210 
THE CONDOR 
Von. XI 
the report than to any other, the birds anti 
many of the smaller mammals being listed in a 
somewhat perfunctory manner. 
While the lists, both of birds and mam- 
mals, are long ones, a surprisingly large 
number of species are included which were 
not met with by the parties at all, but are 
put in apparently because they ought to 
occur in the region covered. The value of 
such “records” may be fairly questioned — 
suchasthisof Sciuropterus yukonensis: “This 
fine flying squirrel doubtless inhabits the re- 
gion in which we workt;” or this of Mustela 
americana actuosa: “Martens can scarcely 
be absent from the region, but no signs 
of them were observed by our party;” or 
this of ? Buteo borealis calurus: “Altho not 
positively identifiable at a distance, several 
of the hawks seen by us on the lower Felly 
were apparently redtails” — to quote a few of the 
many. Surely it is not necessary to formally 
incorporate a species in a faunal list in order to 
say that it was not met with — that might fairly 
be taken for granted. 
Under Aquila chrysaetos, as occurring in the 
Ogilvie Range, Yukon Territory, we find the 
statement that “young lambs of the mountain 
sheep were abundant and these birds doubtless 
secured one now and then;” which would 
appear to be a gratuitous slander, on these par- 
ticular birds at any rate, for no evidence is 
produced to support the accusation. It is 
strange how the association of ideas always 
brings up the helpless lamb whenever the 
eagle is mentioned — both in poetry and prose 
he is supposed to be subsisting largely on such 
a diet, just as the “chicken hawk” of the pop- 
ulace is continually on the lookout for poultry. 
Possibly there is as much ground for the one 
supposition as the other. 
Some of the bird notes are of great interest, 
such as those on the Western Solitary Sand- 
piper (page .35), on the Spotted Sandpiper and 
Northern Shrike (page .36), on the Wandering 
Tatler (page 86), and many others besides, tho 
most of the species are dismist with the bare 
mention of their occurrence. Myadestes town- 
sendi and Junco hyemalis montanus were 
secured for the first time in Alaska, while 
adults and young of Leucosticte tephrocotis were 
secured in midsummer on Glacier Mountain, 
Alaska, adding another to the very few locali- 
ties in which the species has been found breed- 
ing. In the treatment of the birds the ridings 
of the A. O. U. Committee have been strictly 
adhered to in every case. 
On reading the paper thru it is evident that 
the author’s greatest interest lay with the “big 
game” and the fur-bearing mammals; and 
while no one will feel inclined to quarrel with 
him on that account, for they are most ably 
and interestingly treated, it seems a pity that 
the smaller fry from such an interesting region 
should be dismist with such scant notice. — 
H. S. S. 
CORRESPONDENCE 
Editor The Condor: 
Being under the impression that practically 
everyone interested in the subject knew that I 
have been engaged, “off and on,” for about 
twenty years, in the preparation of a work to 
supercede my old “Nomenclature of Colors” 
(long out of print, and manifestly seriously 
defective in the inadequate number cf colors 
represented, their unscientific arrangement, 
ami the bad method of their reproduction), your 
note in the last number of The Condor was 
somewhat of a surprise tome. It seems proper, 
therefore, that 1 should formally announce the 
final completion of the laborious task begun so 
long ago, that the work is now in the hands of 
the firm who is to reproduce the plates, and 
that the book will be publisht sometime before 
next spring. 
The new work has been very carefully 
planned and executed, and I have every reason 
to believe will fully meet all the requirements of 
those who have use for it. There will be about 
I. 350 colors (instead of the 186 of the old work), 
and these will be reproduced by a method 
which insures not only a correct copy of the 
originals but absolute uniformity thruout the 
entire edition. Altho it will manifestly be 
impossible to name all the colors, those which 
are not named, and also the intermediates , both 
as to hue anil tone, may he easily designated 
by an exceedingly simple system of symbols, 
which is practically equivalent to the repre- 
sentation of more than 5300 colors sufficiently 
distinct from one another to be readily differen- 
tiated by the normal eye. The standards of the 
“Nomenclature of Colors” of 1886 are of course 
preserved. The book will be the same size as 
the old one except for thickness which will not 
be very much greater, since all the text and 
plates of the old work which do not pertain to 
color are eliminated and the text re-written. 
Notwithstanding the great expense of its prep- 
aration and publication and the fact that there 
are more than seven times as many colors 
represented, the price will be but little more. 
Very truly yours, 
Robert Ridgway 
Washington, D. C. ; September 6, 1909 
Editor The Condor: 
I notice that I have been quoted as taking a 
stand against the recognition of minute differ- 
ences in naming races (Condor XI, no. 2, pp. 
66-67). My intention in said instance (Condor 
XI, no. 1, p. 32) was entirely the opposite. Mr. 
Linton seemed to be decrying the inability to 
distinguish minute racial characteristics and I 
endeavored to show that the adjective “micro- 
scopic” was perhaps applicable only to the 
