Origin and Affinities of the 

 Birds of Western North America 



Alden H. Miller 



Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 



University of California, Berkeley 



In a well-illustrated talk, Dr. Miller presented 

 a critical and characteristically lucid analysis of the origin and 

 affinities of the birds of western North America, with special ref- 

 erence to those of Asiatic and South American origin. He compared 

 the eastern and western bird faunas of North America. One of the 

 points he stressed is the high incidence of endemism in the Califor- 

 nia fauna, conditioned in large part by the isolation of this fauna, by 

 the arid lands of the Great Basin and the Colorado Desert. Pressure 

 of other duties forestalled the preparation of his paper for publica- 

 tion. — Editor. 



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