26. Meleagris gallopavo subsp. Wild Turkey. 



Faintly amusing efforts have been made to introduce a wild strain of this noble bird to 

 various brands of our uncultivated hospitality; but we predict that the Wild Turkey of romance 

 will never compete in interest and dependability with the common or Thanksgiving variety, in 

 California. 



27. Buteo cooperi Cassin. Cooper's Hen-hawk. 



This bird of mystery, described by Cassin (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1856, p. 253) from 

 a specimen shot by J. G. Cooper near Mountain View, Santa Clara County, in November, 1855, 

 still remains unique and unresolved. The specimen still exists (U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 8525). 

 It does not seem to be a hybrid; it follows no known laws of polychromatism, or color "phases"; — 

 it may, indeed, have been the very last of some tribe of feathered Mohicans, cousins to the Red tail. 



28. Buteo solitarius Cassin. Hawaiian Buzzard. 



Originally described by Ridgway (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1870, p. 149) as Onychotes 

 gruberi, from a specimen labelled "California." "Gruber's Hawk" remained unique until Ridgway 

 himself discovered its identity with the Hawaiian Onychotes {Buteo) solitarius, and so made it appear 

 probable that his type specimen of gruberi had really come from Hawaii via San Francisco. 



29. Branta ruficollis (Pallas). Red-necked Goose. 



Normal Range: Northern Siberia south to the Caspian Sea and Turkestan. The specimen 

 upon which this hypothetical record is based was bought in the San Francisco market by Lyman 

 Belding and by him presented to Walter Bryant, then in charge of the California Academy of 

 Sciences. It had every appearance of having been taken in the wild, and it was "full" of No. 6 

 shot. The specimen was preserved for years in the Cal. Acad. Sci. collections, but was, of course, 

 destroyed in 1906. Mr. A. W. Anthony, who authorizes this statement, saw the specimen in 

 question in 1897, and Walter Bryant detailed to him, in person, the circumstances of the bird's 

 capture. Anthony's impression was that it had been taken in the fall, some two or three years 

 previous, and that it was either in juvenile or in winter plumage. 



30. Phalacrocorax auritus cincinatus (Brandt). White-crested Cormorant. 



The Shags of the North Pacific are known to retire down the coast in winter. Kobbe's 

 surmise (Bailey's Handbook of Birds, 1902, xlix.) that the White-crest is the" bird of the San Fran- 

 cisco Bay region in winter may be correct, but the point has never been settled by measurements. 



31. Thalassogeron culminatus (Gould). Yellow-nosed Albatross. 



Normal Range: The southern oceans. Claim based on a skull "found on the outer beach 

 near Golden Gate" at some time prior to 1868, and believed by J. G. Cooper to belong to this 

 species. The specimen was preserved in the California Academy of Science, but was probably 

 destroyed in the conflagration of 1906. 



32. Macronectes giganteus (Gmelin). Giant Fulmar. 



Normal Range: Waters of the southern hemisphere. Authority: Cooper, Amer. Nat. 

 iv., 1871, p. 759, claims that this species "could often be seen" in the summer of 1861 about the 

 whale-fishing in Monterey Bay. No succeeding confirmation. Opinion. — In spite of its very 

 unusual character, I see no ground for discrediting Cooper's statement. Standing, however, 

 as a record of sixty years ago, it may respectfully be referred to the Department of Ornithological 

 Archaeology. 



33. Priocella glacialoides (Smith). Slender-billed Fulmar. 



To the same also must be referred this record of a skeleton found by Dr. J. G. Cooper on the 

 beach at Santa Catalina Island in June, 1863 (B. B. &. R., Water Birds of N. Amer., 11, 1884, 

 p. 374) and referred by him to this species. In Dr. Cooper's probity we have the most implicit 

 confidence. Of his ability to reach accurate taxonomic conclusions with the critical apparatus 

 then available, we cherish the friendliest doubts. 



He served his day; he recorded his convictions — and passed. In spite of the printed word, 

 the commonplaces of his experience are buried in a practical oblivion, and the very high-lights of 

 it are obscured. Another generation demands reappraisal, restatement — re-proving perhaps. 

 And it rejoices — for an hour. In like manner, still another generation shall exclaim, "Why, 

 it was not thus! It could not have been so! Behold! do we not know what is" — Patiently, little 

 brothers! It was, and is, and ever shall be — never the same. 



2 TOO 



