1 66 Trumbull oh the Saoters. [a^hi 



As such common fowl as these have been so much and so long 

 misrepresented, is it not reasonable to infer that numerous other 

 species have been similarly treated, that there is a great deal of 

 work for the reviser? Would it not be better for ornithologists 

 to go back over the old road, before continuing their investiga- 

 tion of pastures new? The science has grown and will continue 

 to grow chiefly from the examination of dried skins. This, 

 though unfortunate, is practically unavoidable ; but is it well 

 that the results of such study should be confounded, as they 

 commonly are, with facts obtained from the living creatures, or 

 from their bodies intact as they lived? One is the study of birds, 

 the other of their fleshless, discolored and distorted remains. 



While noting the colors of the bills and feet, I have used — 

 though I have not in every case adopted its terminology — Mr. 

 Ridgway's ' Nomenclature of Colors.' Though the process by 

 which his examples are printed has in many cases produced un- 

 happy results, the volume is nevertheless a most useful medium 

 of communication between writers and readers. No matter 

 how familiar one may be with color and color terms, it is highly 

 important, absolutely essential, to have at hand some such 

 labeled series of tints for immediate comparison and future 

 reference. 



Before beginning with deglandi I must add to my former 

 account of americana (Auk, Vol. IX, pp. 153-155) » as I have 

 secured a specimen the feet and bill of which are different from 

 any I had seen prior to that writing. 



Oidemia americana. 



Young male. .' Plumage — compared with previously described phases 

 — similar to that of "young male in autumn," but lower surface of body 

 whiter, or about as in "young female in spring," with the exception of 

 being less positively spotted. Shape of bill about as in female, but 

 beginning of 'hump' slightly indicated, viz., upper half of maxilla at base 

 broader than in earlier youth : pushed outward at sides noticeably, the 

 culmen, however, remaining as before. Color of bill black, paler in part, 

 changing here and there to olive yellow or yellowish olive, the inside of 

 the nostrils brighter and more yellow. Feet : outer side of tarsus and 



1 Killed Oct. 16, 1892. 



