564 ■ Correspondence. [^^^ 



to the farthest Umit made possible by his experience and keenness. And 

 may his abiUty become sharpened until he can distinguish seven Song 

 Sparrows where but one is now known! Furthermore, if one degree of 

 differentiation requires a name, so does every other, even down to the 

 finest discernible. The systematist will continue to provide names for 

 the subspecies he discovers. 



The futiUty of any committee attempting to pass judgment upon the 

 findings of the specialist here becomes obvious. A very good reason is 

 given in the editorial comments alluded to, though couched in an unfor- 

 tunately disparaging tone: "The speciaUst working over a group of birds 

 constantly for weeks at a time, unconsciouslj^ magnifies the differences 

 which he finds between birds from areas, which he has reason to think, 

 ought to yield separable geographic races." To express the idea with 

 better respect for the judgment of the specialist, it is the worker in a 

 particular group — the man who has scrutinized all available m.aterial 

 with minute attention to detail, the man who has become proficient in 

 picking apart the multifarious peculiarities between individual specimens 

 and series, one who can appreciate mass effect — it is that man who is by 

 far the best fitted to render verdicts as to the existence of subspecies. 



It would be foolish for me to tackle the Hummingbirds of Middle America, 

 even with the largest museum series of skins at hand, with the expectation 

 of giving within seven days an opinion as to the validity of certain proposed 

 forms. Who would place any reliance upon my conclusions? / would n't! 

 If it is ridiculous for one person to attempt to pass judgment on a few sub- 

 species of an unfamiliar group with but a few days study, it is logically 

 seven times as ridiculous for seven men to make such an attempt, especially 

 when 34 cases representing 18 genera are to be considered! There is no 

 use making any bones about it — there is too much good evidence of the 

 failure of the Committee in rendering just verdicts as between 'rejected' 

 and 'accepted' subspecies in the Sixteenth Supplement. It is beside 

 the object of the present communication to go into detail in this regard. 



I do not mean disrespect towards any one of the Committee members, 

 and certainly no one will arraign me on that score. All of them are busy 

 men. At least three are ordinarily strenuously occupied with other mat- 

 ters than subspecies of birds. They give of their time generously; but 

 who will maintain that in function number 4, it is worth their while from 

 the standpoint of either the amateur or the specialist? 



Nor am I advocating that there be no longer an official Check-List of 

 North American birds to include all recognizable subspecies. On the 

 contrary, this is an eminently desirable thing, to constitute a record of 

 achievement in research in avian speciation. I have no doubt, too, but 

 that a large number of non-specialists will always be interested in such 

 results, enough to well warrant its publication. 



I do not, however, believe that any committee could handle such a 

 proposition. Rather, let there be a systematic editor appointed by the 

 president of the A. O. U., one qualified through his accuracy in handling 



