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THE CONDOR 



Vol.. IX 



the writer knows nothing whatever about the 

 bees — would not know one species from another. 

 He happened to be at the head of an expedition 

 which, utterly unknown to him, collected a 

 new species of bee, which was given his name. 

 Why, then, should he be entitled to call it 

 "Henderson's Bee"? Why not call Motacilla 

 alba, white's wagtail, to be consistent? Baird 

 is as much honored by speaking of the Baird 

 Sparrow as by using the possessive. If the 

 possessive is to be used, then it should be the 

 name of the man who actually discovered the 

 first recorded specimen, whether he is the one 

 who described it or whose name was given to 

 it, or not. 



Junius Henderson. 

 University of Colorado , 

 Boulder, Colo. 



A PRIZE BIRD DIARY 



Editors of The Condor: 



An interesting ornithological study was re- 

 cently successfully conducted by the children 

 in Alameda, California. The children were 

 invited to daily record during a given period 

 of two months all birds which they actually 

 themselves observed; to give the name of the 

 bird, popular and scientific name when pos- 

 sible; to describe the bird's plumage; to say 

 when, where and what the bird was doing at 

 the time of observation; to state anything 

 they knew of the habits, food or nature of the 

 birds; whether resident or visitor; whether 

 common or rare. The children were divided 

 into two grades. Class A, 14 years of age to 

 10 years; Class B, all 10 years or under. 

 Drawings of the birds were also asked for and 

 thus a most interesting series of pictures of 

 birds were obtained. Many of these pictures 

 were colored and displayed marked ability on 

 the part of the young artists. The numbtr of 

 birds observed and recorded by an individual 

 student reached in some cases sixty, and forty 

 different species, a record which not only in- 

 dicated a very persistent search on the part of 

 the student, but also an abundant local avifauna 

 which was a revelation to the ordinary resident 

 who from his limited field of observation con- 

 cluded that there were no birds outside of a 

 Sparrow and a Blackbird. Much interest was 

 taken by parents and teachers and the experi- 

 ment proved one of much attractiveness as well 

 as one of considerable educational value. 

 Prizes consisting of ornithological books were 

 given to the most deserving students; the 

 judges who examined the reports and upon 

 whose decisions the prizes were awarded were 

 the President, Vice President and Secretary of 

 the Northern Division of the Cooper Club. 

 The following birds were among those re- 

 corded: Western Gull, Cormorant, Pelican, 

 Wild Ducks, Wild Geese, Great Blue Heron, 



Night Heron, Rail, Sandpiper, Curlew, Willet, 

 California Quail, Mourning Dove, Sharp- 

 shinned Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Barn Owl, 

 Burrowing Owl, California Woodpecker, Lewis 

 Woodpecker, Red-shafted Flicker, Allen Hum- 

 mingbird, Wood Pewee, Western Flycatcher, 

 Blue Jay, Redwinged Blackbird, Meadow 

 Lark, Oriole, Blackbird, Goldfinch, White- 

 crowned Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, 

 Oregon Junco, English Sparrow, Oregon Tow- 

 hee, California Towhee, Grosbeak, Louisiana 

 Tanager, Cliff Swallow, Barn Swallow, Cedar 

 Waxwing, Shrike, Warbling Vireo, Lutescent 

 Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Audubon Warbler, 

 American Pipit, California Thrasher, Winter 

 Wren, Parkman Wren, Nuthatch, Titmouse, 

 Bush-Tit, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Russet- 

 backed Thrush, Dwarf Hermit Thrush, Robin, 

 Varied Thrush, Blue Bird. 



Frederick W. D'Evelyn 



PUBLICATIONS REVIEWED 



The Eyes and Eyesight of Birds, with 

 Especial Reference to the Appearance 

 of the Fundus Ocuei, by Casey A. Wood, 

 M. D , D. C. L., F. Z. S. (= Reprint from 

 Ophthalmology, April, 1907, 24 pages, 2 colored 

 plates, 8 illustrations in text.) 



Eyesight and the structure of the eye is a 

 most absorbing and interesting study. Since 

 in birds vision reaches its highest expression, 

 and since there are more wonderful adaptations 

 of eye-structure in this class than in any other, 

 surely a few moments spent in the considera- 

 tion of bird's e}es will not be wasted.) 



The visual capacity of birds is very great. 

 Dr. Wood takes the case of the humming-bird, 

 which flies more rapidly than our eyes can 

 possibly follow, and yet alights suddenly upon 

 an almost invisible twig; of the woodcock, 

 which flies rapidly thru dense forests, dodging 

 every branch and twig; of the owl, which sees 

 at night as well as it does in the daj^-time; and 

 of the kingfisher, which can see in the water as 

 well as in the air. 



The author makes many original observations 

 upon the likeness and unlikeness existent 

 between the bird's eye and the human eye, 

 taking up the bird's power of accommodation 

 in some details. In this connection he quotes 

 C. William Beebe, who asserts that a bird can 

 transform his eye from a telescope to a micro- 

 scope in a fraction of a second. A bird is able 

 to see objects a quarter of a mile away which to 

 us would be invisible, while on the other hand 

 it can pick tiny seeds from the dust which we 

 would need a magnifying glass to distinguish. 



Much of the paper is devoted to a considera- 

 tion of the ocular fundus, or the background of 

 the eye as revealed by the use of the ophthal- 

 moscope. Attention is called to the fact that 



