IX. 



igoQ 



] From Magazines, Src 99 



an immense flight of Shearwaters was in full progress ; for as 

 far as the eye could reach from north to south there was an 

 unbroken ribbon of birds. This ribbon had a width of 

 about ten birds, all flying north and flapping leisurely just 

 above the surface of the water. They were about eight 

 hundred yards off shore, and a strong field-glass showed them 

 to be all similar in colour to the dead Slender-billed Shearwaters 

 {Puffinus tcmiirostris) picked up on the beach. I watched the 

 flight from time to time until it was obscured by darkness, but 

 there was no diminution of the numbers, and it was impossible 

 to tell when it stopped or how long it had been going on before 

 I was able to see it. Foggy weather during the remainder of 

 my stay made further observations on this subject impossible." 

 — J. H. Bowles, Tacoma {Condor, Jan.-Feb., 1909). 



The Citing of "Authorities."— In a short paper, entitled 

 " Remarks on the Practice of Attaching ' Authorities ' to the 

 Scientific Names of Animals," in The Ibis for July last, Mr. P. 

 L. Sclater, D.Sc, F.R.S., makes some pertinent observations, in 

 which he deprecates the custom as being burdensome and 

 unnecessary and as tending to establish " a trinomial system of 

 nomenclature instead of the simple binomial system of 

 Linnaeus." The writer does not consider it advisable that the 

 name of the author who first described the species should be 

 always added to the name, and thinks that " in the case of the 

 less-known species it would be much better to give, when it is 

 considered necessary, a reference to the original description of 

 the species or to some standard work (such as the ' Catalogue of 

 Birds in the British Museum ') in which it has been described." 

 Dr. Sclater concludes his paper in the following words : — " I 

 will not on the present occasion go into the vexed question of 

 ' sub-species ' and how to call them, but merely repeat the 

 conclusions I have come to on this subject as follows: — (i.) 

 That the ' authority ' (as it is usually called) does not form a 

 part of the scientific name of any species, but, when added, is 

 merely for convenience of reference. (2.) That in the case of the 

 names of all well-known species the ' authority ' is quite unneces- 

 sary and may be altogether omitted," 



Bird-Migration. — The problems relating to migration have 

 long been the subject of patient research by scientists. 

 Ornithologists especially, on many occasions, have dealt with 

 the intricate question concerning the migration of birds, and 

 have attempted to explain the causes governing this world-wide 

 avine habit. In British Birds, iii.. No. i, one of the honorary 

 members of the Aust. O.U., Dr. J. A. Allen, Curator of Birds 



