iSSs-] Notes and News. 317 



true one, and was aided by that which was apt and natural. No better 

 illustration could be given of the fact, that phraseology may be the life 

 or death of a cause, according as it is happy or unfortunate. 



A similar instance is the case of 'Bartram's Sandpiper.' Ever since 

 Wilson's time this name has been continually thrust into the face of the 

 public, only to be as continuallj' rejected; 'Upland Plover' it continues to 

 be in the east, and 'Quaily' on the Assiniboine, in spite of Bartram and 

 Wilson, and will continue so until some name, answering all conditions, 

 is brought forward; for here, as elsewhere, the law of the survival of the 

 fittest rigidly prevails. As an example of the fit ousting the false, note 

 how, in spite of scientists, 'Veery' is supplanting 'Wilson's Thrush' 

 throughout the length and breadth of the land. 



The spurious English names scarcely need comment, they so evidently 

 contain in themselves the elements of their own destruction. Imagine a 

 western farmer being told that a certain songster was a 'Ptilogonys.' 

 In spite of the books, the other three examples cannot hold ground against 

 •Willet,' 'Ground Wren,' and 'Waterhen,' respectively. 



The purpose of a Check List that includes English names is, I take it, 

 not to attempt the impossible feat of dictating to our woodmen what names 

 they shall give their feathered friends, but rather to preserve and publish 

 such names as are evolved in the natural way, — names which are the out- 

 come of circumstances. Only in case of egregious error is a common 

 name to be superseded ; and in doing this it must be remembered that 

 no name can be popular unless true to the principles of the English 

 tongue. It must be short, distinctive, and, if possible, descriptive. Of 

 this class are Veery, Junco, and Vireo. These are the only successful 

 artificial names that I can at present recollect. Among natural English 

 names for American birds are Bobolink, Chewink, Kingbird, and many 

 others. Such as these not only more than hold their own, but are as 

 great aids to the spread of knowledge as the Ptilogonys kind are hin- 

 drances ; while such as Wilson's Thrush can only be accepted as provi- 

 sional, until the better knowledge of the bird and its surroundings shall 

 result in the evolution of an English name founded on true principles. 



Ernest E. T. Seton, 

 Glen Cottage, Howard Street, of Manitoba. 



Toronto. March 21, 1815. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



The determination of the place and date of the next meeting of the 

 American Ornithologists' Union having been referred by the Union to 

 the Council, the Council has decided upon New York as the place, and 

 the third Tuesday in November (Nov. 17) as the date, of the meeting for 

 1S85. 



