Jan. 1885.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



Iiis gun and got the bird." The letter is dated 

 "Rifle Boom," which is located at the mouth of 

 the Rjtte River on the west shore of tlie Saginaw 

 Bay, about twenty-five miles north of this city. 

 The specimen at present in my collection I find to 

 be a young bird, without doubt of the year, want- 

 ing on the head entirely and to a considerable de- 

 gree on the back, the beautiful gloss and purple 

 reflections of the adult bird. The length is about 

 24 inches; tarsus 4 3-1(5; 3d toe and claw 3 4-lG; 

 naked tibiae 2 6-lG; while the bill exceeds the av- 

 erage of measurements, being 5 7-1(5. The anterior 

 half of the middle claw is pectinate with four dis- 

 tinct incisions forming four separate teeth. 



But few other notes of interest have been made 

 tlie past season. Several cases of Albinism have 

 been observed in the English Sparrow, while a few 

 of these carnivorous (?) individuals were seen one 

 day feeding on an old beef bone thrown into the 

 street. A perfect albino Horned Grebe is exhib- 

 ited in one of our store windows, taken at the 

 Quannicassee raarslics, Oct. 1W3. 



More "Plain English." 



KY MOXTAGt'E CHA MBERL.ilX, ST. .JOHNS, N. B. 



I h.ave been requested by a highly esteemed 

 correspondent to answer the following ciuestions 

 through the columns of " The O. & O." and I 

 gladly accede. lie writes : " Plave your views 

 regarding the use of the vernacular instead of the 

 scientific names, in writing of our birds, under- 

 gone any change since you penned the article en- 

 titled "Plain English," ("O. & O," VIII, p. 53), 

 and if so, what would your advice now be, to 

 young students, concerning the use of scientific 

 names?" 



My friend is something of a Brahman in scien- 

 tific matters, and would keep science for the few, 

 and of course like the majority of his caste holds 

 firmly to the belief that scientific names and they 

 only should be used in scientific papers. j\[y 

 friend is also a bit of a wag and I imagine he 

 thinks he has me cornered by these questions, and 

 expects to turn the laugh against me, for he con- 

 siders that my practice has not always been con- 

 sistent with the ideas expressed in the arlicle to 

 which he refers. 



Well, however the laugh may go, I will admit 

 that I do hold a higher respect for technical 

 terms, and a greater appreciation of the necessity 

 for their adoption, than formerly. But while ad- 

 mitting this, I must affirm that experience has 

 strengthened my convictions that a mischievous 

 effect has been produced by the unnecessary use 

 of technicalities in scientific writing ; and I am 



more strongly confirmed than ever in the belief, 

 that scientific papers can be made plain anil pre- 

 cise without the absurdly extravagant use of these 

 terms, which have made so many books and 

 articles repulsive to the general reader — and these 

 were the points which I aimed at in " Plain 

 English." 



That the birds, and, indeed, all objects in nature 

 should have a scientific name, no thoughtful 

 student will probably deny; though many will 

 doubtless admit that while, for convenience sake, 

 these names have become a necessity, they are 

 also in some ways a nuisance which would gladly 

 be dispensed with were such a change prac- 

 ticable. 



Many writers no doubt become so accustomed 

 to using these scientific names that they recur to 

 their minds more readily than the vernacular do, 

 but this is no reason why amateurs should ape 

 such intimacy, for afl'ectation of that sort is a dis- 

 play of weakness as^ well as bad taste. Some 

 amateurs have the habit of using none but the 

 scientific names in private correspondence, and in 

 making out "exchange lists." I receive such 

 documents very often, and will confess that they 

 neither increase my regard for their author's 

 knowledge, nor my respect for his good breeding, 

 nor do they improvemy temper. In such cases I 

 think a correspondent might much better have 

 copied the English names, and saved me the 

 trouble of hunting them up, as well as saved his 

 own credit. I use the word "copied," for the 

 number of amateurs, or even of advanced students, 

 who know the scientific names of all the birds of 

 America, oi of even a limited area, are compara- 

 tively few. 



As I have have said elsewhere, it seems advis- 

 able to teach young beginners that these scientific 

 names, and, indeed, all technical phrases, are 

 simply conveniences and nolhingmore; that these 

 words which are to many so repulsive in appear- 

 ance, and so difficult to master, are not, as some 

 laymen appear to consider, the most important 

 part of science ; theirs is a very subordinate part, 

 and they can be asdvantageously passed over by 

 young students until they have advanced so far 

 that their need of these technicalities as conven- 

 iences, will impart to them an interest and remove 

 their apparent repulsiveness. But teach the be- 

 ginners likewise that the tiniiecessiir!/ use of these 

 same conveniences becomes abuse, and that no 

 abuse will be tolerated. 



This is my answer, and if my waggish and 

 Brahmanitical friend is not satisfied, let him lodge 

 his complaint with " The O. <fc O.," and I shall 

 sharpen my quill for another effort." 



