Mar., 1920 
$1 
EDITORIAL NOTES AND NEWS 
We are struck with the cogency of the sug- 
gestion made by Mr. Leverett Mills Loomis 
in the January, 1920, Auk (p. 91); namely, 
that the projected “Systema Avium” might 
well serve as a new Starting point for ornitho- 
logical names. This could be done arbitari- 
ly, just as with Linnaeus, 1758, by action of 
the International Zoological Congress. Ma- 
jority vote of representatives of the ornitho- 
logists of the world would probably suffice 
to initiate such action. Surely everyone 
yearns for permanency of names! 
The report of the Business Managers for 
1919 was presented to both Divisions of the 
Cooper Ornithological Club at the February 
meetings and indicates a healthy condition 
of the Club’s finances. The cost of produc- 
ing THE Conpor was the greatest in its his- 
tory, and the receipts were greater than in 
any year except 1916. Avifauna number 13 
was issued and has met with ready and ex- 
tensive sale. Sales of back numbers and 
complete files were never so active as now, 
and applications for membership constantly 
exceed the lapses. A total of $4167.50 has 
already been pledged for the Kndowment 
Fund and $1460.00 of this amount has been 
received. Contributions to this fund, more 
than almost anything else, spell encourage- 
ment to business managers and editors alike, 
since it denotes a substantial appreciation 
of past efforts in behalf of the Club and 
a desire to stabilize and perpetuate the foun- 
dation on which, in the last analysis, the 
productivity of the organization must stand, 
namely, money to print and distribute such 
contributions as from time to time become 
available. 
We received a gratifying number of re- 
plies to our request for editorial “‘ideas”’ in 
the last November Conpor, enough to show 
that a good many persons are decidedly alive 
to the interests of our magazine. To sum 
up, opinion seems pretty well agreed that 
the most interesting feature of Tur CoNnpor 
is the “Field and Study” department, in oth- 
er words, that, upon receipt of an issue, the 
brief ‘‘Field and Study” items are read first. 
Second in point: of interest are declared to 
be the personal biographies, and third, the 
accounts of life histories of particular birds. 
Last in general interest comes the ‘“annota- 
ted list”. Our policy in the future will be 
modified in a measure by the returns ob- 
tained. But we will continue to publish 
lists, when of decided merit, and other mat- 
ter, such as descriptions, which are primari- 
ly of scientific importance. It is the func- 
tion of Tur Conpor to serve as a medium for 
recording ornithology, as well as to furnish 
articles of a “readable” character. Then 
too, the Editor must be controlled largely 
in the kind of material he presents by the 
kind and quantity offered. The ideal situa- 
tion is where a large assortment is availa- 
ble, fromr which he can select the best. 
A “Pacific Northwest Bird and Mammal 
Club” has been organized, with headquarters 
in Seattle. The objects of this club are ‘“‘to 
promote social and fraternal relations among 
the working ornithologists and mammalo- 
gists of Washington, Oregon, British Colum- 
bia and Alaska’, and “to promote interest 
in the scientific study of birds and mammals 
within the region named’. There is cer- 
tainly need for a club of just this sort, and 
there are already located in the Puget Sound 
district a considerable number of active nat- 
uralists to give the undertaking impetus. 
We predict a successful future for it. Per- 
sons desiring further information concern- 
ing this organization should apply to Mr. F. 
S. Hall, Director of the State Museum, Uni- 
versity of Washington, Seattle. 
Mr. Ernest P. Walker, until last fall sta- 
tioned at Wrangell, Alaska, where he was 
Inspector under the United States Bureau 
of Fisheries, has now entered the service 
of the Biological Survey, United States De- 
partment of Agriculture. He is located at 
Phoenix, Arizona, and is serving as Warden 
under the Migratory-Bird Treaty and Lacey 
acts. 
PUBLICATIONS REVIEWED 
A REVISION OF THE SUBSPECIES OF PASSER- 
CULUS ROSTRATUS (CASSIN). By Harry C. 
Oberholser. The Ohio Journal of Science, 
vol. x1x, no. 6, April, 1919, pp. 344-354. 
There are features quite apart from the 
systematic treatment of the species here con- 
sidered that render this paper one of excep- 
tional interest to Californian bird students. 
The abundance of the Large-billed Sparrow 
in its winter home in southern California 
has made still more tantalizing the mystery 
of its breeding range, for it seemed evident 
that the nesting grounds, though unknown, 
could not lie so very far from our doors. 
While, as regards the subspecies Passerculus 
r. rostratus, the author can contribute noth- 
ing to our knowledge of the nest or eggs, 
he maps the breeding range on the basis of 
specimens taken during what must be the’ 
nesting season. 
Three subspecies of Passerculus rostratus 
are here recognized, P. r. rostratus, breeding 
at the head of the Gulf of California, in 
Lower California and Sonora; P. r. guttatus, 
breeding on the San Benito Islands, central 
western Lower California; and P. r. halophi- 
lus, breeding on the mainland of central 
