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210 THE CONDOR VoL. XI the report than to any other, the birds and many of the smaller mammals being listed in a somewhat perfunctory manner. While the lists, both of birds and rimre- reals, are long ones, a surprisingly large number of species are included which were not met with by the parties at all, but are put in apparently because they ought to occur in the region covered. The value of such "records" may be fairly questioned-- such asthisof Sciuropterusyukonensis: "This fine flying squirrel doubtless inhabits the re- gion in which we workt;" or this of Muslela americana actuosa.. "Martens can scarcely be absent from the region, but no signs of them were obseryed by our party;" or this of ? t?uteo borealis calurus.' "Altho not positively identifiable at a distance, several of the hawks seen by us on the lower Pelly were apparently redtails"--to quote a few of the many. Surely it is not necessary to formally incorporate a species in a faunal list in order to say that it was not met with--that might fairly be taken for granted. Under ?lquila chrysaetos, as occurring in the Ogilvie Range, Yukon Territory, we find the' statement that "young lambs of the mountain sheep were abundant and these birds doubtless secured one now and then;" which would appear to be a gratuitous slander, on these par- ticular birds at any rate, for no evidence is produced to support the accusation. It is strange how the association of ideas always brings up the helpless lamb whenever the eagle is mentioned--both in poetry and prose he is supposed to be subsisting largely on such a diet, just as the "chicken hawk" of the pop- ulace is continually on the lookout for poultry. Possibly there is as much!ground for the one supposition as the other. Some of the bird notes are of great interest, such as those on the Western Solitary Sand- piper (page 35), on the Spotted Sandpiper and Northern Shrike (page 36), on the Wandering Tatler (page 86), and many others besides, tho most of the species are dismist with the bare mention of their occurrence. Myadestes town- sendi and Junco hyemalis montanus were. secured for the first time in Alaska, while adults and young of Leucosticte tephrocotis were secured in midsmnmer on Glacier Mountain, Alaska, adding another to the very few locali- ties in which the species has been found breed- ing. In the treatment of the birds the rulings of the A. O. U. Committee have been strictly adhered to in every case. On reading the paper thru it is evident that the author's greatest interest lay with the "big game" and the fur-bearing mammals; and while no one will feel inclined to quarrel with him on that account, for they are most ably and interestingly treated, it seems a pity that ?he smaller fry from such an interesting region should be dismist with such scant notice.-- H. S.S. CORRESPONDENCE Editor TX?E CONDOg: Being under the impression that practically everyone interested in the subject knew tha{ have been engaged, "off and on," for about twenty years, in the preparation of a work to supercede my old "Nomenclature of Colors" (long out of print, and manifestly seriously defective in the inadequate number cfcolors represented, their unscientific arrangement, and the bad method of their reproduction), your note in the last number of THE CONDOR was somewhat of a surprise tome. It seems proper, therefore, that I should formally announce the final completion of the laborious task begun so long ago/ that the work is now in the hands of the firm who is to reproduce the plates, and that the book will be publisht sometime before next spring. The new work has been very carefully planned and executed, and I have every reason to believe will fully meet all the requirements of those who have use for it. There will be about 1350 colors 0ffstead of the 186 of the old work), and these will be reproduced by a method which insures not only a correct copy of the originals but absolute uniformity thruout the entire edition. Altho it will nmnifestly be impossible to nmne all the colors, those which are not named, and also the intermediates, both as to hue and tone, may he easily designated by an exceedingly simple system of symbols, which is practically equivalent to the repre- sentation of more than 5300 colors sufficiently distinct from one another to be readily differen- tiated by the normai eye. The standards of the "Nomenclature of Colors" of 1886 are of course preserved. The book will be the same size as the old one except for thickness which will not be very much greater, since all the text and plates of the old work which do not ?pertain to color are eliminated and the text re-written. Notwithstanding the great expense of its prep- aration and publication and the fact that there are more than seven times as many colors represented, the price will be but little more. Very truly yours, ROBERT RIDGWA li/ashinglon, Z). U.; September 6, 1909 Editor T?E CONDOR: I notice that I have been quoted as taking a stand against the recognition of minute differ- ences in naming races (CONDOR XI, no. 2, pp. 66-67). My intention m said instance (ConDOR XI, no. 1, p. 32) was entirely the opposite. Mr. Linton seemed to be decrying the inability to distinguish ?ninute racial characteristics and I endeavored to show that the adjective "micro- scopic" was perhaps applicable only to th?