CORRESPONDENCE 225 



those : The Rough-legged of Europe is thought to be the same 

 as the American bird in size, color, habits, eggs, nesting, etc., etc. 

 Its history is well known from the time they breed in Lapland to 

 their winter (matters in Central Europe. Never a blackbird has 

 been found. At the Smithsonian at Washington they have had at 

 least a bushel of Rough-legged Hawks' eggs, all sent with the 

 parent birds. There was never one black hawk in the lot. Now 

 if, as you think, the black is the adult, how does it happen that a 

 black bird has never been seen in Europe? Or more strange, that 

 all breeding birds sent to the Smithsonian should be young, not 

 one adult ? The Black Hawk is not at all uncommon in Labrador 

 in summer. The Kough-legged I cannot hear much about. The 

 fishermen never bring me any, but up at Slave Lake and on the 

 west coast the Rough-legged is abundant, more so than any other 

 hawk, but the black is very rare. They are neither very common 

 with us. I have good specimens, however, of each, and they 

 appear to be of most all colors. Most of the black ones I have 

 collected I have sent to a friend in London for purposes of com- 

 parison with their Rough-legged. They conclude it cannot be 

 the same bird. As they have better ornithologists than I ever 

 expect to be I must agree with them. I would be glad to see the 

 list of species of birds much reduced, but the man who should 

 undertake to do the thing must be prepared for the work or he 

 would certainly have to back down. 



On December 14, 1874, Dr. Wood writes : 



Have you seen Baird's, Brewer's and Ridgway's new work? I 

 see they consider the Rough-legged and Black Hawk the same 

 bird, but Baird makes no allusion to my being the first to positively 

 settle that disputed point. Baird for years contended that they 

 were distinct species as confidently as my friend down in Maine 

 and letter after letter passed between us on that subject. Some 

 years since when he was at my office I showed him the various 

 changes in plumage from the young to the adult — still he would 

 not own up. Allen came on at the request of Agassiz to see my 

 series and was convinced I was right. I sent to the Cambridge 

 Museum three specimens, young, immature and black Hawk. 

 Allen wrote an article in the Naturalist giving me the credit of 



