Mar., 1909 
THE POPULAR NAMES OF BIRDS 
45 
fox who lost his tail in a trap, and wonders whether the plea may not be an en- 
deavor to make fashionable the bob-tailed names that have unfortunately, here and 
there, got into print. 
Then there are “reformers” who would discard a well established name be- 
cause it is inappropriate. No policy can be more mistaken. What difference does 
it make if a Purple Pinch is not purple or the Louisiana Tanager is not found 
within the present day boundaries of Louisiana? There is hardly a name on the 
list that would not be subject to removal if everybody’s whims were consulted. 
Let us at least strive for stability in vernacular names and accept those that have 
grown into general use. Even modern Junco and Vireo, like some generic names 
in botany, have gained vernacular recognition. 
In the promised new edition of the Check-List we hope to see subspecific pop- 
ular names as sharply differentiated as are the subspecific trinomials. Every race 
of the Song Sparrow or Brown Creeper or California Jay or Hairy Woodpecker 
ought to have a trinomial popular name if our list is to be uniform. It will require 
some ingenuity to meet the details of this problem, but now that the trinomial has 
come home to roost, the consequences must be met, and the awkward inconsisten- 
cies of the old Check-List overcome. It won’t do to say “Western Savanna 
Sparrow” for one race and “Bryant’s Marsh Sparrow” for another. In such cases 
there is room for real reform of a kind that is neither reactionary nor subversive of 
names that have become household words. Our Check- List must be popular if it 
is to retain its authoritative position as to vernacular names and the utmost con- 
servatism is necessary if it is to keep in touch with the rank and file of the army 
of people who take a deep interest in North American birds. 
New York City. 
NEST OF THE DUSKY POOR-WILL ( PHALAENOPTIL US NUTTALLI 
CALIFORNICUS ) 
By JOSEPH MAILLXARB 
WITH ONE PHOTO BY THE AUTHOR 
M Y acquaintance with the Dusky Poor- Will, slight at the time and but 
little closer now, commenced away back in the very early seventies, when 
as a small lad I used to hunt for game of any sort on the back ranges of 
the Rancho San Geronimo, sometimes flushing one of these singular birds among 
the short brush on the rocky hills, or, perhaps, when in camp hearing their plaintive 
call at dawn or dusk. 
Speaking of their call I would like to relate an incident that happened in 
connection with it. On our ranch is a spot marked on the old maps as “Hunters’ 
Camp,” from whence many a large shipment of venison had been made to the San 
Francisco markets in early days, and even now the best spot in the vicinity for a 
hunting camp. In the summer of 1876, if my memory serves as to date, my col- 
lege chums assisted in the building of a log cabin on this spot where we could keep 
our blankets and cooking utensils and run up to from time to time fora little outing. 
While building the cabin I had noticed that on two or three evenings in succession 
a Dusky Poor-Will had commenced to call (to his mate ?) at exactly eight o’clock. 
It happened that the only watch in camp stopped one day, from not having been 
