1918.] Letters, Extracts, and Notes. 527 



has been for fifty years a member of the British Ornitho- 

 logists' Union. The first personal pronoun occurs no fewer 

 than twenty times in this remarkable letter. 



As a field naturalist Mr. Harting has recorded his dis- 

 covery of the Stonechat nesting deep in a hole in an old 

 stone wall, and has obtained eggs of the Long-eared Owl 

 from a hollow tree. His suggested identification of Bam- 

 busicola as a hybrid between the Pheasant and. Partridge is 

 fresh in the minds of readers of the ' Field.' His discovery 

 that the Ring-Ouzel is resident in the British Isles, and the 

 publication of a ' Handbook of British Birds,' in which full 

 details of some 33 occurrences of the Great Black Wood- 

 pecker are given (not one of which is worthy of credit), 

 certainly form a remarkable record, but one which will 

 scarcely give him the right to speak ex cathedra on 

 ornithology. 



We may take it for granted, then, that Mr. Harting's 

 claim is based on seniority. But if we alter all our system of 

 nomenclature and break away from the International Rules 

 to please the senior member of the Union, are we not faced 

 with the possibility that twenty or thirty years hence tbe 

 oldest member may be one of the present younger genera- 

 tion? In that case we should only be following precedent 

 by altering the names again in accordance with his views, 

 and this process migiit be repeated indefinitely. 



The suggestion is really too puerile for serious considera- 

 tion, but one would think that even Mr. Harting would 

 have realized by this time that ornithology is not merely 

 the hobby of a clique of English writers, but a section of 

 zoology and a world-wide study. Scientific nomenclature 

 which is confined to one country is worthless, as to be of 

 any value it should be universal. This can only be gained 

 by strict and loyal observance of rules. 



It is curious that the one really serious error committed 

 by the B.O. U. Committee is selected for commendation by 

 Mr. Harting. To form a list of nomina conservanda and 



&EK. X. VOL. VI. 2 P 



