Charles McCann - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Yule Mervyn Charles McCann (4 December 1899 – 29 November 1980) was a naturalist

Natural history

Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...

in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. He wrote several a popular book on the trees of India and edited a major regional flora apart from publishing many of his other observations, mainly in the journal of the Bombay Natural History Society

Bombay Natural History Society

The Bombay Natural History Society, founded on 15 September 1883, is one of the largest non-governmental organizations in India engaged in conservation and biodiversity research. It supports many research efforts through grants, and publishes the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. Many...

(BNHS) that he was associated with.

He was born at Castle Rock

Castle Rock, Karnataka

Castlerock is a village in the Uttara Kannada district Indian state of Karnataka, The town is located in the Western Ghats on the state's border with Goa at an elevation of 621 m ....

in India. His exposure to the wilderness during his childhood in the forests of the Goa area got him interested for life and he wrote:
He studied at St. Mary's High school at Mazagaon in Bombay (now Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

) and worked for a while under Father Ethelbert Blatter

Ethelbert Blatter

Ethelbert Blatter SJ was a Swiss Jesuit priest and pioneering botanist in British India. Author of five books and over sixty papers on the flora of the Indian subcontinent, he was Principal and Professor of Botany at St Xavier College, Bombay and Vice-President of the Bombay Natural History Society...

at St. Xavier's College as a laboratory assistant and curator. During 1916-1920 he worked under Blatter on botany. He briefly worked with the Bombay city police and then joined the Bombay Natural History Society

Bombay Natural History Society

(BNHS) as a collector for the Mammal Survey. He worked on the survey around 1921-22 in the Palni Hills

Palni Hills

The Palni Hills are a mountain range in Tamil Nadu state of South India. The Palni Hills are an eastward extension of the Western Ghats ranges, which run parallel to the west coast of India. The Palni Hills adjoin the high Anamalai range on the west, and extend east into the plains of Tamil Nadu,...

and also in the Indus delta areas.

McCann became the Assistant Curator and served as editor of the Journal of the BNHS. He was involved in the development of the Natural History galleries of the Prince of Wales Museum of Bombay. He was a prolific writer and published 200 articles and papers in the Journal of the BNHS, covering plants, birds, mammals and insects. He was also a fellow of the Linnean Society of London

Linnean Society of London

The Linnean Society of London is the world's premier society for the study and dissemination of taxonomy and natural history. It publishes a zoological journal, as well as botanical and biological journals...

.

In 1946 he resigned his post at the BNHS and migrated to New Zealand. The Executive Committee of the Bombay Natural History Society noted:
In New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

he joined the Dominion Museum at Wellington as a Vertebrate Zoologist. He became interested in the whale and seal collections as well as deep-sea fishes.

The BNHS instituted the Charles McCann fieldwork fund in his memory to promote field research.

Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society

(1930) Nidification of Storks. JBNHS. 34(2):579-581.
(1931) Courtship of the Scarlet Minivet (Pericrocotus speciosus). JBNHS. 34(4):1061-1062.
(1931) Notes on the Whistling School Boy or Malabar Whistling Thrush (Myiophoneus horsfieldi, Vigors). JBNHS. 35(1):202-204.
(1932) Notes on the nesting habits of the Red-vented Bulbul (Molpastes cafer). JBNHS. 35(3):680-681.
(1936) The Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus (Pontopp.) out at sea. JBNHS. 38(3):623-624.
(1940) A note on the Alpine Swift (Micropus melba bakeri Hartert). JBNHS. 42(1):198-199.
Hughes, A R & McCann, C (1939) On the road to Gersoppa and back. JBNHS. 41:446.
(1932) Nestling of the Indian Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) attacked by larvae of parasitic fly. JBNHS. 35(4):897-898.
(1933) The Brown Hawk-owl (Ninox scutulata Raffles) feeding on bats. JBNHS. 36(4):1002-1003.
(1937) Curious behaviour of the Jungle Crow (Corvus macrorhynchus) and the White-backed Vulture (Gyps bengalensis). JBNHS. 39(4):864.
(1937) The distribution of the White-eared Bulbul (Molpastes leucogenys leucotis (Gould)) in the swamps near the Vaitarna River. JBNHS. 39(4):864-865.
(1937) The breeding of the Little Green Bittern (Butorides striatus javanicus) in Salsette Island. JBNHS. 39(4):869-870.
(1939) The Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber antiquorum Temm.). JBNHS. 41(1):12-38.
(1941) Vultures and palms. JBNHS. 42(2):439-440.
(1941) Curious nesting site of the Red-wattled Lapwing (Lobivanellus indicus indicus Bodd.). JBNHS. 42(2):439-440.
(1947) Flamingoes in Kutch-a comment. JBNHS. 47(1):164-166.
(1954) Birds associating natural phenomena with food supply. JBNHS. 52(2-3):607-609.
(1955) Has the Cuckoo a protrusible ovipositor? JBNHS. 52(4):931-932.
(1942) A 'busman's' holiday in the Abu Hills. JBNHS. 43(2):206-217.
(1941) Two naturalists visit Karwar, North Kanara. JBNHS. 42(3):602-610.
(1943) The rains come to the Abu hills. JBNHS. 43(4):641-647.
On the Breeding Habits of some Myriapoda. JBNHS. 26: 303–4.
A note on the Habits of the Large-scaled Earth Snake (Silybura macrolepis) JBNHS 29: 1062–3.
Occurrence of the worm-like Batrachian Ichthyophis monochrous at Khandala, Poona District. JBNHS 31: 1039.
The Study of Plant Life—(3 parts) Vols. JBNHS 32: 692–703 (2 plates & 5 text-figures) and JBNHS 33: 35–46, 262–278.
Notes on the Flowering of Strobilanthes callosus
Strobilanthes callosus
Strobilanthes callosus Nees is a shrub found mainly in the low hills of the western ghats all along the west coast of India. Its standardized Hindi language name is Maruadona by which it is called in the state of Madhya Pradesh where it is also found...

JBNHS 34: 264–65.
Notes on some wild species of Aroids JBNHS 34: 518–21.
On the Fertilization of the Flowers of the Sausage-Tree (Kigelia pinnata) by Bats JBNHS 35: 467–71.
Notes on Indian Batrachians (10 plates, 2 text-figures) JBNHS 36: 152–80.
Notes on the Flying Fox (Pteropus giganteus) JBNHS 37: 143–49.
Notes on the Common Land Crab (Paratelphusa gucrini) of Salsette JBNHS 39: 531.
The Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber antiquorum Temm.) (7 plates) JBNHS 41: 21–38.
A Reptile and Amphibian Miscellany. 2 parts. (15 plates 3 text-figures) JBNHS 41: 742–64; JBNHS 42: 45–64.
Two naturalists visit Karwar, N. Kanara (1 plate) JBNHS 42: 602–10.
The Rains come to the Abu Hills. (with a plate) JBNHS 43: 641–47.

With Blatter, REV. E., S. J. PH.D., F.I.S.

Revision of the Flora of the Bombay Presidency—16 parts Vols. JBNHS 32–36.
Two new Species of Grasses from Panchgani (Satara District) JBNHS 32: 357–58.
Some new species of Plants from the Western Ghats. JBNHS 32: 733-36.
A New Ceropegia from the Western Ghats. JBNHS 34: 936.
Another new Ceropegia from the Western Ghats. JBNHS 35: 409.

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