84 Oberholser, Notes on North American Birds. [Jan. 



is undoubtedly an individual variant of Lotus brachyrhynchus. 

 Likewise in some specimens of Old World Larus canus the whitish 

 terminal area of the gray wedge on the third primary is indicated; 

 and a specimen of Larus canus from Bering Island, No. 92894, 

 U. S. Nat. Mus., has this gray wedge almost white at its distal end. 

 These individual differences may to some degree account for some 

 of the records of Larus canus in North America, though doubtless 

 the latter does occasionally reach our coast. In view of the above 

 facts it seems necessary to consider Larus brachyrhynchus a sub- 

 species of Larus canus, and its name will therefore become Larus 

 canus brachyrhynchus Richardson. 



Corvus brachyrhynchos caurinus Baird. 



The Crow described by Prof. S. F. Baird as Corvus caurinus l 

 has been commonly considered a distinct species, although recently 

 reduced by Mr. Ridgway 2 to the rank of a subspecies. Study of a 

 large series of the Northwestern Crow, in conjunction with Corvus 

 brachyrhynchos hcspcris, shows that there is apparently nothing in 

 either size or color to warrant the status of Corvus caurinus Baird 

 as a distinct species. There is absolutely no difference in color 

 between this bird and Corvus brachyrhynchos hcspcris. The very 

 tangible differences which separate Corvus ossifragus Wilson from 

 Corvus brachyrhynchos, in the glossiness of the upper and lower 

 surfaces and the lack of squamate effect of the feathers on the back, 

 are entirely absent in Corvus caurinus. In fact, the only visible 

 character to distinguish the latter from Corvus brachyrhynchos hes- 

 peris is its smaller size, and even this is at most only average. 

 There is consequently no legitimate excuse for considering Corvus 

 caurinus anything but a subspecies of Corvus brachyrhynchos, de- 

 spite its somewhat different voice. It should, therefore, hereafter 

 be called Corvus brachyrhynchos caurinus Baird. This, it may be 

 noted, is in entire accord with the results of the exhaustive study 

 of this problem made by Mr. Samuel N. Rhoads, 3 and also with 

 the subsequent conclusions of Mr. H. S. Swarth. 4 



> Rep. Expl. & Surv. R. R. Pac, IX, 1858, p. 569 (Fort Steilacoom, Washington). 



2 Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 50, part III, 1904, p. 272. 



'The Auk, X, No. 1, January, 1893, pp. 18-21. 



' Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool.. X, No. 1, February 13, 1912, p. 50. 



