THE OOIXKJIST 



203 



geographical races of North American 

 birds, based largely upon superficial, 

 and upon imaginary, and more than 

 often untenable grounds, we are sorry 

 to say, still continues. 



The last issue of The Auk contains 

 a paper on the subject of the Bushtits 

 of Western United States. In order to 

 arrive at the conclusions therein set 

 forth, and which are admittedly of 

 doubtful foundation, the author saying, 

 "such a study as the present one is 

 obviously incomplete." It is recited 

 that a series of four hundred skins of 

 these innocent little birds was exam- 

 ined. The author, after an examina- 

 tion of four hundred skins, leaves the 

 status and range of these birds in as 

 uncertain an atmosi)here as seems to 

 pervade the conclusions reached in 

 said paper. It may ultimately become 

 necessary to sacrifice four hundred 

 thousand and i)ossibly exterminate the 

 species before we can finally deter- 

 mine .lust whether or not there is, or 

 is not, a shade difference in the color- 

 ation of the birds from one county in 

 California from those in another coun- 

 ty. 



Likewise the last issue of The Con- 

 dor (Sept.-Oct., 1914^ contains a de- 

 scription, as the author dubs it, of "a 

 supposed Island race" of the Rock 

 Wren. This wonderful discovery is 

 based upon the examination of ONE 

 single isolated skin (and so was the 

 supposed discovery of an Arizona race 

 of the Spotted Owl, except in that in- 

 stance the skin was a mumified, dried 

 up, direlect that was found in the 

 dry wash of a creek and the descrip- 

 tion promptly published of it regard- 

 less of what effect the water, sun and 

 long exposure to the elements may 

 have had upon the color of the feath- 

 ers of the poor victim). 



This new and imaginary island form 

 of the Rock Wren is described as "il- 

 lustrating intergradation between the 



two" species. It may be possible to 

 settle with scientific exactness the 

 status of some new and heretofore un- 

 described species or family of birds, 

 upon examination of one single speci- 

 men when the characteristics are 

 strongly marked, but to attempt any 

 such differentiation of merely geogra- 

 phic sub-species, upon such an amount 

 of material appears to us as absolute- 

 ly beyond the bounds of possibility. 



Would it not be better to await a 

 thorough investigation of these new or 

 supposedly new gecgraphical races of 

 birds until some definite conclusions 

 might be arrived at, based upon the 

 examination of a reasonably sufficient 

 amount of material, before rushing 

 into print? 



If such a course were pursued, pos- 

 sibly the names of some of our orni- 

 thologists might not go thundering 

 down the vast ages to come as the first 

 to discover and describe some of these 

 alleged geograi)hical races, but on the 

 other hand, some of them might not 

 be bulletined in ornithological litera- 

 ture as having described and attempt- 

 ed to foist upon the ornithology of the 

 world so very many such alleged or 

 supposed races, which upon examina- 

 tion proved untenable, and were re- 

 jected by the A. O. U. 



Within the past year the writer has 

 been upon both the Atlantic and Paci- 

 fic coasts of this countrty, and at 

 many, many intermediate points, al- 

 ways hunting up those interested in 

 ornithology when time would permit, 

 and during that time has conversed 

 with a large number of thoroughly 

 scientific ornithologists, many of them 

 of note in that line. There is a uni- 

 form feeling existing in this country 

 today among ornithologists that this 

 imaginary, hair-splitting based upon 

 a description that something is "sim- 

 ilar to" something else and "slightly 

 different" from some other thing, has 



