Page:Condor11(6).djvu/31

 Nov., 1909 EDITORIAL NOTES AND NEWS 209 THE CONDOll, An Illustrated lqagazlne of Western Ornithologr Publisht Bi-Monthly by the Cooper Ornitholn$i- 1 Club of Californi JOSEPH GRINNELL. Editor. - Berkeley. C,I. J, EI]GENE LAW. Business M,nager. Hollywood. Cal. W. LEE CHAMBEKS. Bualnesa Manager. Sant, Monic,, Cal. WILLIAM L. FINLEY } ROBERT B. ROCKWELL Assocli. re Editors Heftyweed, Califernia: Publisht Nov. 20, 1606 SUISSClklFTION RATES ne Dollar and Fifty Cents per Year in the United States, b{exico, and U. S. Colonies, payable iu advance. Thirty Cent, the Mngle copy. One Dollar and Seventy-five Cents per Year it] all other countrtes in the hiteraational Postal U zliOll. Claim, for missing or intperfcct numbers should be made within thirty days of dae ol issue. Sub,e, ription, and Exchanges should be sent to the Mnuscrlpt, for publication. and Books and Pper, Advertl,ing Rate, on application. EDITORIAL NOTES AND NEWS Next thing in value to precise locality in the record of the occurrence of an arereal, is the statement of the exact date of the observation. A perusal of some recent bird lists shows evi- dence of carelessness or laziness on the part of the respective authors not consistent with the scientific tone otherwise asstuned. We regret the opportunity to point to a particularly viru- lent case in the present issue of this magazine, where a rare bird is recorded as secured in "December, 1908." The record would have been of decidedly more use, and would have imprest the reader as having been better con- sidered by the author, if the day of the month had been included. It may now be announced authoritatively that the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology of the University of California has adopted a commend- ably broad policy as regards the use of its research collections. Material of any sort-- birds, mammals, reptiles--will be loaned to any responsible investigator anywhere, provid- ing, of course, that there be no conflict in in- terests; that is, if a certain group has already been selected by someone for study, it is not to be expected that the material in question be called in for transference to the later appli- cant. But the possibility of such trouble is remote. The feature to be emphasized is that the new Museum is not a cold-storage concern, but that it proposes to render its collections of widest possible use. No restrictions are im- posed, save that the borrower is expected to pay transportation charges, and to exercise reasonable care in the proper preservation of the specimens while in his keeping. The National Museum, as well as certain others of the foremost eastern institutions, has consist- ently pursued this generous policy, certainly without injuring either their standing or, to any nmterial extent, their collections. We are very glad indeed to receive direct information to the effect that there is to be a new edition of Ridgway's "Nomenclature of Colors" and this right soon. Attention is called to the letter publisht beyond under "Correspondence" in which Mr. Ridgway an- nounces the scope of the work. To the systematic student of almost any group of animals, such a manual is of inestimable value; and we will all have Mr. Ridgway to thank for providing that which we have begun to need so pressingly. Mr. Malcohn P. Anderson has again gone to the Orient to collect mammals for the British Museum. He is accompanied by an assistant and is now on his way into Central and Western China. His work will nltimately take him into Tibet. Mr. }larry S. Swarth returned home on October 8 from an absence of over six months' duration occupied in exploring the islands of Alaska between Juneau and Dixon Entrance. His collections of birds and mammals were obtained for the California Museum of Verte- brate Zoology, in which institution Mr. Swarth is Assistant Curator. This material will be workt up by him during the winter, and will form the basis of a special report on the ani- mals of southeastern Alaska. We wish to forcibly remind subscribers to this magazine that, under the new postaft regu- lations, we are compelled to stop sending out copies as soon as subscriptions have become delinquent. Therefore, if it is wisht to avoid any break in the receipt of THE CONDOR, clues should be paid up promptly. PUBLICATIONS REVIEWED BIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN ALASKA AND YUKON TERRITORY. By WILl'RED H. .OsGooD. (North American Fauna No. 30, Washington, October, 1909, pp. 1-96, 2figs., plates I-V. ) The three separate reports comprising the paper deal with neighboring localities on the upper Yukon River, one in Alaska, the other two in Yukon Territory, Canada. Careflly detailed accounts are given of the physiography and flora of the various regions, while the bulk of the paper is devoted to annotated lists of the mammals and birds met with during the sum- mers o[ 1903 and 1904. The greatest interest attaches to the accounts of the "big game" of the region, their habits, manner of occurrence, etc., being given in the greatest detail; in fact, more at. tenion is paid to this portion of