Sept.. 191 



EDITORIAL NOTES AND NEWS 



171 



THE CONDOR 



A. Magazine of 



Western Ornithology 



Published Bi-Monthly by the 

 Cooper Ornithological Club 

 J. GR1NNELL, Editor 

 HARRY S. SWARTH, Associate Editor 

 J. EUGENE LAW 1 



W. LEE CHAMBERS J 



Business Managers 



Hollywood, California: Published Sept. 25,1917 



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Address W. Lee Chambers, Business Manager, 

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EDITORIAL NOTES AND NEWS 



Dr. Barton W. Evermaim has been carry- 

 ing on a study of the White Pelican colony 

 at Pyramid Lake, Nevada, for the purpose 

 of preparing a habitat group of the species 

 to be installed in. the Museum of the Cali- 

 fornia Academy of Sciences. In a talk given 

 by Dr. Evermann at a recent meeting of the 

 Northern Division of the Cooper Ornitholog- 

 ical Club, he raised the question as to the 

 desirability of continuing such absolute pro- 

 tection as the birds have received up to the 

 present time. The several thousand Peli- 

 cans constituting the colony on Pyramid 

 Lake, each eating several pounds of fish per 

 day, consume in the course of a year a total 

 that seems rather appalling in these days of 

 food scarcity, certainly far more fish than 

 are eaten by the entire human population of 

 Nevada "during the same period. It is true 

 that the fish taken by the Pelicans (mostly 

 suckers and chub, as but few trout are de- 

 stroyed ) are not at present utilized to any 

 extent by the white population of Nevada. 

 The Indians dry them in large quantities, 

 and there is no apparent reason why these 



fish should not be widely acceptable food, 

 either fresh or canned. As pointed out by 

 Dr. Evermann. there is possibility here for 

 the establishment of an important industry, 

 with the consequent utilization of a food 

 product that is now being undeservedly neg- 

 lected: and there is no reason why we 

 should not insist upon the Pelicans at least 

 sharing with us the monopoly they are now 

 enjoying, even if it should prove necessary 

 to reduce the Pelican population. 



A seventh edition of Mrs. Bailey's "Hand- 

 book of Birds of the Western United States" 

 (Houghtcn, Mifflin Company) has appear- 

 ed, this one being an innovation in that it 

 is greatly reduced in size through use of 

 thin paper, cutting to narrower margins. 

 and replacement of the board covers by limp 

 leather. The result will prove particularly 

 welcome to the field student who has need 

 of reducing his luggage to a minimum of 

 weight and bulk. We find the actual weight 

 of our old copy of "Bailey" (second editions 

 to be 35 ounces, of the new edition to be 

 just 19 ounces — a saving of one whole 

 pound. In bulk the reduction we find to 

 be just one-half. The size now permits of 

 carrying the book loosely in an ordinary 

 pocket. The new edition shows extended 

 changes in the pages of "Addenda ". but oth- 

 erwise the text is the same as heretofore. 



The Museum of Comparative Oology at 

 Santa Barbara has recently secured an egg 

 of the extinct "Roc", AEpyornis maximus, 



of Madagascar. This specimen, which meas- 

 ures twelve inches in length by nine in 

 breadth, "as big as a watermelon", is with- 

 out discoloration of any kind and is said to 

 be one of the finest in existence. Its shell 

 weighs three and three-quarters pounds 

 avoirdupois: while the contents, to judge 

 from the soft swish emitted upon rotation, 

 have become reduced to a mere handful of 

 dust. For the acquisition of this treasure 

 the Museum is indebted to Dr. Frederick A. 

 Lucas who gave information leading to its 

 "discovery", in the hands of a Danish mis- 

 sionary, and to the donor, Miss Caroline Haz- 

 ard, of Santa Barbara and Peace Dale. 



We wish Mr. Oberholser would confine 

 his announcements of innovations in nomen- 

 clature to avowedly technical articles in- 

 stead of running them into all sorts of unex- 

 pected places, often in quite "popular" lit- 

 erature. In the Wilson Bulletin, no. 98. 

 March. 1917. we encounter, without justifi- 

 cation, "Linaria cyanea" (p. 29) for the In- 

 digo Bunting. "Heclymeles ludovicianus" (p. 

 2S I for the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, etc.. ef- 

 fectually concealed in an article under the 

 innocent title "A Cooperative Bird Census 

 at Washington. D. C"! 



Mr. W. Leon Dawson is continuing his 

 work on the text of his "Birds of Califor- 



