124: 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. W-No. 8 I 



ifc is associated, in other words it is a color 

 wliicli could be jiroduced by the mixture of 

 the individual colors in pigment form. Thus, 

 to take an example, in the common Gull, al- 

 ready referred to, we have an arrangement of 

 three colors, black, white and gray. 'Now if 

 we take th6 black and white in the form of 

 pigments and blend them we find that the 

 third color, tlie gray, is produced, and so it 

 will be seen why we say it is of the nature of 

 the individual colors involved in the arrange- 

 ment. It is the unifying agent in the arrange- 

 ment which gives repose and harmony. It 

 would occupy too much space to explain how it 

 so acts. I hope, however, that sufficient has 

 been said to indicate what the principle is, and 

 to enable lovers of birds to seek for it. I 

 n)ight just refer to subjects which appear to 

 be exceptions, that is, there are some speci- 

 mens which do not possess a unifying color in 

 themselves, as it is such instances which show 

 the importance of studying the correlation of 

 natural laws. I believe it will be found in 

 this department (as I have found in the floral 

 world very strikingly) that these are only ex- 

 ceptions in appearance, and will prove no 

 exception when taken in connection with their 

 surroundings which will supply the element 

 of harmony lacking on the specimen itself. 

 Those familiar with the habits find location of 

 birds might be able to throw great light on 

 the subject, which is not only interesting but 

 of the highest practical importance since it is 

 by a true apprehension of the principles of 

 coloring in nature that we may expect to 

 rightly apply the same in art. Geor(/e Smith. 

 TJoston, Mass. 



Are the Changes in the Common 

 Names by the A. O U. Popular? 



PEiniAPS THE NAMES WERE CIIAN&EI) ON 



.estiietk; grounds only? 

 Eilifor of O. d- O.: 



I hope I may not be too late in sending my 

 vote in regard to the changes of common 

 names of some of our birds by the A. O. U. 

 I am not familiar with all the birds but think 

 it all right. I agree with W. II. L. in the 

 May O. & O. ; if the leading ornithologists who 

 are better acquainted with the birds of North 

 Americia think the change is for the better I 

 say it is all right. I believe in calling biids 

 by their right names. But why quarrel about 

 the common name? The scientific is what I 

 want. Why call Cafhartes aura, Turkey Buz- 



zard, when they are so different from the true 

 Buzzard, and yet that is the local name the 

 bird goes by. What may seem the right name 

 for a bird in one locality may seem out of place 

 in another. We want a name that will do 

 everywhere. If we are not used to it let us get 

 used to it. I also agree with C. J. Maynard 

 about the O. & O. I am willing to double my 

 subscriijtion price at any time. Let us have 

 an addition to the O. & O. A. L. — Minn. 



DOES NOT see AN IMPJiOVEMENT. 



Editor of O. & O.: 



Having been requested to send in my vote on 

 the names of the four birds No. 5:34, 540, ■'>A6 

 and 604 of the A. O. U. nomenclature, you 

 can put me down as voting to retain the com- 

 mon names, i.e., Snow Bunting, Grass Finch, 

 Yellow-winged S])arrow and Black-throated 

 Bunting, for to my mind these common names 

 are much more suggestive of the habits of the 

 birds, also of their appearance, as in case of 

 Black-throated Bunting and Yellow-winged 

 Sparrow. The names Dickcissel and in fact all 

 the new names mean nothing to me. I do 

 not believe that I am the only one who does 

 not vote for a change. Perhaps I am not in- 

 itiated enough to appreciate the beauty of the 

 new names but the old ones bring the bird up 

 before the mind's eye so plainly that I think a 

 change would be rather more injurious than 

 beneficial. E. II. II. — Mas.s. 



THE WAY MANY FEKL. 



Editor of O. & O.: 



I have been much interested in reading in 

 your last two issues the discussions on the 

 changes in the names of some of our common 

 birds by the A. O. IT. committee. I am young 

 in the cause of ornithology as yet, my first in- 

 spirations in that branch of natural science 

 being drawn from Samuel's "Birds of New 

 England," a volume of which I found in our 

 school library some five years ago. By con- 

 stant study of that book (a large part of wliich 

 I copied) the names of the birds became very 

 familiar to me, and I must confess that even 

 now I greatly prefer both the names and tJK^ 

 classification as therein given to any 1 have 

 since seen. Of the four birds named in your 

 April number, with two only am I familiar — 

 the Bay-winged and the Black-throated Bunt- 

 ings. Probably I would not uftw have been 

 ac(]uainted with them if I liitd had to look them 

 up in some of our later ornithological works 

 under the names of Vesper Sparrow and 

 " Dickcissel." I must sav that I don't like the 



