July, 1907 



COMMUNICATIONS 



"3 



Baird's vSparrow. Regarding these birds as in- 

 dividuals, he had not; but regarded collectively 

 as a species, he had a clear right. The pro- 

 prietor of the bird as a species was Audubon. 

 He discovered certain sparrows and formed 

 therefrom the concept of a new species, which 

 he presented to the world. It is his as truly as 

 a certain invention is Edison's or a certain 

 proposition in geometry is Euclid's. Audubon 

 delegated, or dedicated, this proprietary right 

 to the species as a scientific concept, to Baird. 

 Henceforth it became the species whose publi- 

 cation was indissolubly connected with the 

 name and honor of Spencer F. Baird. It, the 

 species, became Baird's Sparrow, in much the 

 same sense that our national capitol is Wash- 

 ington's city. 



Baird's Sparrow as a species enjoys such and 

 such a distribution. Baird' s Sparrozu occurs 

 in Dakota — that is to say, the species named in 

 honor of Baird is exemplified in that state. I 

 have no thought of any individual or set of in- 

 dividuals when I make that statement. I vio- 

 late no principles of grammar, nor do I shock 

 any sense of propriety. It is a correct use. 



When we come to the individual we must 

 drop the possessive form. The sparrows as 

 creatures of flesh and feathers belong to all of 

 us (that is to say, the State) and a given ex- 

 ample would become Mr. Grinnell's if he got 

 his gun up first. It is as absurd to speak of a 

 Baird's Sparrow as it would be to call a man 

 who hailed from the national capitol a Wash- 

 ington's man. The sparrow is a Baird Spar- 

 row. If he sits on a mullein stalk he is the 

 Baird Sparrow who sits on a mullein stalk. 



By every analogy, also, it is proper to em- 

 ploy the pronominal form in speaking of the 

 species. The Baird Sparrow is found in 

 meadows. The Washington man is interested 

 in politics — that is, the type, the species, is so 

 interested. 



Take an example from a different class to 

 show the interchangeability of terms: The 

 telephone is Edison's invention. This (inven- 

 tion) is Edison's telephone. Here the concept 

 or generic idea is prominent. The Edison 

 Telephone is a great invention — the concept 

 idea is still uppermost; but the pronominal 

 form is perfectly suitable. Now turn to an in- 

 dividual instrument: "This is an Edison tele- 

 phone", but never "This is an Edison's tele- 

 phone." 



To conclude: In vernacular names of birds 

 either the possessive or pronominal form is 

 correct when the name refers to the bird as a 

 species, or when the conceptual idea is promi- 

 nent. Only the pronominal form is allowable 

 when the name refers to an individual, or 

 where the idea of individuality is prominent. 



Do not these conclusions commend them- 

 selves to readers of Thk Condor? And may 



we not have an end of this see-sawing between 

 East and West by recognizing that both are 

 right when properly discriminated? 



Respectfully yours, 

 W. IvEON Dawson. 

 Seattle, April 11 , igoj. 



NESTING WAYS 



Editor The Condor: 



Let me, thru your columns, thank most 

 heartily the four or five observers that have 

 given me such royal help in the matter of nest- 

 ing data. Perhaps other generous-hearted 

 members of the Cooper Club will be on the 

 look-out, during the coming season, for data 

 covering the following (and the following 

 only): Mendocino Song Sparrow, Salt Marsh 

 Yellow-throat, N. W. Bewick Wren, Barlow 

 Chickadee, Big Tree Thrush, Pac. Night Hawk, 

 North. Spotted Owl, N. W. Saw-whet Owl, 

 Gray Jay, Vera Cruz Red-wing, Large-billed 

 Sparrow, and Cal. Sage Sparrow. 



Kind words continue to come in, concerning 

 "Nesting Ways", from perfect strangers. The 

 spirit shown by such persons makes one deeply 

 desirous of making the work as comprehensive 

 and as complete as present knowledge can pos- 

 sibly make it. Since I shall always feel that 

 The Condor has been a strong element in 

 making this manual complete and potentially 

 successful I venture, thru its columns, to give 

 the interested bird public a fore-taste of some 

 of the pictorial promise afforded in the pages 

 of "Nesting Ways": 



Nesting Sites of Hooded Merganser, Yellow 

 Rail, Wilson Phalarope, Long-billed Curlew, 

 Belted Piping Plover, Columbian Sharp-tailed 

 Grouse, Sage Grouse, Turkey Vulture, Prairie 

 Falcon, Saw-whet Owl, Western Horned Owl 

 (in the rocks), Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker, 

 Wright Flycatcher, Canada Jay, Bendire Cross- 

 bill, Leconte Sparrow, Arctic Towhee, Plumbeous 

 Vireo, Alma Thrush, and many of the com- 

 moner birds. Of rare or curious nesting con- 

 ditions portrayed, examples are listed: A 

 three-foot-long nest of the Say Phoebe; beau- 

 tiful nest-sites of the White-winged Junco, 

 showing the fourth and fifth nests known to 

 science; site and nest of the only known in- 

 stance of the breeding of the Lincoln Sparrow 

 in Minnesota; a most beautiful suite illustrat- 

 ing the nesting habits of the Rock Wren; 

 photograph showing an undescribed nesting 

 habit of the Sage Thrasher; and a most inter- 

 esting series of half-tones illustrating a hitherto 

 unknown nesting location of the Rocky Moun- 

 tain Nuthatch. One of these exhibits the por- 

 traits of both of a pair of birds, the male being 

 in the act of coaxing his mate to enter the nest, 

 at a point but four feet from the photographer. 

 P. B. Peabody. 

 Blue Rapids, Kansas; Feb. 11, 1907. 



