572 Letters, Extracts, Notices, ^c. 



Our series of O. jjictus from Carson, Nevada, may, I 

 tbink, be reasonably considered as a " good one," for it 

 includes nine birds, four males and five females. These are 

 entered in my Catalogue {op. cit. p. 399) as 



"e'-Ji'. c? $ ad. sk. Carson, Nevada, Nov., Salvin-Godmau Coll." 

 Dec. (H. W. H.). 



On reading this most people would understand that '^ e'-n' " 

 includes nine specimens, the letter ^'j" not being reckoned. 

 But apparently Mr. Ridgway does not comprehend this j for 

 he says [op. cit. p. 195, footnote) : "It would be interesting to 

 know where these specimens are, and what the author con- 

 siders a ^ good series.' Only two specimens from Carson are 

 mentioned in the list of specimens in the British Museum 

 Collection ! " 



The distinctions shown in Mr. Ridgway's plate are, in my 

 opinion, individual. The figure on the left seems to illus- 

 trate a fully adult male in worn and faded plnmage, while 

 that on the right may represent either a younger male or an 

 adult female freshly moulted, and^ therefore, more richly 

 coloured. 



Dr. Allen, in reviewing my work in the previous number 

 of 'The Auk' (pp. 171, 172), says — ''it seems about time 

 to expect a more ' intelligent conception ' of the subject of 

 subspecies and ' climatic variation ' than is shown in the 

 present volume." If Oreortyx pictus plumiferus is a specimen 

 of the " intelligent conception " referred to, then I prefer 

 ray own opinion and that of many eminent English ornitho- 

 logists whose criticisms I have invited on this subject. 



Facts and common sense are, in my view, better than all 

 the " intelligent conception " in the world. 

 I am. Sir, 

 British Museum Yours &c., 



(Natural History), W. R. Ogilvie Grant. 



July 28, 1894. 



Sir, — In the July number of ' The Ibis' for the present 

 year [ante, pp. 367-374) is a list of 35 birds observed in 

 Dras and Suru bv Lieut. W. W. Cordcaux. The names 



