iSS4.J Xo/i's tt//i/ N^eiL's. lo: 



NOTES AND NE\A^S. 



Thk oiitcn- from all quarters excepting headquarters of American 

 ornithological science against the name of our new journal satisfies us 

 that the best possible name is The Auk. Were the name of this journal 

 one which anyone could have proposed and everyone liked, it could not 

 have been an 'inspiration.' The editors beg to sav that thev have copy- 

 righted, patented, and 'called in' the following puns and pleasantries: 

 I. That The Auk is an awkward name. 2. That this journal is the awk- 

 ward organ of the A. O. U. (These two species, with all pos.sible sub- 

 species, for sale cheap at this office.) 3. That this journal should be 

 published in New Yauk. or in the Orkney or Auckland Islands. (It is 

 published at Boston, Mass.. at $3.00 per annum, — free to acti\'e mem- 

 bers of the A. O. U. not in arrears for dues.) 4. That an Auk is the 

 trade-mark of a brand of guano. (A rose bv any other name, etc. ) 

 5. That the Auk is already defunct, and The Auk likelj^ to follow suit. 

 lyMortt/a Alca iinpe7inis — itt pennis Alca redivtva!^ 6. That the Auk 

 couldn't fly, and what's the use of picking out a name. etc.. etc. (But the 

 Auk could dive deeper and come up drier than any other bird, as Baird 

 says.) 7. That The Auk apes 'The Ibis.' (Not at all. It is a great 

 improvement on 'Ibis.' 'Ibis' is two syllables and four letters; 'Auk' is 

 only one syllable and three letters — a fact which bibliographers will 

 appreciate. It is simplj' following a good precedent because it is good. 

 We wish, however, that we could 'ape' or otherwise imitate 'The Ibis' 

 in sundry particulars. We should like to make The Auk the leading- 

 ornithological journal of America, as 'The Ibis' is of the rest of 

 the world. We should like to make The Auk the recognized medium 

 of communication between all the ornithologists of this countrj', as 'The 

 Ibis' is of that. We should like to take and keep the same high standard 

 of excellence in every respect, and thus become such an acknowledged au- 

 thority as 'The Ibis' is. We should like, on behalf of the A. O. U.. to imitate 

 'The Ibis' in the courtesy and kindliness already shown us on the part of 

 the B. O. U. We should like to 'ape' or otherwise resemble 'The Ibis' in 

 vitality and longevity. ■ May its shadow, already' 'sacred,' be cast while 

 the pyramids stand ; and may The Auk in due time be also known of men 

 as an "antient and honourable foule" !) 



— The publicatiof^of the long-delayed 'Water Birds' of North America, 

 by Messrs. Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, is at last passing rapidlj' though 

 the press. The work will make two volumes, and will, in reality, form the 

 concluding portion of the 'Ornithology' of the Geological Survey' of Cali- 

 fornia, Prof. J. D. Whitney, State Geologist. In general style it will be 

 uniform with the 'Land Birds' of the California Survey, with colored fig- 

 ures in the text. The cost of publication will be borne jointl_\' by Professor 

 Whitney and Mr. Alexander Agassiz, and the work will hence appear 

 also in the "Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology.' The first 



