SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 
WASHINGTON 25. D. C. 
* —TO i 
May 12, 196U 
Mr. Winston Banko, Director 
Pacific Project 
Division of Birds 
Smithsonian Institution 
Washington 25>, D. C. 
Dear Win: 
I can see that I owe you an apology for rry quick retort tc the 
"Droppings" of 27 April. What excited me was the suggestion of a 
circular letter on the subject. After talking to Dr. Humphrey and 
reading the 1* May droppings I now understand your intent. I remember 
the care with which the past circular letters were drafted with everyone 
available contributing comments. In the case of feeding habits I wanted 
to make sure that our observers were given the same chance as outside 
consultants, especially when our data differed so drastically. Almost 
the entire at-sea group was here so we had a rather lively discussion 
with many comments but I regret to say few dated, written field notes. 
Well, observations should be better documented in the future. 
I’ve done a lot of thinking and son® sketching (?) and writing 
concerning at-sea identification and I just don’t seem to make much 
progress. I don’t think Alexander or Peterson solve the problems but 
I can’t seem to do much better. I can still see the differences but 
describing them in words and sketches is something else. I would prefer 
that John didn’t wait on me for a section but I will send some suggestions 
later. If Pat, Warren and I can agree on characteristics perhaps we 
could send in a supplement just for at sea work. It is extremely diffi¬ 
cult—colors seem to change with sun direction and amount of cloud cover; 
flight varies with wind speed, direction of wind with respect to observer, 
and wave height; and foot and bill colors are rarely seen under field 
conditions. Yet with experience most birds can be distinguished at a 
considerable distance. Some will always be unidentified. But perhaps 
our attempts now will result in something more accurate later. 
I’ll try to review some of the other circular letters in the next 
day or so. The phone rings almost as much here as in D.C., usually just 
requesting the umteenth reassurance that previous plans are still on. 
