THANKING EVERYBODY. Papers Read at the Ornithologists' Union Today. The last day of the thirteenth annual congress of the American Ornithologists' Union opened this morning at 11 o'clock in the lecture room of the National Museum, and among the first business transacted was the passage of a resolution extending the thanks of the union to the board of regents, of the Smithsonian Institution for the use of the lecture room. Thanks were also formally expressed by the visiting members to the local members for the entertainment and courteous treatment furnished. The papers read and discussed at the morning session were: "On the Standing of Ardetta Neoxena," by Frank M. Chapman; "What Constitutes Publication," by J. A. Allen, and "The Value of the Tongue in the Classification of Birds," by F. A. Lucas. Each of the papers was discussed generally by the members present. The customary recess of one hour for luncheon was taken at 1 o'clock, after which Mr. William Palmer read an able essay on "A Critique on Trinomial Inconsistencies." This was followed by an unusually interesting exhibition of lantern slides of birds by Mr. Palmer. At 4 o'clock this afternoon the union will adjourn, to meet next at Cambridge, Mass., Monday, November 9, 1896. STAR, NOV. 14, 1896 Original xeroxed by the Smithsonian Archives