BIOLOGY RESEARCH FUND NAMED FOR GEOFF HOGAN ' by Diane Griffin

During the 1991 annual alumni fund raising campaign at the University of Prince Edward Island, a fund was started with donations from graduates who majored in Biology while at University. The Biology Department faculty have decided to name this fund in honour of Geoff Hogan, a Past-President of the ‘Natural History Society of Prince Edward Island. I ' ' The purpose of the fund is to assist students who want to do biological ' research for a thesis so they can obtain an honours degree. The award will be made from the interest generated by the fund. v

To contribute to the fund, simply send a donation to the University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, P.E.I. CIA 4P3. Please indicate that the donation is for the Geoff Hogan Biology Honours Research Fund. You will receive a tax creditable receipt.

Editor's Note: When Diane prepared this article, Geoff was lying, very ill at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. During the evening of Friday, March 13th, Geoff passed away. He will be truly missed. The Geoff Hogan Biology Honours

Research Fund will serve as a living memorial to his achievements while at the same time encouraging further investigations of biological systems on the Island he called home.

Unusual numbers of robins about Mount Stewart this winter prompts/ongTZO _’) speculate on their subspecific origin. The Eastern Robin (zurdus migratorius ' Emigrator) is the nesting robin here on Prince Edward Island. The Black-backed Robin (T. m. nigrideus) nests in Newfoundland and Labrador.

In a letter to the author dated January.22, 1959, W. Earl Godfrey, who was then Curator of Ornithology-at'the National Museum of Canada, said:

."Males of the Black-backed Robin can be separated in the field because_they are generally a somewhat darker bird, with the black of their head and neck extending down to their upper back, and the breast is a deeper red. You should get the occasional migrant going through P.E.I. in spring or fall."

During the time I had a collector's permit, I collected two robins and sent the skins to W. Earl Godfrey. He identified them as follows: one, collected during the‘spring (April 8, 1959), was a Black-backed Robin; the other, collected in winter (January 8, 1967) was an Eastern Robin.

The March 1979 (# 38) issue of the Natural History Newsletter records both birds in error as Black-backed Robins. _ .

This is a good winter to record which of the subspeCies is feeding in the areas you bird. Please advise the editor of yOur observations.

EASTERN OR BLACK-BACKED ROBIN I by Bruce C. Pigot

VOLUNTEERS REQUIRED FOR PIPING PLOVER CONSERVATION, by Stephen Flemming

The Piping Plover is listed as an endangered species in Canada. Only 5,500 individuals remain, 525 of those in Atlantic Canada. Human disturbance is a major cause of poor reproductive success in the region. Active protection of the birds is urgently needed. This year, with the help of volunteers, we hope to protect the Piping plover in Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia by initiating a-Piping Plover Guardianship Program. Volunteer Guardians will help erect information signs arbund plover nesting areas and

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