Lastly the author describes the yellow pigment, Coriosulfurin, found in the tarsus of the birds of prey. This substance is unlike any known to occur in feathers. It has three absorption bands between F and G.—J. A. J.
Stejneger’s Nomenclatural Innovations.[[84]]—Proposing to use “the oldest available name in every case,” the author shows that many of our current names must give way if the “inflexible law of priority” is to be observed. For ourselves, we believe that the surest way out of the nomenclatural difficulties that beset us is to be found in some such simple rule as this, and that to upset every name that can be upset according to any recognized principle is really the shortest road to that fixity of nomenclature for which we now all sigh like furnaces. Still such a paper as this makes us wish, as so many others have done, that some counteractive “statute of limitation” could come into operation, by which a bird resting in undisturbed enjoyment of its name for, say, a century or half a century, should not be liable to eviction under the common law of priority. Human welfare and happiness on the whole is the final cause of all law, and in the case of titles to real estate it is we believe statutory that undisturbed possession for a certain period shall exempt property-holders from litigation on account of any adverse claim, however otherwise sound, which is not presented within a certain number of years. This seems to be necessary for the security of any title and to proceed upon the theory that if owners don’t take the trouble to make good their title in due time they ought to forfeit it. The logic of a bird’s right to its name and a possessor’s right to any other property is the same in theory, and might properly be carried into effect. Fifty years of unchallenged usage might do, and a hundred certainly would suffice, to eliminate the factor of “contemporaneous courtesy,” and the shades of a few departed greatnesses might not be offended by being invited to yield a point now and then for the benefit of the many whom natural selection has not yet eliminated from the struggle for existence.
Stejneger’s points seem to be well taken in the main; and though we have not yet had opportunity of verifying them, we presume the restitutions and substitutions he proposes are available if not indeed necessary under the priority statute. But has he in all cases taken up names which rest upon diagnosis? Does indication of a type-species make a generic name valid? Some other objections might also be raised. We pass no judgment, pendente lite, but simply note the following propositions advanced:—Phænicurus Forst., 1817, for Ruticilla Naum., 1822.—Cinclus merula Schäff., 1789, for C. aquaticus Bechst.—Regulus cristatus V., 1807, for R. satrapa Licht., 1823.—Chelidon Forst., 1817, for Hirundo L. et auct. (rustica, etc.).—Hirundo L., 1758, for Chelidon Boie, 1822.—Clivicola sive Riparia Forst., 1817, for Cotile Boie, 1822.—Calcarius Bechst., 1803, for the birds now commonly called Centrophanes, and Plectrophenax, g. n., for “Plectrophanes” nivalis.—Otocoris Bp., 1839, for Eremophila, preocc. in botany, and by Eremophilus in ichthyology.—Archibuteo norvegicus Gunnerus, 1767, for A. lagopus Gm. (but there is A. lagopus Brünn, 1764).—Morinella M. & W., 1810, for Strepsilas Ill., 1811.—Vanellus capella Schäff., 1789, for V. cristatus M. & W., 1803.—Ægialitis alexandrinus, L., 1758, for Æ. cantianus Lath., 1790.—Gallinago cælestis Freuzel, 1801, for G. media Leach, 1816.—Totanus nebularius Gunnerus, 1767, for the Greenshank.—Pavoncella Leach, 1816, for Machetes Cuv., 1817.—Tadorna dameatica Hasselq., 1762, for T. cornuta Gm., 1788.—Harelda hyemalis L., 1758, for H. glacialis L., 1766.—Eniconetta Gray, 1840, for Polysticta Eyt., 1836, preocc. by Polysticte Smith, 1835, and for “Stellaria”! Bp., 1838, preocc. in botany.—Gavia Boie, 1822, for Pagophila Kaup, 1829, and the species G. alba (Gunn., 1767, for P. eburnea) Phipps, 1774.—(Larus hyperboreus Gunnerus, 1767, for L. glaucus Brünn, 1764.)—Hydrochelidon nigra (L., 1758, p. 137) for H. lariformis (Ibid., p. 153).—The short and long-tailed Jägers to be respectively Stercorarius parasiticus (L., 1758, p. 136), and S. longicaudatus (V., 1819).—Urinator Cuv., 1799, for Colymbus auct., nec Briss., 1760; U. immer (Brünn, 1764, p. 38) instead of U. torquatus (id., ibid., p. 41) and U. lumme Brünn, 1764, for C. septentrionalis L., 1766.—E. C.
Ingersoll’s Birds’-Nesting.[[85]]—This little book is intended for a guide to the beginner, and as such it will no doubt be of service. The book may be summarized as a readable account of the various modes of collecting birds’ eggs and nests. There are, however, a few points which we regard with suspicion, as the contrivances for descending cliffs; such things in careless hands would become instruments of self-destruction. A long account of the various paraphernalia for blowing and marking eggs is given. To the novice such things may be amusing, but are sure sources of disaster. A keen eye, accuracy of hand and a mind to govern, not patent scissors and forceps, are the requisites for blowing eggs.
The list of unknown nests, which does not claim to be free from faults of omission, contains faults of admission, though these are not numerous. Finally, we would heartily indorse all advice for absolute identification of eggs and the avoidance of gummed labels.—J. A. J.
General Notes.
Note on Mimus polyglottus.—In the summer of 1879 I found on the Platte River, about a mile west of Fort Fetterman, Wyoming, in Lat. 42° 23′ 35″ N. and Long. 105° 21′ 4″ W., a pair of Mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottus) breeding; the nest was placed in a low cottonwood, very near the river bank. In the following year these birds, undoubtedly the same pair, returned and reared a brood in identically the same place. This time I secured the male bird; and the specimen is now in my private collection.
In the “Birds of the Colorado Valley” Dr. Coues tells us, when referring to the limits of Mimus, that “the northermost records generally quoted fix the limit in Massachusetts; but Dr. Brewer speaks of a single individual seen near Calais, Me., by Mr. George A. Boardman. Another record from an extreme point, given by Dr. P. R. Hoy, is above quoted; the extension of the bird to Wisconsin, as there indicated, has been commonly overlooked. Other States in which the bird is known to have occurred are New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and Kansas. The parallel of 40° N. has been named as its usual or normal limit.”
In view of these facts, and what I have learned from other ornithologists, it seems to me that this case is entitled to record, as another interesting instance, extending the limits of this bird.—R. W. Shufeldt. Washington, D. C.
The Nest of the House Wren.—Some writer speaks of the well known habit of the House Wren of filling up any cavity within which it builds its nest with sticks and rubbish, as a “survival” of an old habit for which there would seem to be no present use. I think I have seen this statement in some of the writings of Dr. Elliott Coues, though I cannot refer to the book or page. Possibly it may have been stated by some one else. But it is a generally recognized fact that if a box holds half a peck the little birds will fill it up full! It seems to me, however, that while this may be really a “survival,” it is still a most useful habit. When a hole or space is so filled the nest proper is generally built on the side of the mass of rubbish opposite to the entrance and as far as possible from it. Manifestly there is a clear purpose in this—viz: that of protection from any enemy seeking an entrance. I have observed many nests, in large cigar boxes, and in the majority find this state of things to exist. The interior space will be filled with sticks, leaving a little passage way over the top, through which the bird can reach the nest on the back side of the rubbish. It seems to me that this is clearly a defensive habit, necessary at this time. When they build a nest in the skull of a horse or ox, it will be found that they follow the same rule, and that it will be very difficult to get at the nests.