed shearwater ( Calonectris diomedea ) is called Cory's Shearwater . Although it was described by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1769 , it was only recognized as an independent species by Charles Barney Cory.

Trivia

In 1904, Cory took part in the Summer Olympics golf competition .

Works (selection)

• Birds of the Bahama islands; containing many birds new to the islands, and a number of undescribed winter plumages of North American species (Boston, 1880).
• Charles Barney Cory: Catalog of West Indian birds, containing a list of all species known to occur in the Bahama Islands, the Greater Antilles, the Caymans, and the Lesser Antilles, excepting the islands of Tobago and Trinidad . The author, Boston 1892 ( online [accessed November 15, 2015]).
• The birds of eastern North America known to occur east of the nineteenth meridian (Field Columbian Museum, 1899).
• The birds of Illinois and Wisconsin (Chicago, 1909).
• Descriptions of new birds from South America and adjacent islands (Chicago, 1915).
• How to know the ducks, geese and swans of North America, all the species being grouped according to size and color (Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1897).
• How to know the shore birds (Limicolæ) of North America (south of Greenland and Alaska) all the species being grouped according to size and color (Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1897).
• Hunting and fishing in Florida, including a key to the water birds known to occur in the state (1896, reprint 1970).
• The mammals of Illinois and Wisconsin (2 volumes, Chicago, 1912).
• Montezuma's castle, and other weird tales (1899).
• Notes on little known species of South American birds with descriptions of new subspecies (Chicago, 1917).
• Southern rambles (A. Williams & company, Boston, 1881).
• Descriptions of new birds from South America and adjacent Islands ... (1915).
• Descriptions of twenty-eight new species and subspecies of neotropical birds ... (undated).
• Notes on South American birds, with descriptions of new subspecies ... (1915).
• Beautiful and curious birds of the world (1880).
• The birds of the Leeward Islands, Caribbean Sea (Chicago, 1909).
• The birds of the West Indies (Estes & Lauriat, Boston, 1889).
• Descriptions of apparently new South American birds (Chicago, 1916).
• Descriptions of twenty-eight new species and sub-species of neotropical birds (Chicago, 1913).
• Hypnotism and mesmerism (A. Mudge & Son, Boston, 1888).
• A list of the birds of the West Indies (Estes & Lauriat, Boston, 1885).
• A naturalist in the Magdalen Islands; giving a description of the islands and a list of the birds taken there, with other ornithological notes (1878).

literature

• Barbara Mearns , Richard Mearns: Biographies for Birdwatchers: The Lives of Those Commemorated in Western Palearctic Bird Names . Academic Press Inc, London 1988, ISBN 978-0-12-487422-0 .
• Wilfred Hudson Osgood : In memorian: Charles Barney Cory: Born January 31, 1857- Died July 31, 1921 . In: The Auk . tape 39 , no. 2 , 1922, p. 151–166 ( online [PDF; 882 kB ; accessed on December 6, 2012]).