94 



OKNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 



15 



-^o. 6 



for a magazine devoted to the interests of the 

 ornitliologists (and of course oologists also, for 

 the interests of those who study birds and 

 their eggs are inseparable), a magazine of fre- 

 quent appearance, filled witli matter that is 

 appreciated by all, written in a manner that, 

 while it is highly scientitic and instructive, in 

 every sense of the terms, does not shoot over 

 the heads of more than one half of its readers, 

 bnt can readily be understood by all. 



I, personally, have only one fault to find, 

 and that is your publication is much too small. 

 We want more of the same sort and another 

 year we trust that you will give us more. 



Now a word or two in regard to the votes 

 you are receiving as to the opinions of the 

 ornithologists of the counti-y about certain 

 English names given to certain birds in the 

 A. O. U. check list. I think getting such 

 opinions, a step in the right direction: straws 

 most surely show which way the wind blows. 

 Let us keep in miud the fact that the birds of 

 our country belong to us as a people. Any 

 one of us, or a few of us, may band togetlier 

 and name them what we please, but these 

 nimes may not necessarily express the ideas of 

 the majority of the great army of ornitholo- 

 gists which now fill our land from ocean to 

 ocean. Now what I want to see expressed in 

 this matter is the free, unbiased opinion of 

 each and every one who is interested in the en- 

 nobling pursuit of scientitic knowledge. The 

 very acme of the spirit of progress lies within 

 this sentiment. Tlierefore, gentlemen and 

 brothers, let us have your opinion, we already 

 know that of the committee of tlie A. O. U. 

 who made the changes; that is recorded, now 

 let Mr. Webster record yours. 



Here is my opinion: I vote most decidedly 

 for no change, and to go a step farther and I 

 have never made the matter a secret, I say that 

 in the adoption of the Latin names of birds, or 

 rather in deciding which name of two or more 

 ought to be applied to a given species, in cases 

 where this has been a mooted question. I 

 should say that where a name has been in cur- 

 rent use in this country for let us say a period 

 of twenty-five years, it ought to stand. I 

 should have adopted that incomparable work 

 of Prof. Baird's, the old-time Bible of the or- 

 nithologist, the ninth volume of the Pacific 

 R. R. Survey, as a standard and never have 

 gone beyond that. Yes, gentlemen on the 

 other side of the question, I know all about 

 what you will say. You will ask me " What 

 constitutes universal usage?" I answer that 

 a name that has been in current use in this 



country for any one of our birds for a long- 

 period is the name that should be applied to 

 that bird, be that name Latin or English, for 

 our use, perfectly regardless of what names 

 may have been used by any foreigner. Now 

 this brings me to one point that I wished to 

 make, and that is to ask you, Mr. Editor, in 

 recording the sentiments of the various orni- 

 thologists who wiite on the sul)ject to give 

 the name of the states in which they reside. 



C. J. Maynard. 

 Newtonville, Mass., June 6, 1890. 



Flour Moth. 



The American Naturalist for February con- 

 tains an exhaustive article by J. J. Bell on the 

 Flour Moth (Ephestia kuIinieUa), an insect 

 newly imported from Europe, to which country 

 it is indigenous. If this insect increases as 

 rapidly as other European importations, not- 

 ably the Cabbage Butterfly (Pleris rapae) and 

 the English Sparrow (Passer dornesficus), the 

 damage that it will do will be incalculable, 

 for here we are confronted with a pest which 

 attacks our most important food product, and 

 that in its manufactured state, so that our only 

 remedy is to keep it out, since if it once gains 

 a hold on a lot of flour, it is only by the merest 

 chance that the entire lot is saved from total 

 destruction. 



The larvai spin their web throughout the 

 flour, completely matting the whole substance 

 togetlier, and one season, so rapid is their 

 increase, will suifiee to so infest a mill that 

 the only sure remedy seems to be the old 

 Japanese one, viz., "Burn it down." 



It is hoped that immediate steps will be 

 taken to crush out the last vestige of this pest, 

 since its increase means a damage of millions 

 of dollars to one of our most important 

 industries. 



Seven Eggs of the Arizona Hooded 

 Oriole in One Nest. 



Four eggs is the usual set of the Arizona 

 Hooded Oriole (Icterus cucullatus nelsoni), but 

 Mr. Theodore D. Hurd has very kindly sent 

 me a set of seven taken near Riverside, Cali- 

 fornia, on May G, 18U(). This number is un- 

 precedented, and must be considered unique. 



J. P. N. 



