Page:Condor9(4).djvu/19

 July, 7907 COMMUNICATIONS Baird's Sparrow. Regarding these birds as in- dividuals, he had not; but regarded collectively as a species, he had a clear right. The pro- prietor of the bird as a species was Audubon. He discovered certain sparrows and formed therefrom the concept of a new species, which he presented to the world. It is his as truly as a certain invention is Edison's or a certain proposition in geometry is Euclid's. Audubon delegated, or dedicated, this proprietary right to the species as a scientific concept, to Baird. Henceforth it became the species whose publi- cation was indissolubly connected with the name and honor of Spencer F. Baird. It, the species, became ]aird's 3Sarrow, in much the same sense that our national capitol is Wash- ington's city. Baird's Sparrow as a species enjoys such and such a distribution. Baird's Sparrow occurs in I)akota--that is to say, the species named in honor of Baird is exemplified in that state. I have no thought of any individual or set of in- dividuals when I make that statement. I vio- late no principles of grammar, nor do I shock any sense of propriety. It is a correct use. When we come to the individual we must drop the possessive form. The sparrows as creatures of flesh and feathers belong to all of us (that is to say, the State) and a given ex- ample would become Mr. Grinnell's if he got his gun up first. It is as absurd to speak of a Baird's Sparrow as it would be to call a man who hailed from the national capitol a Wash- ington's man. The sparrow is a Baird Spar- row. If he sits on a mullein stalk he is the Baird Sparrow who sits on a mullein stalk. By every analogy, also, it is proper to em- ploy the pronominal form in speaking of the species. The Baird Sparrow is found in meadows. The Washington man is interested in politics--that is, the type, the species, is so interested. Take an example from a different class to show the interchangeability of terms: The telephone is Edison's invention. This (inven- tion) is Edison's telephone. Here the concept or generic idea is prominent. The Edison Telephone is a great invention--the concept idea is still uppermost; but the pronominal form is perfectly suitable. Now turn to an in- dividual instrument: "This is an Edison tele- phone", but never "This is an Edison's tele- phone." To conclude: In vernacular names of birds either the possessive or pronominal form is correct when the name refers to the bird as a species, or when the conceptual idea is promi- nent. Only the pronominal form is allowable when the name refers to an individual, or where the idea of individuality is prominent. Do not these conclusions commend them- selves to readers of THe; CONDOR? And may we not have an end of this see-sawing between East and West by recognizing that both are right when properly discriminated? Respectfully yours, w. LEON DAWSON. Xeatt/e, /tpril , 9o7. NESTING WAYS Editor T}XE CONDOm: Let me, thru your columns, thank most heartily the four or five observers that have given me such royal help in the matter of nest- ing data. Perhaps other generous-hearted members of the Cooper Club will be on the look-out, during the coming season, for data covering the following (and the following only): Mendocino Song Sparrow, Salt Marsh Yellow-throat, N. W. Bewick Wren, Barlow Chickadee, Big Tree Thrush, Pac. Night Hawk, North. Spotted Owl, N. W. Saw-whet Owl, Gray Jay, Vera Cruz Red-wing, Large-billed Sparrow, and Cal. Sage Sparrow. Kind words continue to come in, concerning "Nesting Ways", from perfect strangers. The spirit shown by such persons makes one deeply desirous of making the work as comprehensive and as complete as present knowledge can pos- sibly make it. Since I shall always feel that THE CONDOR has been a strong element in making this manual complete and potentially successful I venture, thru its columns, to give the interested bird public a fore-taste of some of the pictorial promise afforded in the pages of "Nesting Ways": Nesting Sites of Hooded Merganser, Yellow Rail, Wilson Phalarope, Long-billed Curlew, Belted Piping Plover, Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse, Sage Grouse, Turkey Vulture, Prairie Falcon, Saw-whet Owl, Western Horned Owl (in the rocks), Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker, Wright Flycatcher, Canada Jay, Bendire Cross- bill,Leconte Sparrow, Arctic Towhee,Plumbeous Vireo, Alma Thrush, and many of the com- moner birds. Of rare or curious nesting con- ditions portrayed, examples are listed: A three-foot-long nest of the Say Phoebe; beau- tiful nest-sites of the White-winged Junco, showing the fourth and fifth nests known to science; site and nest of the only known in- stance of the breeding of the Lincoln Sparrow in Minnesota; a most beautiful suite illustrat- ing the nesting habits of the Rock Wren; photograph showing an unclescribed nesting habit of the Sage Thrasher; and a most inter- esting series of half-tones illustrating a hitherto unknown nesting location of the Rocky Moun- tain Nuthatch. One of these exhibits the por- traits of both of a pair of birds, the male being in the act of coaxing his mate to enter the nest, at a point but four feet from the photographer. P. B. PABODY. Blue )apids, Iansas; Feb. , 9o 7.