Vol \\\ 



I'M:? 



( 'orrespondence. I 1 .^ 



So much for ihis particular case from the bird photographer's point of 

 view; as a more general comment on Mr. Allen's condemnation of Mr. 

 Roosevelt's "inaccurate habit of mind," it will he sullicient to quote, as 

 above suggested, the passages which Mr. Allen instances in support of his 

 accusation. The first occurs on page 156 <>f the paper referred to, where, 

 in a, t'ooi -note, Mr. Roosevelt says: 



Mr. .loli's photographs of nesting oighthawks, whip-poor-wills, grouse, 



quail, woodcock, snipe, and least sandpipers show birds that, actually are 

 concealed by their coloration when on their nests. His photographs of 

 nesting gannets, murres, guillemots, black skimmers, ibises, noddies and 



pelicans, and his and Mr. l'iiiley's photographs of nesting gulls, terns and 

 herons of many species show birds of a strikingly advertising coloration 

 which coloration reveals them to every onlooker u,s they sit on their nests. 

 The young herons, although not as advertisingly colored as the adults, 

 have a revealing rather than a. concealing coloration; the young anhingas 

 are even more advertisingly colored than the adults; the young of some 

 of the other birds seem to be concealingly colored." 



The second passage, appears on page 220 of the same paper. Here Mr. 

 Roosevelt writes: 



"Take for example the descriptions and photographs of waterbirds by 

 Messrs. Chapman and Job; no one can look at the photos of the black 

 skimmer and stilt on their nests without seeing that even in that critical 

 position their coloration is highly advertising, while the coloration of their 

 young is concealing; no one can look at the photographs of the nesting 

 egrets, anhingas, cormorants and pelicans without seeing that both the 

 adults and the young are exceedingly conspicuous, without a vestige of 

 concealing coloration; no one can look at the photographs of the nesting 

 woodcock, night hawk, Wilson's snipe, bob-white, and upland plover 

 without seeing that they possess a concealing coloration." 



Perhaps the reader can discover in these quotations some evidence of an 

 "inaccurate habit of mind and slap-dash style of thinking," but I confess 

 that 1 have been unable to do so. To my mind Mr. Allen's whole argu- 

 ment is here based on his assumption that photographs of birds in nature 

 do not represent I he birds as they would appear "under average conditions 

 in their natural surroundings," an assumption which 1 believe will not be 

 supported by an unprejudiced consideration of the recorded evidence. 



Very truly yours, 



Frank M. Chapman. 

 American Museum of Natural History, 

 Dec. 10, 1912. 



The A. O. U. Check-List. 

 Third Edition. 

 Editob of 'The Ai t k': 



Dear Sir: — I beg to submit herewith some comments which I presented 

 before the last meeting of the A. O U. in regard to the third edition of 

 the Check-List of North American Birds. 



