iSSo.] Correspondence. ^4^ 



The remarks were made as brief as possible in order that it should not 

 be considered as a preliminary report upon my own investigations. I 

 made no reference in the List to my present woi'k of preparing a report 

 upon the natural history of the region included under the heading of that 

 List; and, so far as the published List is concerned, it has no connection 

 with the report now well under way. A plan, other than following the 

 recognized natural order of listing the birds, was not necessary for the 

 purpose of that List. 



In regard to the omission of certain species, you mention two, but there 

 is no record of the indubitable occurrence of i^«;'«jr canus within the region 

 defined. The young specimen, in first plumage, of Lavtis canus, upon 

 which is based the statement of the occurrence of this species in Labrador, 

 is in the U. S. National Museum. The identification, however, is regard- 

 ed by competent authorities as so extremely doubtful that it was deemed 

 judicious to exclude it altogether. 



I regarded the alleged discovery of the Pacific Eider, by Stearns, in Lab- 

 dor as so extremely improbable that reference to it was not considered 

 necessary. The reference made by Dr. L. Stejneger, in the October num- 

 ber of 'The Auk' for 1885 (p. 385) has no connection whatsoever with 

 Labrador, Newfoundland not being a portion of the territory embraced 

 under the heading of my List. 



I purposely stated that the extracts were given in the List without com- 

 ment or responsibility for their assertions, as a discussion of them was 

 not deemed to be properly within the scope of the List, however tempting 

 it may have been. 



In regard to the several species accredited to Labrador by Audubon, I 

 considered it well to include them; and now express the desire that some 

 competent ornithologist, like Professor J. A. Allen, of the American Mu- 

 seum of Natural History of New York, who is specially fitted for the task, 

 investigate each presumably doubtful species and reject such as maybe 

 considered as not entitled to a place in a list of the birds of that region. 



LuciEN M. Turner. 

 Smithsonian Institution, Washington^ D. C. 

 October 28. 1885. 



[We are very glad to learn that Mr. Turner's 'List' was not intended as 

 a final report upon his ornithological work in Labrador, and regret that 

 we fell into the error of so misconstruing it. As, however, it was based 

 largely upon his own observations, and as no hint was given that any 

 other report was contemplated, our conclusion was not only a natural 

 one. but one we find to have been quite generally entertained. — ^J. A. A.) 



Revival of the Sexual Passion in Birds in Autumn. 



To THE Editors of The Auk : — 



Sirs: On the morning of the 12th inst. I noticed a pair of Bluebirds 

 toying with each other affectionately, and once certainly — twice as I 

 thought— they were in the attitude, if not in the act, of copulation. The 



