6 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



Exceptions to the rule may and indeed should be made in the cases of spe- 

 cies which, like the Turkey Vulture, the Swallow-tailed Kite, and the Cardinal, 

 are easily recognized at a distance and which are reported by persons known to 

 have had previous familiarity with the birds in life. Sight identifications of spe- 

 cies somewhat less distinctly characterized than those just mentioned, if made 

 under favorable conditions by observers of long field experience and tried relia- 

 bility, may also sometimes be accepted with entire confidence. But on no 

 authority, however good, should a mere field observation of any bird that is 

 really difficult to identify, be taken as establishing an important primal record. 



These principles, which, in my opinion, should govern the makers as well as 

 compilers of all local records, were formerly endorsed, and also followed in the 

 main, by most ornithologists. Of late they have been frequently disregarded, 

 especially by the younger generations of bird lovers and students. I have 

 endeavored to apply them consistently and firmly — yet at the same time toler- 

 antly — in dealing with the records considered in the present paper. If some of 

 my rulings appear arbitrary, it must be remembered that it is not always possible 

 to explain the reasons which cause one to look askance at the testimony of cer- 

 tain observers while accepting that of others with entire confidence. It goes 

 without saying that personal considerations — whether of friendship or the 

 reverse — should never be allowed to influence the judgment of any writer on 

 scientific subjects, but his personal knowledge of men and their methods not only 

 does but should exert such influence. Moreover there is often internal evidence 

 in printed testimony — perhaps no more tangible than that to be gained by what 

 is called ' reading between the lines ' — that leads one irresistibly, and, as a rule, 

 quite safely, to adopt conclusions which cannot always be logically justified or 

 consistently explained. 



