Melvin Alvah Traylor Jr. (December 16, 1915 – February 11, 2008) was an American

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

. He was the son of Chicago banker

Melvin Alvah Traylor Melvin Alvah Traylor (October 19, 1878 in Breeding, Kentucky – February 14, 1934 in Chicago, Illinois), the eldest of seven children of James Milton Traylor and Kitty Frances Traylor née Harvey. He was an American lawyer and banker. He wa ...

and Mrs. Dorothy Y. Traylor. Traylor was

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

with the

marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (ref ...

and served on

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the se ...

during World War II in 1942 where he was awarded with the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an ...

medal. As a Marine Corps officer, Mel was severely injured during the

Battle of Tarawa The Battle of Tarawa was fought on 20–23 November 1943 between the United States and Japan at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, and was part of Operation Galvanic, the U.S. invasion of the Gilberts. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, ...

in the Pacific theatre, where he lost one eye and suffered arm and upper body wounds during the famous beach assault. After the war Traylor continued his work for the

Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...

in Chicago, which he had started in 1937. He made expeditions to Africa (in collaboration with

Austin L. Rand Austin Loomer Rand (16 December 1905 – 6 November 1982) was a Canadian zoologist. He was born in Kentville, Nova Scotia in 1905 and grew up in nearby Wolfville, where he was mentored by the noted local ornithologist Robie W. Tufts. He receiv ...

), to South America, and to Asia. In 1960 he was among the members of the ''World Book Encyclopedia Scientific Expedition'' to the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

led by Sir

Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineering, mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropy, philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa people, Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became th ...

. In 1956 Traylor became assistant curator of birds in the Field Museum. Since his retirement in the 1980s he was working as curator emeritus for the Field Museum. Traylor was among the authors (alongside Raymond A. Paynter,

Ernst Mayr Ernst Walter Mayr (; 5 July 1904 – 3 February 2005) was one of the 20th century's leading evolutionary biologists. He was also a renowned taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, philosopher of biology, and historian of science. His w ...

, G. William Cottrell, and

James Lee Peters James Lee Peters (August 13, 1889 – April 19, 1952) was an American ornithologist. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Dr. Austin Peters and Francis Howie Lee on August 13, 1889. His early education was at the Roxbury Latin School, followed ...

) of ''Check-list of Birds of the World'', a standard reference work with sixteen volumes published between 1931 and 1987. Traylor described species like the

Tana River cisticola The Tana River cisticola (''Cisticola restrictus'') is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is found in Kenya and there is speculation that it may also be found in Somalia. Its natural habitat In ecology, the term habitat s ...

and the

Colombian screech-owl The rufescent screech owl (''Megascops ingens'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Taxonomy and systematics The rufescent screech owl has three subspecies, the nomina ...

, and the genus ''

Zimmerius ''Zimmerius'' is a genus of Neotropical birds in the family Tyrannidae. The genus was erected by the American ornithologist Melvin Alvah Traylor Jr. in 1977 with the golden-faced tyrannulet (''Zimmerius chrysops'') as the type species. The name ...

''. He made further revisions of the family

Tyrannidae The tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae) are a family of passerine birds which occur throughout North and South America. They are considered the largest family of birds known to exist in the world, with more than 400 species. They are the most diver ...

. The

orange-eyed flycatcher The orange-eyed flatbill or orange-eyed flycatcher (''Tolmomyias traylori'') is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae. It is found in the Amazon (specifically in várzea forest) in south-eastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, and north-eastern ...

(''Tolmomyias traylori'') is named in his honour. Traylor and Paynter were awarded with the

Elliott Coues Elliott Ladd Coues (; September 9, 1842 – December 25, 1899) was an American army surgeon, historian, ornithologist, and author. He led surveys of the Arizona Territory, and later as secretary of the United States Geological and Geograph ...

Award by the

American Ornithologists' Union The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its ...

in 2001.

Publications (selected)

* 1947: Subspecies of Aratinga acuticaudata (Fieldiana. Zoology: Volume 31, part 21; Pub. no.608) * 1948: New Birds from Peru and Ecuador (Fieldiana. Zoology: Volume 31, part 24; Pub. no.619) * 1949: Notes on Some Veracruz Birds (Fieldiana. Zoology: Volume 31, part 32; Pub. no.635) * 1951: Notes on Some Peruvian Birds (Fieldiana. Zoology: Volume 31, part 51; Pub. no.676) * 1952: Notes on Birds from the Marcapata Valley, Cuzco, Peru (Fieldiana. Zoology: Volume 34, part 3; Pub. no.691) * 1958: Birds of Northeastern Peru (Fieldiana. Zoology: Volume 35, part 5; Pub. no.844) * 1959: Three New Birds from West Africa (Fieldiana. Zoology: Volume 39, part 25; Pub. no.865) (with A. L. Rand) * 1961: Notes on Nepal Birds (Fieldiana. Zoology: Volume 35, part 8; Pub. no.917) * 1962: New Birds from Barotseland (Fieldiana. Zoology: Volume 44, part 12; Pub. no.955) * 1964: Further Notes on Nepal Birds (Chicago Natural History Museum) * 1967: A Collection of Birds from Szechwan, 1967 (Chicago Natural History Museum, Fieldiana: Zoology, Volume 53, Number 1: pages 1–67 with 1 map figure) * 1967: Collection of Birds from the Ivory Coast (Fieldiana. Zoology: Volume 51, part 7; Pub. no.1033) * 1968: Distributional Notes on Nepal Birds, 1968 (Chicago Natural History Museum, Fieldiana: Zoology, Volume 53, Number 3: pages 147-203) * 1977: A Classification of the Tyrant Flycatchers (Tyrannidae), 1977 (Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Volume 148, Number 4: pages 129–184 with 10 figures and 4 tables) * 1977: Ornithological Gazetteer of Ecuador (with Raymond A. Paynter) * 1982: Notes on Tyrant Flycatchers (Aves: Tyrannidae) (Fieldiana. New Series Zoology: Volume 13; Pub. no.1338) * 1988: Geographic Variation and Evolution in South American Cistothorus platensis (Aves: Troglodytidae) (Fieldiana. New Series Zoology: Volume 48; Pub. no.1392)

References

External links

History - The Zoological Department of the Field Museum

* ttp://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3793/is_200201/ai_n9020693 Elliott Coues Award, 2001: Raymond A. Paynter, Jr., and Melvin A Traylor, Jr
Chicago Tribune Obituary

Chicago Tribune News Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Traylor Jr., Melvin Alvah 1915 births 2008 deaths American ornithological writers American male non-fiction writers American ornithologists Scientists from Chicago Recipients of the Silver Star United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II Independent scientists People associated with the Field Museum of Natural History 20th-century American zoologists United States Marine Corps officers 20th-century American male writers Military personnel from Illinois