SIBERIAN FORMS 



499 



many species of Siberian birds, though closely allied to 

 West European species, were nevertheless distinguish- 

 able from them, he gave them names of his own. 

 Modern writers on European ornithology have treated 

 these names with scant courtesy. In some cases, where 

 they have had an opportunity of comparing examples 

 from Siberia with West- European skins, they have 

 admitted the validity of his species ; but in other cases, 

 where they have also had access to East-European skins, 

 the existence of intermediate forms 

 has been alleged as a reason for deny- 

 ing the validity of the species, and 

 the Siberian forms have been passed 

 by with a contemptuous sneer, as 

 beneath the notice of science. In 

 the majority of cases, however, the 

 writers have never seen a Siberian 

 skin, and Pallas's names are consigned 

 to the limbo of synonyms without 

 note or comment. With these writers 

 a species is either a species or it is 

 nothing. They attempt to draw a 



hard and fast line where nature has drawn none. They 

 profess to believe in the theory of the development of 

 species, but they never dream of looking at birds from 

 an evolutionary point of view. In their hearts they still 

 cling to the old-fashioned notion of special creations. 

 Their dogmatic criticism of Pallas's species, " We con- 

 sider this a good species," or "We cannot admit the 

 validity of this species," reads like a satire upon their own 

 ignorance. 



The fact is that most Siberian birds which are 

 common to Europe do present marked differences in 

 colour, not only the resident birds, but also the 



BRONZE CELT FROM 



ANCIENT GRAVE NEAR 



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