THE OOLOGIST. 



178 



iug in this locality, for I have usuallj' 

 found their eggs in the last week in 

 May or the tirst week in June. 



We are occasionally favored by visits 

 from Pigeon Hawks and Black Hawks 

 but they are non-residents, and I think 

 the preceding list comprises all the 

 Hawks nesting near here, except the 

 one family of Red-shouldered Hawks 

 described in a previous article. 



Angus Gaines, 

 Vincennes, Ind. 



A Letter of Interest from Dr. Coues. 



In the October NidiologUt under date 

 of Sept. 16th from Sylvan Lake, South 

 Dakota, Dr. Elliott Coues writes as 

 follows: 



'I am obliged to Mr. E. S. Rolfe for 

 pointing out in the Nidiologist, of this 

 month, page 10, the vexatious misprint 

 in my Key, ed. 1887, page G13, which 

 makes the egg of Wilson's Phalarope 

 measure "1.90 " broad. This 'apparent 

 impossibility," as he says, is of course 

 a typographical error for 0.90. This is 

 the third or fourth time I have heard of 

 it from as many different users of the 

 Key, and I will see that it is set right 

 in the next edition. 



I have meditated a new edition of 

 the Key for some years, but have been 

 very busy with other literary engage- 

 ments; and besides, I thought best to 

 wait awhile till the incessant shifting of 

 names should cease— or .slacken at any 

 rate— so that I could tell what names 

 wei'e likely to remain in fashion long 

 enough to make it worth while for the 

 Key to conform to them. The A. O. 

 r. Committee on Nomenclature and 

 Classification, of which I have the 

 honor to be chairman, has passed upon 

 all doubtful or disputed cases thus far 

 submitted to its decision, and we are 

 now rapidly printing the new Check 

 List of North American Birds, which 

 will probably appear in a month or 

 two. This will practically settle mat- 



ters of nomenclature for the next ten 

 years. 



In view of the contemplated new 

 edition of the Key, which will conform 

 closely to the Union Check List in no- 

 menclature, I would request reailers of 

 the Nidiologist to favor me at early con- 

 venience with corrections of any errors 

 the current edition may be found to 

 contain. My address is always "Wash- 

 ington, D. C." 



I find much to interest me Ornithol- 

 ogically in the heart of the Black Hills 

 of South Dakota, where I am seeking 

 much-needed respite from work and 

 worry for a few weeks. Sylvan Lake 

 is a picture.s(iue and romantic spot, six 

 miles from Custer City, and three from 

 Harney Peak— the latter the most ele- 

 vated point in these Hills. The Blue 

 Crow, or Maximilian's Jay ( Gymnocitla 

 ryanocephalaovCyanoctphnlacyanoccph- 

 ala, if you prefer to be tautological 

 in the most approved style), is one of 

 the commonest birds. My attention 

 has been particularly attracted to the 

 Junco, which breeds here, and which 

 will, perhaps, reiiuire to be named as 

 a new subspecies, Junco hyemalis 

 danhyi, after Mr. Durward E. Danby. 

 Principal of the High School in Custer. 

 I remember handling skins like this 

 several years ago. but never before had 

 an opportunity of seeing the bird alive. 

 The difference from hyeinalis is evident 

 at gunshot range. The impression is 

 that of a largi' gray rather than black- 

 ish bird, with thti dark color of the 

 breast fading gradually into the white 

 of the belly. My specimens shot this 

 month have the gray of the back over- 

 cast with a brownish wash; and some 

 of them show an approach to the char- 

 acters of nikcni in having an imperfect 

 wingbar formed liy the wiiite tips of 

 the greater row of secondary coverts. 

 The general coloration is rather that of 

 cnnireps than of hyeinalis, but iherc is 

 no definite dorsal area of clicstnut. 

 The l)ill is llesh-colorcd, more or less 



