1.38 
TIIR CONDOR 
iect in the last issue of The Condor. — 
II. S. S. 
A. II. Clark on Birds of the North Pa- 
cific and Adjacent Shores. 2 -As indicated 
in the full title of the paper given below, this 
is a list of species observed at very many 
widely distant points. The North American 
itinerary began with San Erancisco, and in- 
cluded Puget Sound, Vancouver Island, Una- 
laska and certain of the Aleutian Islands to the 
westward of the latter point. The annotations 
are of a heterogeneous nature, and many of 
them could very well have been briefer. For 
instance, on pages 47 and 48, at least the whole 
second paragraf, of 16 lines, consists of irrele- 
vant incident, foreign to a purely scientific 
paper. And further, of what possible use is 
the record of the Western Gull from San Fran- 
cisco Bay and the Glaucous-winged Gull from 
Puget Sound! So on with the bulk of the 
water birds and at least some of the land birds, 
which have been recorded over and over agaip 
from the same localities. 
There are, however, a number of the North 
American records of interest, such as some of 
those from the Aleutians. The two gulls, 
Larus schistisagus and Larus vegae , are listed 
from the vicinity of Unalaska. Both are rare 
in Alaska, and in each case we would like to 
have known more about the specimens , if any 
were taken in American waters. Larus vegae , 
even, has been seriously douted, as a species 
distinct from L. argentatus (see Auk, 1902, p. 
20), at least as occurring in American waters. 
Thalassaetus pelagicus, the Kamchatkan Sea 
Eagle, is recorded from Unalaska on the basis 
of one seen overhead in flight — not altogether 
satisfactory as the sole basis for the inclusion 
of the species as a bird of North America. 
The willow ptarmigan of North America are 
subjected to a revision (pp. 51-54) the main 
points in which are the separation of the 
American continental form from the Scandi- 
navian under the name Lagopus lagopus a/bus 
(Gmelin) , and the inclusion of all the willow 
ptarmigan of the southern coast region of Alaska, 
from Norton Sound to extreme southeastern 
Alaska, under the name Lagopus lagopus ale. r- 
andrcr Grinnell. The use of the name a/bus 
for the Hudson Bay ptarmigan, seems to be a 
point well taken; but the relative ranges and 
races of the willow ptarmigan of Northwest 
America will not probably rest with the status 
suggested by Clark. 
In this connection, the author exhibits an 
attitude altogether unbecoming in the treat- 
ment of one worker by another. On page 54, 
it is implied that Grinnell was decided in his 
2 The Birds Collected and Observed during | the 
Cruise of the United States Fisheries | Steamer "Alba- 
tross” in the North Pacific I Ocean, and in the Bering. 
Okhotsk, ( Japan, and Eastern Seas, from | April to 
December, 1906 I By I Austin Hobart Clark (=Proc. U. S. 
Nat. Mus., vol. 38, pp. 25-74. Puhlisht April 30, 1910.) 
VOL. XI 
course to name the ptarmigan, L. 1. alexandrae, 
because of coaching received from Clark, who 
treely. vouchsafed his own conclusions in re- 
gard to the forms in North America. If Grin- 
nell had felt any gratitude towards Clark for 
the information advanced, and especially if he 
had made use of even an iota of such informa- 
tion in his puhlisht report, then it would have 
been incumbent upon him (Grinnell) to have 
made full acknowledgment in print. But 
this, Grinnell did not feel and did not do. 
Hence we opine that the patronizing comment 
in the paper under consideration is not relisht 
by that author; and it certainly will not fasten 
any added credit upon Clark. — J. G. 
Three Cases of Supernumerary Toe in 
the Broad-winged Hawk by C. William 
Beebe ( Zoologica, vol. 1, no. 6, January, 1910; 
pp. 150-152, figs. 48-50). Three individuals 
possessing the same malformation are figured 
and described. Considering the rarity of such 
deformity among birds, it is curious to find it 
occurring with such comparative frequency in 
one species. One of these examples was orig- 
inally reported by II. K. Coale (Auk IV, 1887, 
pp. 331-333) ; the other two are here figured for 
the first time. — H. S. S. 
Abridgments of Some Current Litera- 
ture Relating to West Coast Birds. — The 
Auk, vol. XXVII, no. 1, January, 1910; pp. 
33-35, plates IV and V: The Palm-leaf Oriole. 
By Florence Merriam Bailey. Contains notes 
on the choice of palm trees as nesting sites of 
the Arizona Hooded Oriole ( Icterus cucullatus 
nelsoni) . “In eight towns and three country 
places in the general region between Redlands 
and San Diego in the summer of 1907 I counted 
forty nests made of palm fiber and hung in fan 
palms, and twelve made of palm fiber and 
hung in other trees." 
Ibid. , p. 91: Destruction of Young Water 
Birds by a Storm. By Albert B. Reagan, 
Supervising Warden of the Olympic Bird Re- 
serves. He states that a storm on August 28 
and succeeding days destroyed many young 
birds. The locality is not stated but by impli- 
cation it must have been some of the rocky 
islands along the west coast of Washington. 
“Many Cormorants perished, nearly all the 
Puffins and all of the California Murres. A 
half a hundred thousand birds must have per- 
ished.” 
The Auk, no. 2, April, 1910: New Records 
for the State of Washington. By Lee R. 
Dice. Richardson Grouse (Dendragapus ob- 
scurus richardsoni) , lateral canyons of Snake 
River; Western Grasshopper Sparrow ( Ammo - 
dramus savannarum bimaculatus) , Touchet 
Valley near Prescott, Walla Walla County; 
Mountain Junco ( Junco montanus) , Pullman, 
Whitman County; Rocky Mountain Creeper 
(Certhia familiar is montana) , Prescott, Walla 
Walla County; Long-tailed Chickadee {Pen- 
