242 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVI 
THE CONDOR 
A. Magazine of 
Western Ornithology 
Published Bi-Monthly by the 
Cooper Ornithological Club 
J> GRINNELL, Editor. Berkeley, CaLlifornia 
HARRY S. SWARTH, Associate Editor 
J. EVGENE LAW I _ . 
W. LEE CHAMBERS / Managers 
Hollywood, California: Publistiod Sept. 15, 1914 
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EDITORIAL NOTES AND NEWS 
The proposition to expand the scope of 
The Condor, as set forth in our last issue, 
aroused more interest than we had ex- 
pected it to do. The straw vote has been 
responded to at a lively rate, and, as it 
stood on September 1, is two to one in favor 
of expansion. However, the tone of expres- 
sion from the majority voters has been va- 
ryingly submissive, permissive or mildly 
approbatory, while that from the minority 
comes with vigor, rebuff and even threat of 
subsequent dire calamity! We had no no- 
tion of disrupting our present constituency, 
even if assured of increment membership 
to more than offset such defection. There- 
fore, though regretfully, we hasten to cover 
with our little scheme, and hereby declare 
that its consideration in relation to The 
Condor will be given no further thought by 
the present Editor. So let our magazine 
continue on its feathered career unblem- 
ished with glint of fur or scales! 
The day has come when the collector 
must take special pains to justify himself 
in the eyes of the increasingly many who 
are not inclined to countenance bird-de- 
struction for any purpose whatsoever. What- 
ever the merits in this extreme attitude, 
collectors have the situation to face. Un- 
doubtedly the “scientific specimen” argu- 
ment is the strongest to be offered. In this 
connection it does look as though the col- 
lector might make more exhaustive use of 
the birds he kills. To save a well made 
skin, with accurate color notes, measure- 
ments, etc., is good. To save also the stom- 
ach, for economic record, is so much more 
use made of the bird. One long step still 
farther is to save the skeleton, or whatever 
portion of it remains when the skin is 
made up. And this need not now, with a 
knowledge of lately discovered methods, be 
the disagreeable, time-consuming task it 
once was. We would refer the collector to 
Mr. Holden’s valuable article in the present 
issue, not only for an explanation of the 
simple processes involved, but for a state- 
ment of the urgent scientific need for pre- 
serving skeletons of birds. 
PUBLICATIONS REVIEWED 
The Birds on Buena Vista Lake, South- 
ern California. By Wm. Shore Baily. 
(Bird Notes, n s., v, Feb., 1914, pp. 51-57, 2 
half-tone ills.; id.. Mar., 1914, pp. 79-83, 1 
half-tone ill.) 
The attention of the reviewer was called 
to the article here commented upon through 
Mr. Stone’s exhaustive and valuable current 
index to “Recent Literature” in The Auk 
(vol. 31, July, 1914, p. 427). The reader in- 
fers with probable correctness that an Eng- 
lish travelling sportsman is here relating 
some of his experiences abroad, and has 
dashed down his story with little or no re- 
gard for accuracy of form. Severe criticism 
is deserved on the score of nomenclature 
alone, for neither the author, nor the editor 
of Bird Notes, has apparently taken the 
least pains to secure correct determinations. 
The bird names employed almost through- 
out the article seem to be taken directly 
from European literature, just as if Califor- 
nia birds had as yet secured no recognition 
in ornithology. Even so, there are inexcus- 
able blunders in regard to relationships. 
The nature of the case will be understood 
from the following selections. 
“As the sun rose, revealing my presence in 
the shadow of land, flocks of Gulls took 
wing, principally Herring, and Black-backed 
(identical with our English birds)”; “a few 
Black-winged Stilts (Himantopus candidus) 
allowed me to get very close”; “Moorhens, 
mostly in pairs, beat a leisurely retreat”; 
“a pair of Greenshanks were feeding on a 
near by mud-bank”; “Bronze Ibis”; “a 
large flock of small waders” . . . “proved 
to be Curlew-Sandpipers (Tringa suhar- 
quata), a little bird I had previously met 
with in the Isle of Man”; a “mixed flock of 
Curlew and Whimbrel” . . . included “the 
Eskimo species (Numenius borealis), but 
the Whimbrels were similar to our Euro- 
pean birds”; “Harrier”; “Iceland Falcon”; 
etc. We are thus presented with about the 
sort of product a California tourist in Eng- 
