THE YOUNG OOLOGIST. 



which appeared in The Auk for October, 

 1884. Dr. Cones, the chairman of the sub- 

 committee to whom was assigned the codi- 

 fication of the rules by which the commit- 

 tee had been governed in their determina- 

 tions of nomenclature, occupied over an 

 hour in reading the report of this branch of 

 the work. This report, which was pre- 

 pared by Dr. C'oues, and which is one of 

 the most masterly efforts of that distin- 

 guished and brilliant scholar, will be pub- 

 lished together with the new system of 

 classification and nomenclature, just as 

 soon as some few unfinished details are 

 completed ; and we shall then have a 

 "standard " work which all American stu- 

 dents will imcjuestionalily avail themselves 

 of. 



With the liope that I will be excused for 

 offering an opinion contrary to that given 

 by the editor. I will venture to suggest that 

 it is not quite correct to call the system 

 of nomenclatui-e prepared by Mr. Ridgway 

 for the Smithsonian Institute the "stand- 

 ard " for America. The author would 

 doubtless disclaim such an assumption. 

 As a matter of fact, a large number of the 

 leading ornithologists use the system pre- 

 pared by Dr. C'oues, and some use systems 

 of their own. 



It may be retorted, by some who remeni 

 ber it, that the writer has advocated the 

 adoption of Mr. Ridgway 's system in pre- 

 ference to that of Dr. Coues. He would 

 give the same advice still ; but it is not be- 

 cause he ever considered Mr. Ridgway's as 

 the standard, or that he presumed to judge 

 of the relative merits of the two. He ad- 

 vocated an adherence to the Smithsonian 

 list because it had been longer in use, and 

 had thus become the more generally 

 adopted, especially by amateurs and col- 

 lectors, and because the adherence to one 

 system would prevent the confusion conse- 

 quent upon the use of the two. 



To the relief of all interested in the mat- 

 ter, this confusion will soon be at an end, 

 and no persons are more zealous for its ter- 

 mination, nor are any working more ener- 

 getically for the completion and establish- 

 ment of the new system than are the two 



authors whose systems will be thus super- 

 seded. 



It was the writer's privilege to be hon- 

 ored with an invitation to be present at a 

 meeting of this committee of revision, and 

 to take part in its deliberations, and he 

 testifies witli a great deal of pleasure to the 

 uniform harmony which prevailed, to the 

 frankness with which numerous delicate 

 questions were discussed, and to the fre- 

 quent manifestations of a very evident de- 

 sire to adopt only that which was the most 

 correct and the best, quite independent of 

 anj' personal consideration. 



But young students need not be so much 

 frightened at these repulsive looking scien- 

 tific names, as many appear to be. There 

 is no necessity of beginning the study of 

 ornithology by loading your memory with 

 these words. As the writer has said else- 

 where. " It seems advisable to teach young 

 beginners that these scientific names, and 

 indeed all technical phrases, are simply 

 conveniences and nothing more ; that these 

 words which are to many so repulsive in 

 appearance and so ditficult to master, are 

 not, as some laymen seem to consider, the 

 most important part of science ; their's is a 

 very subordinate part, and they can be ad- 

 vantageously passed over hy young ornith- 

 ologists until they have advanced so far in 

 their studies that the need of these tech- 

 nicalities as conveniences will impart to 

 them an interest and remove their apparent 

 repulsi veness. " 



Montague Chamberlain, 

 St. John, N. B. 



Submersion of Swallows. 



In looking over some old papers I found 

 the following. It is from the Hudson Bee 

 of August 4, 1803: "The submersion of 

 Swallows, respecting which many contrary 

 opinions prevail, was observed to take 

 place last evening at the south end of 

 Greenwich Street. This interesting fact in 

 natural history was witnessed by many 

 people. The flight of the Swallows ap- 

 peared to commence about 5:30 P. M. and 

 continued till after sunset." C. H., 

 New London, Ct. 



