ERRATA.

Vol.VI,page199,line10,for “centimeters” read “millimeters.”
„VII,„[9],„12,for “Blue-winged Yellow” read “Golden-winged.”
„„„[26],„6,for “An indistinct, dusky” read “A black.”
„„„[26],footnote,for “οὐκέω” read “οἰκέω.”
„„„[47],„„line 3, for “Water” read “Winter.”
„„„[119],line8,for “struggling” read “straggling.”
„„„[122],„9,from bottom, for “Rellon” read “Redlon.”
„„„[123],„28,for “Before” read “Upon.”
„„„[164],„11,for “chince” read “china.”
„„„[165],„31,for “‘Poulet Dean’” read “‘Poulette d’Eau.’”
„„„[178],„3,for “Cincinnurus” read “Cicinnurus.”

[1]. Cf. Bull. U. S. Geol. Geog. Survey Terr. Vol. IV, No. 1, pp. 231, 232.

[2]. After many careful examinations of the type specimen, I am led to the conclusion that it does represent the perfect colored phase, since no combination, or division, of the markings of A. herodias and A. occidentalis—or, in other words, no partial development of the head-pattern of the former—would give the peculiar markings which distinguish A. würdemanni.

[3]. The pattern of coloration of the head exactly as in A. herodias, and not at all like A. würdemanni.

[4]. This bone is described in Mivart’s “Lessons in Elementary Anatomy,” p. 320, fig. 289; and by Alix in his “Essai sur l’Appareil locomoteur des Oiseaux,” p. 403. Being out of town fuller references cannot be given.

[5]. In his “Essai sur l’Appareil locomoteur des Oisseaux,” Alix figures (pl. II. fig. 12) the carpus of a Kestrel with a simple sesamoid.

[6]. [See Erratum on p. [64] of this issue.—Edd.]

[7]. These all common on the date when first observed.

[8]. The difference between the season just passed in the arrival and time of nesting of the birds, may be illustrated by the fact that in the spring of 1880, Setophaga ruticilla was noted near Wheatland April 1, while in the spring of 1878, eggs of Protonotaria citrea were obtained near Mt. Carmel April 27.

[9]. Baird, Brewer and Ridgway’s Birds N. Am., Vol. III, p. 45.

[10]. Eremœca = ἔρημος + οἰκέω.

[11]. Mr. Ridgway has found that fully ninety-five per cent of the Screech Owls of the Wabash Valley, in southern Illinois, are red.

[12]. The small quadrate spots on the primaries and the indistinct tail bands, characters which have been held as diagnostic, are both shown by my series to be inconstant and of no varietal significance.

[13]. As my material is not at present sufficiently comprehensive to enable me to define the limits of distribution of this race I leave the compilation of its synonymy to those who may have better opportunities in this respect.

[14]. “Review of the American Species of the genus Scops.” Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. I, pp. 85–117.

[15]. This arrangement leaves a large portion of the Middle Province without any characteristic representative, maxwellæ being an Alpine form apparently confined to the Rocky Mountains, while kennicotti and “tricopsis” respectively invade only its northern and southern borders. Our knowledge of the subject is not as yet sufficiently comprehensive to enable me to fill this gap, but all the available evidence goes to show that asio, at least as above defined, is not found to the westward of the Rocky Mountain range.

[16]. See Brewster, this Bull., Vol. IV, pp. 75–80 and 91–103.

[17]. See Orn. Lower Rio Grande, Bull. U.S. Geol. Surv., IV, No. 1, 1878, p. 10.

[18]. Birds Dak. and Mont., Bull. U.S. Geol. Surv., IV, No. 3, 1878, p. 561.

[19]. Four specimens were known before Mr. Werner explored Comal Co., in 1878. In his article on Werner’s Birds (this Bull., Vol. IV, p. 77), Mr. Brewster does not state just how many were taken.

[20]. Hist. N. A. Birds, Vol. I, 1874, p. 579.

[21]. See anteà, p. 26.

[22]. Mr. Ridgway acquiesces in the identification made of my inconstant examples of this species and Pipilo maculatus, in a letter from which I here make an extract: “The Pipilos appear to be neither true arcticus nor true megalonyx, and are almost as near (one of them at least) to maculatus of Mexico. They are, however, less like arcticus than either.... You will notice that one of the specimens has a very considerable admixture of grayish on the upper parts. Now, were this color more olivaceous, the specimen in question would be exactly like maculatus. The Song Sparrows are about equally like M. fasciata and M. fallax, but in colors appear to me to be nearer the former, as fallax has the markings less sharply contrasted. The specimens are, however, more like fallax in the grayness of the plumage. Upon the whole, I would say that they are nearer fasciata than fallax.”

[23]. See Field and Forest, Feb. 1877, p. 131.

[24]. See Orn. Lower Rio Grande, Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv., IV, No. 1, 1878, p. 39.

[25]. See Ibis, 1866, p. 33.

[26]. In Memoriam. The Collected Scientific Papers of the late Alfred Henry Garrod, M. D., F. R. S., etc. Edited, with a biographical memoir of the author, by W.A. Forbes, B. A., etc. London: R. H. Porter: 6 Tenterden Street. 1881. 1 vol. 8vo. pp. xxvi, 538, pll. 33, frontisp. (portrait), and many cuts in text.

[27]. Osteology of the North American Tetraonidæ. By Dr. R. W. Shufeldt, U.S.A. Bull. U.S. Geol. and Geog. Surv. Territories, Vol. VI, No. 2, pp. 309–350, pll. V-XIII.

[28]. Osteology of Lanius ludovicianus excubitorides. By Dr. R. W. Shufeldt, U.S.A. Bull. U.S. Geol. and Geog. Surv. Territories, Vol. VI, No. 2, pp. 351–359, pl. XIV.

[29]. Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of the Birds of Ohio. Part VIII, April, 1881 Part IX, July, 1881. Pll. xxii-xxvii. fol.

[30]. American Naturalist, Nov., 1881, pp. 906–908.

[31]. Osteografische Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte der Vögel. Ueber das Nagelglieder der Flügelfinger, besonders der Daumen. Leipzig, 1811, S. 89.

[32]. A List of the Birds of Minnesota. By Dr. P. L. Hatch. Ninth Ann. Rep. Geol. and Nat. Hist Surv. Minn., for 1880, 1881, pp. 361–372.

The Water Birds of Minnesota. By Thomas S. Roberts. Op. cit., pp. 373–383.

[33]. On birds observed in Amelia County, Virginia. By Percy E. Freke. Scientific Proceedings of the Royal Dublin Society, Vol. III, Part III. [Read Feb. 21st, 1881.]

[34]. Field Notes on Louisiana Birds. By Dr. F. W. Langdon. Jour. Cincinnati Soc. Nat. Hist., July, 1881, pp. 145–155.

[35]. Forty Years’ Notes of a Field Ornithologist, by John Krider, Member of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences and author of Krider’s Sporting Anecdotes, Philadelphia. Giving a description of all birds killed and prepared by him. Philadelphia, 1879, 8vo. pp. i-xi, 1–84.

[36]. Zoölogical Miscellany, edited by Dr. F. W. Langdon. Jour. Cincinnati Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. IV, Dec., 1881, pp. 336–346.

[37]. Annotated List of the Birds of Nevada. By W. J. Hoffman, M. D. Bull. U. S. Geol. and Geog. Survey of the Territories, Vol. VI, No. 2, Sept. 19, 1881, pp. 203–256, and map.

[38]. Ornithologist and Oölogist, Vol. VI, pp. 78, 79.

[39]. This Bulletin, Vol. III, p. 123.

[40]. See this Bulletin, Vol. IV, p. 137.

[41]. Its distribution in Arizona is apparently limited to a comparatively small area which, according to Mr. Stephens’ experience, is bounded on the east by the valley of the San Pedro; on the west by a point “a few miles east of the Hassayampa, on the desert between it and Salt River.”

[42]. Vol. XV, No. 3, March, 1881.

[43]. This Bulletin, Vol. VI, p. 67.

[44]. Birds of the Colorado Valley, p. 74.

[45]. Birds of the Colorado Valley, p. 75.

[46]. In a recent letter Mr. Stephens adds:—“From my own observations I should characterize the respective haunts of the Arizona Thrashers as follows: H. lecontei is exclusively a bird of the deserts. H. bendirei is a desert bird approaching the valleys. H. palmeri occurs along the edge of deserts, occasionally appearing in valleys. H. crissalis haunts valleys and broad cañons, seldom venturing into the deserts.”

[47]. The name “os prominens,” proposed by Dr. Shufeldt, has been adopted by me because it seems eminently proper that so large a sesamoid, frequently equalling the patella in size, should receive a distinctive appellation.

[48]. The English Sparrow, which is but an indifferent flyer, can be deprived of one-half of the secondaries and one-fourth of the primaries of both wings, in the long axis of the pinion, without apparently impairing its flight. See Pettigrew.

[49]. I find that this statement must be modified in regard to Gulls, if not retracted altogether, for since this paper was written I have found the os prominens in Larus glaucus and L. dominicanus. It is present as a small, elongated, trihedral prism, imbedded in the tendon of the extensor patagii longus, and playing over the flattened surface of the scapho-lunar.

[50]. [See p. 122 of this issue.—Edd.]

[51]. For an account of its breeding at Houlton see this Bulletin, Vol. IV, pp. 37–39.

[52]. The Coues Check List of North American Birds, revised to date and entirely rewritten under direction of the author, with a Dictionary of the Etymology, Orthography and Orthoëpy of the scientific names, the Concordance of previous lists, and a Catalogue of his Ornithological Publications. Boston: Estes and Lauriat. 1882. 1 vol. roy. 8vo. pp. 165.

[53]. Extract from a Report of Exploration by Professor John Macoun, M. A., F.L.S. Report of Department of Interior (n. d., n. p. Ottawa, 1881? 8vo, pp. 48.)

[54]. A Revised List of the Birds of Brandon, Vt. and vicinity. By F. H. Knowlton. The Brandon Union (newspaper), February 10, 1882. See also, by the same author:—A Partial List of the Birds of Brandon, Vt. The Brandon Union, December 13, 1878.

Remarks on some Western Vermont Birds. Bull. Nutt. Ornith. Club, Vol. VII, January, 1882, pp. 63, 64.

[55]. Dr. C. Fr. W. Krukenberg. Die Farbstoffe der Federn, in Dessen Vergleichendphysiologische Studien. I Reihe, V Abth., 1881, s. 72–92. Plate III.

[56]. See this Bulletin, Vol. IV, p. 8.

[57]. See this Bulletin, Vol. VII, pp. 54–55.

[58]. It should be stated that Mr. Purdie, with characteristic courtesy, declines to publish this note as, after discovering his prior knowledge of the specimen, I requested him to do.

[59]. See Brewer, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. XVII, 1875, p. 446.

[60]. This Bulletin, Vol. VII, p. 40.

[61]. Voyages of Samuel de Champlain, translated from the French by Charles Pomeroy Otis, Ph.D., with historical illustrations, and a Memoir, by Rev. Edmund F. Slafter, A. M. Vol. II, 1604–1610, Boston, published by Prince Society, 1878.

[62]. Birds of the Northwest, 1874, pp. 679, 680.

[63]. Mr. Sennett and Dr. Merrill found it breeding on the Lower Rio Grande in Texas. (Sennett, B. Rio Grande, 1878, pp. 65, 66; Merrill, Ornith. Southern Texas, 1878, p. 172.)

[64]. This Bulletin, Vol. VII, p. 33.

[65]. For an excellent review of the races of H. unalascæ, by Mr. H. W. Henshaw, see this Bulletin, Vol. IV, p. 134. Several errors, perhaps typographical, are apparent in the tables of measurements given in this paper. For example, the bill of var. pallasi is said to average .53 inch, whereas the largest specimen of that form is afterwards credited with a bill of only .51. Again, var. nanus (i.e., unalascæ) does not appear from the table of extreme measurements to have been found with a smaller bill than .49, though it had previously been said to average .48. The difference in length of bill exhibited by the three races of this species is almost microscopic. A much more tangible character, not mentioned by Mr. Henshaw, lies in the disproportionate slenderness of the bill of the western varieties. In a rather large (wing 3.67) example of unalascæ before me, the bill measured across the base of the culmen is but .20 wide, while in a specimen of var. pallasi of the same site it is .25 wide.

[66]. Bull. Nutt. Ornith. Club, Vol. VI, pp. 225–235.

[67]. Descriptions of the various pigments may be found in:

Krukenberg, Dr. C. Fr. W.; Vergl.-phys. Studien, 1 R, v. Abth. 1881, SS. 72–99, u. 2 R, 1 Abth., 1882, SS. 151–171.

Bogdanow, A., Note sur le pigment des touracos. Compt. rend., T. LIV, 1862, pp. 660–663. Études sur les causes de la coloration des Oiseaux. Compt. rend T. XLVI, 1858, pp. 780, 781

Church, H. H., Researches on Turacine, an animal pigment containing copper. Chemical News, vol. XIX, 1869, No. 496.

Blasius, W., A. D. Sitzungsb des Vereins f. Naturwiss, zur Braunschweig. Braunschweigische Anzeigen, 1877, Nr. 29.

[68]. Annals N. Y. Lyceum Nat. Hist., Vol. XI, p. 136.

[69]. Hist. N. A. Birds, Vol. I, 1874, pp. 297–298.

[70]. A letter just received from Mr. Stephens contains the following very satisfactory confirmation of the above evidence. “The identification of your nest of S. picta is positive. I saw the parent plainly, and could easily have shot her. Indeed I should never have found the nest had not my attention been called to it by the birds flying from it as I brushed past almost within touching distance. When first found, the nest contained three eggs. I thought it best to leave them until next day to see if more might not be laid. * * * When I returned, however, the bird was not at home and as it was a long, rough walk to camp, I took the nest, their being no occasion to visit the spot again. * * * The locality was a wide part of a cañon between the two Santa Rita peaks, perhaps two miles from the top of the high ridge connecting them. Up this cañon passed an old Mexican road to the pine timber above. It had not been used for many years. In its course it cut through an occasional projecting bank, and in one of these places was the nest. It was under a small boulder in the side of a nearly perpendicular bank, which was but two or three feet high. The vicinity was heavily timbered with oak and sycamore. I regard the position as exceptional: still, it may be the rule.”

[71]. U. S. Geol. Surveys W. 100 Merid., 1879, pp. 291–293.

[72]. For an account of the nesting of this species at Grand Falls, see this Bulletin, Vol. VII, p. —.

[73]. For descriptions of the nesting of this species at Houlton and Fort Fairfield see this Bulletin, Vol. III, pp. 166–168, and Vol. IV, pp. 241, 242.

[74]. “Descriptions of two new Thrushes from the United States.” Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. 374, pp. 374–9.

[75]. The highest peak of the Catskills,—4,205 feet altitude.

[76]. Both birds were carefully examined and the evidence on this point was positive and unequivocal. A Thrush’s nest containing spotted eggs discovered near the top of Slide Mountain may have been either that of this form or of swainsoni, but as positive identification was prevented, further allusion to it is, for the present, withheld.

[77]. Though averaging of greater length, in proportions this bird averages smaller than swainsoni, and some specimens are much smaller than any I have seen of the latter species. The wide difference from true aliciæ here implied may be illustrated by the following extreme measurements given by the birds of my series:—

aliciæ,length,8.00;extent,13.12;wing,4.35;tail,3.40.
bicknelli,„6.55;„10.56;„3.40;„2.60.

[78]. See “The Coues Check List of North American Birds,” p. 24.

[79]. Birds of North America, p. 12.

[80]. Field Notes on Louisiana Birds. By Dr. F. W. Langdon. Journal of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History, July, 1881, pp. 145–155. A List of Birds from the Lower Mississippi Valley, Observed During the Summer of 1881, with Brief Notes. By O. P. Hay. Bull. Nutt. Ornith. Club, Vol. VII, pp. 89–94.

[81]. “Forest and Stream” Bird Notes. An index and summary of all the ornithological matter contained in “Forest and Stream,” Vols. I-XII. Compiled by H. B. Bailey. New York: F. & S. Pub. Co., 39 Park Row. 1881. 8vo., paper, pp. iv, 195.

[82]. A Catalogue of the Birds of New Brunswick, with brief notes relating to their migrations, breeding, relative abundance, etc. By Montague Chamberlain. Bulletin of the Natural History Society of New Brunswick. No. 1, pp. 23–68. Published by the Society. Saint John, N. B., 1882.

[83]. Dr. C. Fr. Krukenberg. Die Farbstoffe der Federn. 2 Mittheilung, in Dessen Verg.—phys. Stud., 2 R., I. Abth., 1882, SS 151–171.

[84]. On some generic and specific appellations of North American Birds. By Leonhard Stejneger. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., June, 1882, pp. 28–43.

[85]. Ingersoll, Ernest. Birds’-Nesting: A Handbook of Instruction in Gathering and Preserving the Nests and Eggs of Birds for the Purposes of Study. Salem, 1882.

[86]. Vol. VII, pp. 23–25.

[87]. N. E. Bird Life, p. 104, foot note.

[88]. See Herrick, Birds of Grand Manan, p. 6.

[89]. See Rod and Gun, Vol. VI, p. 65.

[90]. See especially this Bulletin, Vol. VI, pp. 124–25.

[91]. See this Bulletin, Vol. IV, p. 108, and Vol. V, p. 63.

[92]. In citing this and the next form as races of cinereus, I follow Mr. Henshaw, with whose views respecting the affinity of the three birds I fully agree.

[93]. This Bulletin, Vol. VII, p. [26].

[94]. The question of the relationship which M. cooperi, M. erythrocercus, M. mexicanus and M. crinitus bear to one another, and that of the respective names which should be used for each, has been recently discussed at some length. (See Bull. U. S. Geolog. Surv., Vol. IV, pp. 32–33; ibid., Vol. V, No. 3, pp. 402–404; Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. 1, p. 139; and ibid., Vol. 3, pp. 13–15.) While I cannot claim to have personally investigated the points at issue, I am at present inclined to follow Mr. Ridgway’s ruling, at least so far as M. cooperi is concerned.

[95]. This Bulletin, Vol. VI, p. 252.

[96]. This Bulletin, Vol. VI, p. 252.

[97]. See this Bulletin, Vol. I. pp. 14–17 and 75–76, and Vol. V, pp. 20–25.

[98]. Proceedings U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. I, p. 142.

[99]. This Bulletin, Vol. VI, pp. 69–72.

[100]. See Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv., Vol. V, Art. 5.

[101]. Of Grallatores, Lamellirostres, etc., I can give only a very incomplete list, as I have never had favorable opportunity to observe these birds.

[102]. Typical; the occurrence of both forms seems at first thought anomalous, but migratorius may be a migrant from Alaska, where it is the representative bird.

[103]. Var. nov. See page 228 of this number.

[104]. Nearly typical, but showing slight approaches to var. oregonus.

[105]. Typical, and not approaching var. caurinus of the coast region.

[106]. Typical.

[107]. One specimen, with a complete red nuchal band.

[108]. See my late paper on this Owl (this Bulletin, Vol. VII, pp. 27–33). Six examples in the present collection offer no new points affecting the position there taken.

[109]. Slightly aberrant; see remarks under B. saturatus (p. 230).

[110]. See remarks under A. atricapillus (pp. 231, 232).

[111]. As Mr. Ridgway has lately pointed out, Cassin’s pacificus was clearly based on specimens of subarcticus, a very distinct race first recognized by Hoy in 1852. Hence the name pacificus must give place to saturatus, proposed by Mr. Ridgway for “a northern littoral form, of very dark colors.”

[112]. The supposed adult, described by Mr. Ridgway in the “History of North American Birds” (Vol. III, p. 148), proves to be an immature bird in its second year. The real adult, however, was figured in the second edition of this work.

[113]. “Darker (brownish-black) markings prevailing in extent over the lighter (nearly clear white) ones. Stripes beneath broad, brownish-black; those on the flanks cordate and transverse.”

[114]. The type of the adult striatulus has turned out to be merely a light-colored, faintly marked example of atricapillus.

[115]. See this Bulletin, Vol. VII, pp. 120, 121.

[116]. See this Bulletin, Vol. VI, p. 246.

[117]. The Coues Check List of North American Birds. Second Edition, Revised to Date, and entirely Rewritten, under Direction of the Author, with a Dictionary of the Etymology, Orthography, and Orthoëpy of the Scientific Names, the Concordance of previous Lists, and a Catalogue of his Ornithological Publications. [Monogram.] Boston. Estes and Lauriat. 1882. 1 vol. imp. 8vo. pp. 165.

[118]. The 10 species retired are: Ægiothus fuscescens; Centronyx ochrocephalus; Sphyropicus williamsoni; Lampornis mango; Agyrtria linnæi; Momotus cœruleiceps; Ibis thalassina; Ardea wuerdemanni; Sterna “longipennis” (S. pikii Lawr.); Podiceps cristatus. The list of added species (too long to print here) is given on pp. 6–8 and 10 of the Check List.

[119]. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., June, 1882, pp. 28–43.

[120]. This Bulletin, Vol. VII, pp. 178, 179.

[121]. While it is unfortunate that there should be two check lists of North American birds, Dr. Coues’s right to publish his views in this form was undeniably established when his first list was issued and accepted. Moreover, we see no reason why others should be debarred from the same privilege, and we fancy that a third list, representing a different and more conservative school of thought, especially in the matter of nomenclature, would have a large following. As regards a choice of names, in the comparatively few cases where the present authorities differ we should weigh well before accepting either. Many persons, doubtless, have neither the time nor the inclination to do this, and such, necessarily, must be guided by individual preferences in favor of one or the other author. In all cases of publication, however, a simple statement of the authority followed will be sufficient to prevent any confusion or misunderstanding.

[122]. Illustrations of Nests and Eggs of Birds of the United States, with Text, by Thos. G. Gentry. Philadelphia: J. A. Wagenseller, Publisher, No. 23 North Sixth Street. Copyright by J. A. Wagenseller, 1881. [4to, parts 1–25, pp. 1–300. 54 col. chromo-lithographs, and chromo-portrait frontispiece of the author. Price, $25.00. 1880–82.]

[123]. “Monograph of the Alcidæ,” Proc. Phila. Acad., Vol. XX, 1868, p. 77.

[124]. See F. C. Browne, Forest and Stream, Vol. XVIII, June 15, 1882, p. 386.

[125]. Vol. VII, p. 185.

[126]. This Bulletin, Vol. VII, p. 185.

[127]. “A Naturalist in the Magdalen Islands,” p. 42.

[128]. See this Bulletin, Vol. VI, p. 225, and Vol. VII, p. 128.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

  1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in spelling.
  2. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed.
  3. Re-indexed footnotes using numbers and collected together at the end of the last chapter.