Nov., 1918 



EDITORIAL NOTES AND NEWS 



213 



THE CONDOR 



v\ Magazine of 

 "Western OrnitHolog'y 

 J. GRINNELL, Editor 

 HARRY S. SWARTH, Associate Editor 



J. EUGENE LAW 

 W. LEE CHAMBERS 



Business Managers 



Hollywood, California: Published Doc. 12, 1918 



EDITORIAL NOTES AND NEWS 



The Editors of The Coxdor are greatly in- 

 debted to Mr. J. R. Pemberton for prepara- 

 tion by him of the annual index appearing 

 with the present issue. The admirably ac- 

 curate "copy" furnished by Mr. Pemberton 

 is an evidence of the high quality we may 

 look forward to in the ten-year index which 

 he is now compiling to cover volumes xi to 

 xx of our magazine. 



Mr. J. Eugene Law has kindly consented 

 to compile for the January issue of The 

 Coxdor a new and complete list of Cooper 

 Club members in military service. He will 

 welcome assistance in this line from anyone 

 who can furnish the latest information con- 

 cerning the location and rank of Club mem- 

 bers. 



A specially prepared glossary of words and 

 phrases which can be used in describing- 

 birds' voices is something which seems to be 

 badly needed by students of field ornitholo- 

 gy. Mr. Richard M. Hunt, of the staff of the 

 Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley, 

 has undertaken to prepare such a "nomen- 

 clature of sounds" and will appreciate any 

 suggestions along this line. 



A question has arisen as to the value of 

 the annual roster of Cooper Club members, 

 such as appeared in the last July issue of 

 The Coxdor, pages 147 to 156, and has ap- 

 peared almost every year since our magazine 

 began its career. It is claimed by some that., 

 say, ten good pages are thereby appropriated, 

 which might better be used for the recording 

 of ornithology. The Editors are quite will- 

 ing to submit this question to the decision 

 of those Cooper Club members who are suf- 

 ficiently interested in the matter to respond 

 to a mail vote. Shall we discontinue print- 

 ing the annual membership roster? Write 

 "yes" or 'no" on a postal card addressed to 

 the Editor of The Condor, Museum of Verte- 

 brate Zoology, Berkeley, California. 



Dr. Charles W. Richmond has recently 

 been advanced to the rank of Associate Cura- 

 tor of Birds in the United States National 



Museum. This is a well-deserved recogni- 

 tion of Richmond's scholarly attainments in 

 taxonomic ornithology, as also of his fitness 

 and experience as regards curatorial tech- 

 nique. 



We would urge authors in general to ex- 

 ercise greater care in the selection of titles 

 for their articles. It is not unusual to receive 

 for publication in The Coxdor papers, other- 

 wise carefully prepared, lacking any title 

 whatever, with, perhaps, a note "permitting" 

 the Editors to place any heading they see fit 

 above the contribution. In our bibliographic 

 researches we often run across a title which 

 gives no hint as to the nature of the article 

 which it heads. Titles should be brief, but 

 at the same time, should give as clear an 

 indication of the subject matter of the arti- 

 cle as is consistent with brevity. Consider- 

 able thought can well be expended to attain 

 the best results in this direction. 



Our readers will have read with interest 

 Mr. Frank Stephens' "Autobiograplry" in the 

 September issue of The Coxdor. We are 

 grateful to him for thus being the first to 

 respond to our request. It is a pleasure to 

 announce that three others of our senior 

 ornithologists have now consented to furnish 

 autobiographies; their contributions will ap- 

 pear in early numbers of our magazine. 



During the past summer Dr. W. P. Taylor 

 has carried on field work for the United 

 States Biological Survey in parts of eastern 

 Washington. 



Dr. Lee R. Dice, recently of the zoological 

 staff of the University of Montana, has be- 

 come identified with the work of the United 

 States Biological Survey and has removed to 

 Washington, D. C. 



Mr. F. C. Lincoln, Curator of Birds at the 

 Colorado Museum of Natural History, is now 

 in the Pigeon Section, U. S. Signal Corps, sta- 

 tioned at the headquarters of the western 

 department at San Francisco. 



COMMUNICATION 



TRINOMIALS AND CURRENT PRACTICE 



Editor of The Coxdor: 



Mr. Swarth's criticism (Coxdor xx, 1918, 

 pp. 141-142) of my report on the ornitholog- 

 ical accessions to the Museum, in the Sum- 

 mary Report of the Geological Survey of 

 Canada, for 1915-16, is welcome, as it gives 

 opportunity for presenting what is perhaps a 

 novel viewpoint, and may be the means of 

 opening up and airing an important subject. 

 As a preliminary, I would state that this bi- 



