1919-] Lettcra, Extracts, and Notex. 365 



\v1k), if shown an American and an European Widj^oon, could 

 not say ofl-luuid vvliicli was which, is allowed to describe and 

 re-dcscril)e at his own sweet will, so long will our troubles 

 and Avorrics multiply. Or^ again, take the case of a man 

 who tries to please a certain Mr. Smith who has contributed 

 to an expedition and makes a '•' smithi," knowing perfectly 

 well that it is all a farce. 



How true ring the following words, taken from that great 

 and worthy American ornithologist, Dr. Elliot Cones, at the 

 end of his jjreface to the third edition of his ' Key to North 

 American Bii'ds^ — '• 11ie 'trinomial tool ' is too sharp to be 

 made a toy ; and even if we do not cut our own fingers with 

 it, we are likely to cut the throat of the whole system of 

 naming we have reared with such care. Better throw the 

 instrument away than use it to slice species so thin that it 

 takes a microscope to perceive them. It may be assumed, 

 as a safe rule of procedure, that it is useless to divide and 

 subdivide beyond the fair average ability of ornithologists 

 to recognize and verify the result. Named varieties of birds 

 that require to be ' compared with the types ' by holding 

 them up slantwise in a good strong ligiit — just as ladies 

 match crewels in the millincn-'s shop — such often exist in 

 the cabiiiets or in the l)ooks of their describers, but seldom 

 in the woods and fields."' 



Would that these words, printed in large type, were 

 placed in cvo-y Muscnun. 



It is not with the intention of discouraging the description 

 of new forms, either specific or subspecific, that I write this; 

 but it is obvious that the study of birds in the field will 

 in the future be an impossibility if unlimited and often 

 imaginary variations are allowed to go unchecked. 



Mr. Claude Grant in 'The Ibis,' 1915, and Messrs. Sclater 

 and Maekworth-Praed in working out the Sudan birds are 

 trying to sort things out aiul getting rid of useless synonyms ; 

 but the task is a great one to do thoroughly, and it is not 

 pleasant to coiulemn our friends' work. Any bird not recog- 

 nizable in the field by the eye or field-glasses is better left 

 unuanied. If not, it means that every bird must be shot 



