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BASIC BIOSTATISTICS
FOR MEDICAL AND
BIOMEDICAL
PRACTITIONERS
BASIC BIOSTATISTICS
FOR MEDICAL AND
BIOMEDICAL
PRACTITIONERS
Second Edition

JULIEN I.E. HOFFMAN

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Julien Hoffman was born and educated in Salisbury (now named Harare) in Southern
Rhodesia (now named Zimbabwe) in 1925. He entered the Faculty of Medicine at
the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, and obtained a
B.Sc. Hons in Anatomy and Physiology in 1945 and a medical degree (M.B., B.Ch.)
in 1949. After working for almost 3 years at the Central Middlesex Hospital in London,
England as a house officer and registrar in Medicine he returned to Johannesburg as a
senior registrar in the Department of Medicine for 18 months, and then returned to
England to work for the Medical Research Council. In 1957 he went to Boston
Children’s Hospital to study congenital heart disease, and this was followed by 15 months
as a Fellow in the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of California in San
Francisco.
In 1962 he joined the faculty at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York
City as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine, and in 1966 returned to
the University of California in San Francisco as Associate Professor of Pediatrics and
member of the Cardiovascular Research Institute. He was a clinical pediatric cardiologist,
taking care of children with heart disease, but spent about 50% time running a research
laboratory to study the pathophysiology of the coronary circulation.
His interest in statistics began while taking his Science degree. After going to England
he took short courses in Biostatistics from Bradford Hill and his colleagues. On returning
to South Africa, as the only department member to know anything about statistics, he was
assigned to perform statistical analyses for other members of the department. This was a
period of learning by trial and error, helped by Dr. J. Kerrich, head of the University’s
Division of Statistics.
When he went to San Francisco as a Fellow, he was assigned to give statistics lectures
to the Fellows and Residents, and when he returned to San Francisco in 1966 he gave an
officially sanctioned course in Biostatistics to research Fellows and Residents. These lec-
tures were given annually for over 30 years. He was a member of the Biostatistics group, a
semiformal group that supervised statistical teaching and consultation. He also was a sta-
tistical consultant to the journal Circulation Research, and was often assigned manu-
scripts by other journals, mostly from the American Heart Association, to check on
the statistical procedures used.

xiii
BASIC BIOSTATISTICS
FOR MEDICAL AND
BIOMEDICAL
PRACTITIONERS
PREFACE

In my 40-year experience of helping medical research workers to analyze their studies,

certain problems arose frequently. Many investigators need to compare two Poisson
distributions, yet some introductory books on Biostatistics give little attention to the
Poisson distribution, even though it answers a frequent question about how often an
uncommon event (such as a rare form of cancer) occurs. Few people can navigate the
minefield of multiple comparisons, involved when several different groups are compared,
often done incorrectly by performing multiple t-tests, yet most elementary texts do not
deal with this problem adequately. Problems of repeated measures analysis in which sev-
eral measurements are made in each member of the group and thus are not independent
occur frequently in medical research but are not often discussed. Prediction and tolerance
tests are often needed to set ranges of normal values so that a single measurement can be
assessed as normal or abnormal (such as a single fasting blood glucose concentration).
Because most basic books do not discuss this problem, most people incorrectly set
confidence limits that should apply only to mean values. An incentive for this book
was the lack of books in introductory Biostatistics that could be understood relatively
easily, but nevertheless were advanced enough that most readers would not need to con-
sult several additional books or hunt through unfamiliar journals for appropriate tests.
The book is intended to help physicians and biologists who had a short course on
Statistics several years ago but have forgotten all but a few of the terms and concepts
and have not used their knowledge of statistics for reading the literature critically or
for designing experiments. Most of them have neither time nor interest in taking formal
courses in Statistics. The general aim is to extend their knowledge of statistics, to indicate
when various tests are applicable, what their requirements are, and what can happen
when they are used inappropriately.
This book has four components.
1. It covers the standard statistical approaches for making descriptions and infer-
ences—for example, mean and standard deviation, confidence limits, hypothesis
testing, t-tests, chi-square tests, binomial, Poisson and normal distributions, anal-
ysis of variance, linear regression and correlation, logistic regression, and survival
analysis—to help readers understand what hypotheses are being tested, how the
tests are constructed, how to look for and avoid using inappropriate tests, and
how to interpret the results. Examples of injudicious use of these tests are given.
Although some basic formulas are presented, these are not essential for understand-
ing what the tests do and how they should be interpreted. However, following
simple algebraic equations leads to better understanding of the technique. If you

xv
xvi Preface

can remember that (a
b)2 ¼ a2
2ab + b2 you will be able to follow almost all the
formulas provided.
2. Some chapters include a section on advanced methods that should be ignored on a
first reading but provide information when needed, and others have an appendix
where some simple algebraic proofs are given. As this is not intended to be a math-
ematically rigorous book most mathematical proofs are omitted, but a few are impor-
tant teaching tools in their own right and should be studied. However, knowledge of
mathematics (and differential calculus in particular) beyond elementary algebra is not
required to use the material provided in this book.
3. Scattered throughout the chapters are variations on tests that are often needed but
not frequently found in basic texts. These sections are often labeled “Alternative
Methods,” and they should be read and understood because they often provide
simpler and more effective ways of approaching statistical inference. These
include:
a. Robust statistics for dealing with grossly abnormal distributions, both univariate
and bivariate.
b. Equivalence or noninferiority testing, to determine if a new drug or vaccine is
equivalent to or not inferior to those in standard use.
c. Finding the break point between two regression lines. For example, if the lactate:
pyruvate ratio remains unchanged when systemic oxygen delivery is reduced
below normal until some critical point is reached when the ratio starts to rise,
how do we determine the critical oxygen delivery value?
d. Competing risks analysis used when following the survival of a group of patients
after some treatment, say replacement of the mitral valve, and allowing for deaths
from noncardiac causes.
e. Tolerance and prediction testing to determine if a single new measurement is
compatible with a normative group.
f. Cross-over tests, in which for a group of subjects each person receives two treat-
ments, thus acting as his or her own control.
g. Use of weighted kappa statistics for evaluating how much two observers agree on a
diagnosis.
h. Bowker’s test for evaluating more than two sets of paired data.
4. Some chapters describe more complex inferences and their associated tests. The aver-
age reader will not be able to use these tests without consulting a statistician but does
need to know that these techniques exist and, if even vaguely, what to look for and
how to interpret the results of these tests when they appear in publications. These
subjects include:
a. Poisson regression (Chapter 34), in which a predicted count, for example, the
number of carious teeth, is determined by how many subjects have 0, 1, 2, and
so on carious teeth.
 Preface xvii

b. Resampling methods (Chapter 37), in which computer-intensive calculations

allow the determination of the distributions and confidence limits for mean,
median, standard deviations, correlation coefficients, and many other parameters
without needing to assume a particular distribution.
c. The negative binomial distribution (Chapter 19) that allows investigation of dis-
tributions that are not random but in which the data are aggregated.
d. Metaanalysis (Chapter 36), in which the results of several small studies are aggre-
gated to provide a larger sample, for example, combining several small studies of
the effects of beta-adrenergic blockers on the incidence of a second myocardial
infarction, is often used. The pitfalls of doing such an analysis are seldom made
clear in basic statistics texts.
e. Every reader should be aware of multiple and nonlinear regression techniques
(Chapter 30) because they may be important in planning experiments. They
are also used frequently in publications, but usually without mentioning their
drawbacks.
With the availability of personal computers and statistical software, it is no longer nec-
essary to detail computations that should be done by computer programs that save time
and prevent arithmetic errors. There are many simple free online programs that calculate
most of the commonly used statistical descriptions as well as commonly used inferential
tests along with their associated graphics, and hyperlinks are provided for these. More
complex tests require commercial programs.
Problems are given in appropriate chapters. They are placed after a procedure is
described so that the reader can immediately practice what has been studied to make sure
that the message is understood. Although the problems are simple and could be done by
hand, it is better to use one of the recommended online calculators. This frees up time for
the reader to consider what the results mean.
The simpler arithmetic techniques, however, are still described in this book because
they lead to better understanding of statistical methods and show the reader where various
components of the calculation come from, and how the components are used and inter-
preted. In place of tedious instructions for doing the more complex arithmetic proce-
dures there is a greater concentration on the prerequisites for doing each test and for
interpreting the results. It is easier than ever for the student to think about what the sta-
tistical tests are doing and how they contribute to solving the problem. On the other
hand, we need to resist the temptation to give a cookbook approach to solving problems
without giving some understanding of their bases, even though this may involve some
elementary algebra. As Good and Hardin (2009) wrote: “Don’t be too quick to turn
on the computer. Bypassing the brain to compute by reflex is a sure recipe for disaster.”
Each chapter has a bibliography for those who want to learn more about Statistics.
Some references are to books that contain tables or formulas that may occasionally be
needed. Some references give the origins of the data sets discussed. Some discuss tests
xviii Preface

not described in detail in this book. Finally, some are basically nonmathematical discus-
sions of the subject; reading these will expand your knowledge.
Many people devise and carry out their own experiments, and for them a good
knowledge of statistics is essential. There are many statistical consultants, but not enough
of them to advise every investigator who is designing an experiment. An investigator
should be able to develop efficient experiments in most fields and should reserve consul-
tation only for the more complex of these. But more numerous and important are those
who do not intend to do their own research. Even if the person is not a research worker,
he or she is still responsible for assessing the merit of the articles that they are reading. It is
no longer good enough for such a reader to know technical information only about the
drugs used, the techniques for measuring pressure and flow, or to understand the phys-
iologic and biochemical changes that take place in the disease in question. It is as essential
for the reader to learn to read critically and to know how to evaluate the statistical tests
used. Who has not been impressed by the argument that because Fisher’s exact test
showed a probability of 0.003, the two groups were different, or that because the
probability was 0.08 the two groups were not different? Who has heard of Fisher’s exact
test? Of McNemar’s test? Of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov two-group test? Of Poisson
regression? And if the reader has not heard of them, how can he or she know if they
should have been used, or have been used and interpreted correctly? With the pace at
which new knowledge is appearing and being incorporated into medical practice, every-
one engaged in medical research or practice needs to be well grounded in Statistics.
Statistical thinking is not an addendum to the scientific method but is an
integral component of it.
What can you expect to achieve after studying this book?
1. How to take account of variation in assessing the importance of measured values or
the difference between these values in two or more groups.
2. A better understanding of the role of chance in producing unexpected results, and
how to make decisions about what the next steps should be.
3. An appreciation of Bayes’ theorem, that is, how to improve estimates of probability
by adding in potential explanatory variables, and the importance of the population
prevalence in making clinical predictions.
4. An ability to perform simple statistical tests (e.g., t-tests, chi-square, linear regression
and correlation, McNemar’s test, simple analysis of variance, calculate odds ratios and
their confidence limits, and calculate simple survival tables), as well as understanding
their limitations.
5. Realization that the usual attitude that P< .05 has ruled out the null hypothesis is
open to question and should not be used by itself to reach a final conclusion.
6. Appreciate that there are many statistical techniques that can be used to address spe-
cific problems, such as metaanalysis, bioassay methods, nonlinear and multiple regres-
sion, negative binomial distributions, Poisson regression, and time series analysis.
 Preface xix

It is unlikely that after studying this book you will be able to perform these analyses on
your own, but you should know that such methods exist and that a statistical consul-
tant can help you to choose the right analytic method.
If an investigator is not well acquainted with principles of experimental design, for exam-
ple, random selection, sample size, the expenditure of time and money will be wasted.
This is unethical and is even more important in clinical research because subjects may be
submitted to an unreliable experiment.
Statistical procedures are technologies to help investigators interpret their data and are
not ends in themselves. Like most technologies, Statistics is a good servant but a bad mas-
ter. Francis Galton wrote in 1889: “Some people hate the very name of statistics, but I
find them full of beauty and interest. Whenever they are not brutalized but delicately
handled by the higher methods, and are warily interpreted, their power of dealing with
complicated phenomena is extraordinary (Galton, 1889).”

REFERENCES
Galton, F.I., 1889. Natural Inheritance. Macmillan and Company, London, p. 62.
Good, P.I., Hardin, J.W., 2009. Common Errors in Statistics (and How to Avoid Them). John Wiley & Sons,
Hoboken, NJ, p. 274.
BASIC BIOSTATISTICS
FOR MEDICAL AND
BIOMEDICAL
PRACTITIONERS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many people have helped me eradicate errors and clumsy phrasing. I owe a debt of
gratitude to Joseph P. Archie, Jr., Stanton Glantz, Gus Vlahakes, Calvin Zippin and
particularly to Raul Domenech. My special thanks to my wife for help with editing.

xxi
BASIC BIOSTATISTICS
FOR MEDICAL AND
BIOMEDICAL
PRACTITIONERS
BASIC BIOSTATISTICS
FOR MEDICAL AND
BIOMEDICAL
PRACTITIONERS
CHAPTER 1

Basic Concepts
INTRODUCTION
Statistics is a crucial part of scientific method for testing theories derived from empirical
studies. In most scientific studies the investigator starts with an idea, examines the
literature to determine what is and is not known about the subject, formulates a hypoth-
esis, decides what and how measurements should be made, collects and analyzes the
results, and draws conclusions from them. Excellent introductions to these processes
are provided by Moses (1985), Altman (1992), Hulley et al. (2007), and Easterling (2015).
One of the main aims of scientific study is to elucidate causal relationships between a
stimulus and a response: if A, then B. Because responses to a given stimulus usually vary,
we need to deal with variation and the associated uncertainty. In adult males in the
United States, there is some typical number that characterizes weight, for example,

75 kg, but there is variation around that typical value. Although fasting normal blood
glucose is
100 mg/dL, not every normal person will have this blood sugar concentra-
tion. If we measure the length of 2-in. long 20-gauge needles with great accuracy, there
will be variation in length from needle to needle. It is an essential role of statistical thought
to deal with the uncertainty caused by variability. One of the major ways to assess uncer-
tainty is by doing an appropriate statistical test, but the test is merely the instrument that
produces a result that needs to be interpreted. Performing a statistical test without the
correct interpretation may lead to incorrect conclusions.

Populations and samples

It is essential to distinguish between measurements in an entire group with a given char-
acteristic, known as a population, and those in a subset known as a sample drawn from the
larger population. A population consists of all the possible measurements for a given
variable; for example, heights of all 10-year-old children in Iowa, or all fasting blood
glucose measurements in children aged 5–7 years of age. Because it may be impossible
or impractical to make all the measurements in a population, we take a sample of the
population, make the measurements, and then make certain inferences about the popu-
lation from which the sample came. Almost all population symbols are Greek letters, and
almost all sample symbols are in our usual Roman alphabet. For example, the population
mean is symbolized by μ whereas the sample mean is symbolized by X, and the slope
of a straight line (e.g., relating height to blood pressure in a population of children) is
symbolized by β, but in a sample from that population is symbolized by b.

Basic Biostatistics for Medical and Biomedical Practitioners © 2019 Elsevier Inc.
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-817084-7.00001-2 All rights reserved. 3
4 Basic Biostatistics for Medical and Biomedical Practitioners

The effects of variability

How does variability interfere with drawing valid conclusions from the data obtained in a
study? In the year 2000 adult Dutch males were 4.9 cm taller than their US counterparts
(Komlos and Lauderdale, 2007). Several questions can be asked about this result. First,
how the measurements were made and with what accuracy; this is not a statistical ques-
tion, but one that requires knowledge of the field of study; second, how likely is that
difference in height in the samples to be a true measure of the height differences?
One way to answer this question would be to measure the whole population. All the
adult males in the Netherlands constitute one population, and all adult males in
the United States form another population. Heights could be measured in the whole
population of adult males in both countries, but this would be an enormous undertaking
in time, resources, and money. It is much easier to select a sample of adult males from each
country and use the resultant measurements to make inferences about national heights.
We need a precise definition of the population being studied. For example, national
heights depend on the year of measurement. In 1935 adult males in the Netherlands
and the United States had equal average heights that were both less than those measured
in the year 2000. Population 1935 and Population 2000 are two different populations.
If the measurements were made in the whole population, the results would be unam-
biguous, and no statistical inference is needed: in year 2000 adult males in the Netherlands
were on average 4.9 cm taller than their US counterparts. But if the measurements are
actually made in a sample from each country, another question arises. How well does
the difference in the averages of the two samples reflect the true difference in the averages
of the two populations? Is it possible that the sample from the Netherlands contained a
disproportionate number of tall subjects, and that the two population average heights
differ by less than 4.9 cm? Indeed, it is possible, either because of bias in selecting subjects
or even at random. The term random means “governed by chance,” so that any member
of the population has an equal chance of being included in the sample; if the sample taken
was only of professional basketball players, then their heights do not represent the heights
in the general population. Issues of randomization and selection bias are dealt with in
detail in Chapter 38. What statistical analysis can do is to allow us to infer from the sam-
ples to the population, and to indicate, based on our samples, the likely values for the
population averages.
The same considerations apply to experiments. In a population of people with
diabetes mellitus, fasting blood glucose concentrations might range from 110 to
275 mg/dL. If we select two samples of 10 patients each from this population, almost cer-
tainly one group will have some concentrations higher or lower than any concentrations
in the other group, and the average concentrations in the two groups are unlikely to be
the same. If the groups had been given different medications that in reality had no effect
on fasting blood glucose concentration, we might conclude incorrectly that the group
with the lower mean blood glucose concentration had been given an active glucose-
 Basic Concepts 5

lowering medication. It is to guard against this type of error (and many other types) that
we need to think about the role of variability in statistical inference.

Variables and parameters

A measurement with different values in different people, times, or things is a variable. Vari-
ables such as weight, height, age, or blood pressure are measured in appropriate units.
Others, such as eye color, gender, or presence or absence of illness, are attributes, and
we count the number of items possessing each attribute. Sometimes we deal with one var-
iable at a time, for example, weight gain of groups of young rats on different diets; these lead
to univariate statistical descriptions and inferences. At other times, we relate one variable to
another, such as age and height in growing children, and then we use bivariate statistics.
Finally, many different variables might be involved (multivariate statistics).
Measured variables have several components. If we measure the weights of different
people, there will be differences due to individual genetic and environmental (nutri-
tional) influences. These differences are due to the biological processes that control
weight and may be the signals that we are examining. On the other hand, if we measured
the weight of one particular person several times on a very sensitive scale, we might get
different values. The person’s true weight is not changing over a few seconds, but there is
variability of the measurement process itself. This source of variability is sometimes
known as noise, and we try to eradicate or minimize it. Finally, the signal might not rep-
resent the true value. For example, if each person wore heavy shoes, their weights would
all be greater than they should be. This represents a consistent bias, and if possible such
biases should be detected and eliminated. These ideas produce a model:
Measured value ¼ True value + Bias + Noise
# # # #
We get this We want this We do not want these
The more we can reduce the second and third sources of error (bias and noise), the closer
will be the measured and true values. Statistics is therefore a method for separating the
signal from the noise in which it is embedded. Statistical tests help to allow for noise but
do not necessarily eliminate bias.
“Noise” includes not only measurement error but also legitimate variation. In an
example of adult male weights in two regions, the true value sought is the average in each
region. Any one person can be above or below that average for reasons of genetics or
nutrition, so that the model is slightly different. It is:
Measured weight in subject A ¼ Average regional weight  individual difference
between the weight of subject A and the average. This individual difference from the
average is known as “error,” often symbolized by ε. This is a form of noise that is bio-
logical, not due to measurement error, but it plays the same role in making it difficult to
determine the true value of the desired signal.
6 Basic Biostatistics for Medical and Biomedical Practitioners

The term “parameter” has different meanings in different fields of study. In Statistics, it
is usually used to indicate the numerical characteristic of a population, such as the mean μ
(average), slope of a relationship β, proportion of positive results π, and so on.

BASIC USES OF STATISTICS

Description
The first use is descriptive: how many people survived therapy A? What was the average
length of the femur at any given age in children with growth hormone deficiency with
and without treatment? How close is the relation of height to blood pressure? There are
many ways of quantifying these descriptions, most of them relatively simple. The results
obtained are termed point estimates.
These descriptions concern a specific set of observations and are unlikely to be iden-
tical for another similar set of data. What is important is how much other similar sets of
data from the same population might vary from each other. One way of determining
this would be to draw many samples from the population and determine how their
averages vary, but there is a simpler way to obtain the same answer. Elementary statis-
tical theory provides limits within which 99%, 95%, 90% (or any other percentage
desired) of the averages of all future sets of similar data will fall. Thus the sample average
(or mean) height of 97 children of a particular age may be 99 cm and the standard devi-
ation (a measure of variability) may be 3.05 cm. This point estimate of the mean and the
observed standard deviation then are used to predict that 95% of all similar sized groups
of children of that age will have mean heights varying between 98.4 and 99.6 cm; these
are referred to as 95% confidence limits or intervals, discussed in detail in Chapter 7.
(A confidence interval is a range of values based on the sample observations that allows
us to predict with a given probability (usually 95%) where the true characteristic value
of the population is likely to occur. The interval is determined by using information
from the size of the sample—a small sample is less reliable than a large one and gives
a bigger interval—and the variability of the sample data as indicated by the standard
deviation.) Therefore an estimate of mean height in a single sample (the point estimate)
together with the estimate of variability allows prediction of the limits within which the
means of other samples of the same size are likely to lie, and therefore within what range
the population mean is likely to be. Setting these confidence limits is an essential exten-
sion of descriptive analysis. How to estimate the population mean from the sample
mean will be discussed in later chapters.
Confidence limits convey the degree of uncertainty that exists. Given the data, there
is a 95% probability of being right in setting the limits for that mean value in other samples
from the same population, but that goes along with a 5% chance of being wrong. Limits
may be widened to 99%, or 99.5%, or 99.9999%, but certainty is never achieved. Could
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Peucæa ruficeps eremœca.—In Gillespie County, Texas, which

adjoins Kendall Co. on the north, where Mr. Nathan C. Brown’s
specimens were taken, I collected on April 24, 1878, a pair of
Sparrows which Mr. J. A. Allen identified as Peucæa ruficeps. From
the fact that Mr. Brown collected no typical ruficeps it is more than
likely that my specimens were var. eremæca.
My specimens were sent to the late Greene Smith, Esq., Peterboro,
New York, and are Nos. 961 and 962 in his Museum.—G. H.
Ragsdale, Gainesville, Texas.
 The Canada Jay at Portland, Maine.—A specimen of the Canada
Jay (Perisoreus canadensis) was killed in Scarborough on October
15, 1880, by Mr. Luther Redlon, of Portland, and delivered into my
hands a few hours after its capture. The specimen is worth noting
from its being the first that I have ever known to occur in the vicinity
of Portland, although its kind is said by Professor Verrill (Proc. Ess.
Inst., Vol. III, p. 151) to winter commonly at Norway, Maine, only
forty miles farther north.—Nathan Clifford Brown, Portland,
Maine.

The White-throated Swift Breeding on Belt River, Montana.

—About the middle of last July, while hunting on Belt River, I
happened to approach the edge of the high limestone cliffs which rise
above the stream for several miles after leaving the mountains.
Watching the Violet-green and Crescent Swallows, which were
abundant, for some time, I was about to leave, when I noticed a Swift
evidently flying directly towards me. It passed only a few yards
overhead, displaying at the same time the extensive white throat-
patch of Cypselus saxatilis. Further search revealed some half a
dozen altogether. A small opening in the rock which a bird of this
species was seen to enter and reappear from several times, I
approached, near enough to hear a vigorous twittering at each visit of
the parent bird, from which I presume the young were well
advanced. This is the only species of Swift I have yet seen in the
Territory.—R. S. Williams, Gold Run, M. T.

Capture of the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaëtus canadensis)

near Columbus, O.—December 13, 1881, I received a male specimen
of the Golden Eagle, killed five miles west of the city.
This bird, according to information which I have gathered from
various sources, had caused the farmers in the neighborhood in
which it was killed a great amount of annoyance. A reward was
offered, and published in our city papers, for the capture of a “Bald
Eagle” (as they called it), which had killed several young calves. By
further inquiry I ascertained that the bird was seen eating at two of
the calves, but was not seen in the act of killing them.—Oliver
Davie, Columbus, O.
 The Little Blue Heron in Maine.—During the summer of 1881 a
small white Heron took up his abode in a dense swamp bordering the
eastern side of Scarborough Marsh. He foraged regularly about the
neighboring ponds and rivers, and before autumn had been seen and
unsuccessfully shot at by many covetous gunners. In September,
however, he fell captive to the wiles of Mr. Winslow Pilsbury, and
now reposes in the cabinet of Mr. Chas. H. Chandler, of Cambridge,
Mass. Upon writing Mr. Chandler, to ascertain the species
represented by his specimen, I learned that Mr. Henry A. Purdie[58]
had seen the bird and pronounced it the Little Blue Heron (Florida
cærulea). No previous instance of its occurrence in Maine is on
record.—Nathan Clifford Brown, Portland, Maine.

Baird’s Sandpiper on Long Island, N. Y.—A Correction.—In the

Bulletin for January, 1882, p. 60, it is stated that the record of a
specimen of this species from Long Island is apparently its first from
any point south of New England. A note to the editors from Dr. E. A.
Mearns calls attention to a previous record of the species for Long
Island in an article by Newbold T. Lawrence, entitled “Notes on
Several Rare Birds Taken on Long Island, N. Y.,” published in
“Forest and Stream,” Vol. X, No. 13, p. 235, May 2, 1878, as follows:
—
“Tringa bairdii, Baird’s Sandpiper.—Four specimens taken at
Rockaway. The first two in September, 1872, shot on a small piece of
meadow, out of a flock of Tringa minutilla. The third was taken
August 26, 1873, while snipe shooting on a low strip of sand that
separates the ocean and bay. My attention was first called to it by
hearing a peculiar long-drawn whistle, and soon after I perceived a
small snipe flying very high. The next moment it darted down and
settled among my decoys, where I secured it. The fourth was taken in
the same locality as the first two, September 20, 1874. Three of the
above specimens were males.”—Edd.

Pelidna subarquata on the Maine Coast.—I have to thank Mr.

C. H. Chandler of Cambridge, for allowing me to view a mounted
specimen of the Curlew Sandpiper, which he shot on the beach at
Pine Point, Scarborough, Cumberland Co., on September 15, 1881.
The plumage is immature—probably a bird of the year. It was in
company with Peeps, but its larger size and lighter coloration were
noticed, hence this visit to American shores is registered. The species
is new to the Maine fauna, at least this is the first instance of actual
capture within the limits of that State.[59]—H. A. Purdie, Newton,
Mass.

The King Rail in New England.—It seems that in making up the

New England record of the King Rail (Rallus elegans)[60] I
overlooked a note on this species, published in “Forest and Stream”
of March 11, 1880. In this note Mr. Jno. H. Sage announces the
capture of a female specimen at Portland, Conn., September 19,
1879.—Nathan Clifford Brown, Portland, Maine.

Purple Gallinule (Ionornis martinica) in Rhode Island.—Mr.

Newton Dexter states that some years ago Mr. P. W. Aldrich showed
him a fine Purple Gallinule just received in the flesh from Westerly,
R. I. Mr. Dexter bought, and now has the bird. He is not able to give
the exact year, but thinks it was in 1857.—Fred. T. Jencks,
Providence, R. I.

Note on the Habits of the Young of Gallinula galeata and

Podilymbus podiceps.—Mr. N. R. Wood, who collected quite a
number of young Grebes and Gallinules this summer at Montezuma
Marsh, near Clyde, N. Y., tells me that the little Gallinules use the
thumb to aid them in moving about. The thumb in the young of this
bird is quite long and sharp, and the nestlings, when unable to walk,
hook it into any yielding substance, and drag themselves along. The
young Grebes are more vigorous than the Gallinules, and progress by
little hops.—Frederic A. Lucas, Rochester, N. Y.

Rhynchops nigra.—An early Record for the Massachusetts

Coast.—Champlain,[61] while cruising along the sandy shores of Cape
Cod on a voyage of exploration in July, 1605, makes mention of the
Black Skimmer, as his narration, p. 87, shows.
 “We saw also a sea-bird with a black beak, the upper part slightly
aquiline, four inches long and in the form of a lancet; namely, the
lower part representing the handle and the upper the blade, which is
thin, sharp on both sides, and shorter by a third than the other;
which circumstance is a matter of astonishment to many persons,
who cannot comprehend how it is possible for this bird to eat with
such a beak. It is of the size of a pigeon, the wings being very long in
proportion to the body, the tail short, as also the legs, which are red;
the feet being small and flat. The plumage on the upper part is gray-
brown, and on the under part pure white. They go always in flocks
along the seashore, like the pigeons with us.”
That this species was found on our shores early in this century is
proved by the older natives of the Cape telling me, since the bird’s
recent occurrence, that “them cutwater or shearwater birds used to
be with us summer times.” Also Mr. Brewster informs me that
Nantucket fishermen assert that Skimmers bred on Muskegat Island
fifty years ago.—H. A. Purdie, Newton, Mass.

Notes on the Habits of the Kittiwake Gull.—Some fishermen

whom I lately employed to get a few Kittiwake Gulls on the winter
fishing grounds off Swampscott, Massachusetts, gave me the
following interesting account of the habits of this species, and the
way in which my specimens were procured.
A number of small schooners sail from Swampscott every winter
morning, and reach the fishing banks, which are some twelve miles
off shore, about daybreak. The men then take to their dories, and
buckets of bait—generally cod-livers or other refuse—are thrown out
to attract the fish to the spot. Of this custom the Kittiwakes—or
“Pinny Owls,” as these men invariably call them—are well aware, and
swarms of them quickly collect around the boats to pick up the
morsels before they sink. They are very tame, and if one of the flock
is shot the others hover over it as Terns will do on similar occasions.
The usual way of taking them, however, is with hook and line, the
bait being allowed to float off on the surface, when it is quickly seized
by one of the greedy horde. In this manner great numbers are
annually taken by the fishermen, who either skin and stew them or
use the flesh for bait. I was assured that a “Pinny Owl” stew is by no
means an unpalatable dish.
 After the morning fishing is at an end the vessels start for their
anchorage in Swampscott harbor, and the fish are dressed on the
way. This gives the Gulls another chance which is not neglected, for
the entire flock follows closely in their wake. When the catch has
been a large one, and the work of cleaning the fish is continued at the
anchorage, they remain about the spot for hours picking up this offal
directly under the sides of the vessels. Here again the poor birds are
often mercilessly slaughtered by city gunners who shoot them for
sport or practice, leaving the dead and wounded to float out to sea
with the ebbing tide. The fishermen admit that their numbers have
greatly diminished of late years, but they are said to be still very
abundant through the winter months.—William Brewster,
Cambridge, Mass.

Sterna forsteri breeding off the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

—An impression seems to prevail among ornithologists that Forster’s
Tern breeds only in the interior of North America. At least I cannot
learn that Dr. Coues’ comparatively recent ruling[62] to that effect has
been publicly corrected, or that it is generally known that the bird
nests on the Atlantic Coast.[63] On this account it may be worth while
to state that during a visit to Cobb’s Island, Va., in July, 1880, I
found Forster’s Terns breeding in moderate numbers on all the
neighboring islands. They nested apart from the other Terns, but
often in company with Laughing Gulls, on the salt marshes or on
marshy islets, where their eggs were almost invariably laid on tide-
rows of drift-weed that fringed the muddy shores. The largest colony
seen in any one place comprised perhaps twenty-five pairs, but it was
more usual to find from six to a dozen mingled with a countless
number of Gulls. I was late for the eggs, but secured a few far
advanced in incubation, besides several downy young and many
adult birds in full nuptial dress.—William Brewster, Cambridge,
Mass.

Note on the Foot of Accipiter fuscus.—On the plantar surfaces

of each foot of the Sharp-shinned Hawk two papillae may be noticed,
which differ from the others, more properly described as pads, in
their greater length and more symmetrical form. These pads are
placed at the second phalangeal joint of the third toe, and at the third
phalangeal joint of the fourth toe, that is, at the bases of the
penultimate phalanges of the third and fourth toes. These papillae
are shown to be modified pads, the same as those at the other two
joints, by the less developed papillae of Circus, Astur, and others.
This transition can readily be traced in the sketches of the feet given
in the systematic works on Hawks, though the special prominence of
the papillae in the Sharp-shinned Hawk does not seem to be
particularly noted. On removing the skin, however, a marked
difference at once comes in view. While all the pads are nearly
obliterated, the papillae still remain as solid cones of connective
tissue (?), having much the same shape and sizes as the entire
papillae. These cones or cores are internally connected with the
superficial fascia of the toes and seem to straddle the flexor tendons
running below.
On noting the structural difference, the cause or function of these
papillae at once becomes a point of interest. Why have these two
pads been modified into long papillae (.12 inch in a dried specimen),
and provided with a solid core? Now the foot of Accipiter is so
constructed that the first toe opposes the second toe, and their claws
move in nearly parallel arcs. This is not the case with the third and
fourth toes, which are longer and not opposable to one another. Thus
the claws can be opposed to nothing except the middle portions of
the toes to which they belong. But when the claw is thus flexed a
small space well adapted for grasping twigs and feathers is formed by
the papillae, the penultimate phalanx and the claw, the point
projecting beyond resembling the feet of certain crustacea and lice.
Hence the function of the papillae would seem to be to aid the third
and fourth claws in grasping small objects, and it is an interesting
point to notice that the foot of Accipiter fuscus is thus drawn in
North American Birds, by Baird, Brewer and Ridgway.
How far the same considerations hold in other species I cannot
say, but as mentioned above, allied forms seem to possess the
character to a less degree.—J. Amory Jeffries, Boston, Mass.

Supplementary Notes on two Texas Birds.—In a recent paper[64]

on a collection of birds made in southwestern Texas, I referred a
series of Hylocichla unalascæ to the restricted form, with the remark
that several specimens closely approached var. auduboni. Upon
reading the article, an esteemed correspondent wrote me that one of
these aberrant examples, which had passed into his hands, appeared
to him to be true auduboni. In this opinion, after a reëxamination of
the specimen, I concur. The bird in question has a wing of 3.82
inches, which, though decidedly under the average of auduboni, is
more than should be allowed unalascæ proper.[65] Here, then, is
another species, besides those previously cited, which is represented
by two distinct varieties in the tract of country explored.
The single specimen of Coturniculus passerinus taken in the same
locality represents the western variety perpallidus, under which, by
an oversight, it was not included.—Nathan Clifford Brown,
Portland, Me.

Addenda to the Preliminary List of Birds ascertained to

occur in the Adirondack Region, Northeastern New York.[66]—
178. Dendrœca striata (Forst.) Baird. Black-poll Warbler.—
In the collection of the late A. Jenings Dayan (of Lyons Falls, N. Y.) is
a female of this species that he killed in the town of Lyonsdale in
Lewis Co., May 23, 1877.
179. Dendrœca pinus (Wilson) Baird. Pine-creeping Warbler.
—Mr. Dayan took a full-plumaged male D. pinus at Lyonsdale, Lewis
Co., May 8, 1877. I have never observed the species within the limits
of the Adirondack Region, and it must be regarded as a rare bird
here.
180. Asio accipitrinus (Pallas) Newton. Short-eared Owl.—I
have seen two specimens of the Short-eared Owl that were taken
within the limits of the Adirondack Region, in Lewis County. They
were both killed east of the Black River Valley—one in the town of
Greig, and the other in Lyonsdale.
181. Nyctiardea grisea nævia (Bodd.) Allen. Night Heron.—I
have seen a Night Heron that was shot at Crown Point (in Essex Co.)
on Lake Champlain. There were two of them together, and both were
killed.
182. Calidris arenaria (Linn.) Illig. Sanderling.—On the 5th of
October, 1881 Mr. O. B. Lockhart killed, from a flock, four
Sanderlings at Lake George, in Warren Co. (Dr. A. K. Fisher.)
 183. Chen hyperboreus (Pallas) Boie. Snow Goose.—Dr. A. K.
Fisher writes me that he saw a flock of one hundred and fifty or two
hundred Snow Geese on Lake George (in Warren County) Nov. 19,
1881. In company with Mr. O. B. Lockhart he rowed out to within a
hundred yards of them, when they were frightened by another boat
and took flight, showing plainly the black tips of their primaries as
they left.
184. Phalacrocorax dilophus (Sw. and Rich.) Nuttall. Double-
crested Cormorant.—Mr. F. H. Knowlton, from Brandon, Vermont,
writes me: “I shot, on September 24, 1879, at St. Regis’ Lake
[Franklin County], two miles from Paul Smith’s, a young female
example of Graculus dilophus. The bird was not wild and was easily
shot from the shore.”
185. Dytes auritus (Linn.) Ridgway. Horned Grebe.—On Little
Tuppers Lake (Hamilton Co.), Oct. 22, 1881. Dr. A. K. Fisher and I
saw about eight Horned Grebes and I killed one of them. While
crossing Raquette Lake, the same day, Dr. Fisher shot another. At
Big Moose Lake (in Hamilton and Herkimer Counties) we saw this
species every day from Oct. 26 to Nov. 8, 1881. Nov. 5 I shot one out
of a flock of nine. They were all in the plain fall dress, so that the size
alone enabled us to distinguish young from old. In all the iris was of
a bright orange red. They are excellent divers and can remain under
water an astonishingly long period.—C. Hart Merriam, M.D.,
Locust Grove, N. Y.

Errata.

In Vol. VII, page 26, line 6, for “An indistinct, dusky” read “A
black.” Same page, foot note, for “οὐκέω” read “οἰκέω.”
Bull. Nutt. Ornith. Club., Vol. VII., No.
3. Plate 7.

Jeffries & Blake, del. The Heliotype

Printing Co. 211 Tremont St. Boston
 BULLETIN
OF THE
NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB.
VOL. VII. July, 1882. No. 3.
 THE COLORS OF FEATHERS.
BY J. AMORY JEFFRIES.

Feathers have been studied from the earliest days of the

microscope, indeed long before the modern microscope came into
existence. Malpighei, Hooke and Leeuwenhoek all wrote on the
subject, and not a little of our knowledge dates from their time. Since
then authors have constantly written on feathers and their colors,
until the papers on the subject may be counted by hundreds.
Accordingly little that is new can be expected from this short article,
nor even a history of the literature of the subject. My only object is to
give an idea, so far as is known, how the colors of feathers are
produced, the literature of the subject being out of the track of most
American ornithologists.
Color may be the result of any one or more of the following causes:
a pigment, interference and diffraction of light in their various
phases, fluorescence, and phosphorescence. Of these causes only
three have been called upon to explain the colors of feathers, the last
two apparently playing no part. The fluorescence noted by Dr.
Krukenberg in solutions of certain feather-pigments probably plays
no part, or at most an insignificant one, in the colors of feathers.
Pigments act by absorbing all rays of light but those which enter into
their color, that is turn them into heat.
Interference acts in several different ways, all of which are based
on the same principle, and so films may be taken as an example. If a
beam of light, xy (figure 1), is allowed to fall on any thin plate, or
film, part of the rays will be reflected in the direction yz, the angles
byx and ayz being equal. The rest of the rays will pass through the
film to the other surface, being slightly refracted in their course.
Here part will be reflected, and being again refracted at the first
surface, will emerge in a line wz′ nearly coincident with yz, the
balance passing out into the air. Now the waves composing the white
light of two beams yz and wz′ will run together and partially
obliterate each other, after the manner of ripples on water.
Accordingly certain waves will be obliterated, and since white light is
due to the blending of waves of the different colors, the light reflected
from the film will be that of the colors not interfered with, the waves
thus obliterated depending upon their length and the thickness of the
film traversed. So as we look at the film from different points the
conditions vary, and with them the resultant color.
Interference may also produce colored light by means of fine
particles diffused through another substance, as milk in water, the
particles in the air, and the like. Colored light produced in this way is
known as opalescent, the transmitted light tending to the red end of
the spectrum, and the reflected to the other portions. This result can
be obtained by mixing black and white grains, an experiment which
all have tried as school boys, by soaking chalk in ink, the result being
a bluish color.
Diffraction acts apparently by bending the light rays different
amounts, and thus spreading out the spectrum. Explanations of the
various phenomena of this sort are difficult, and need not be entered
into here.
Feathers are classed, according to their appearance, into ordinary,
metallic and iridescent, the peculiarities of which are well known and
so need not delay us.
The ordinary feathers are colored by simple pigments, by contrast
of light and darkness and mechanically, as in the case of the Bluebird
(Sialia sialis). Pigments of various colors are known to occur in
feathers, and have received special names, as turacin, zoönerythrin,
zoöfulvin, zoöxanthin, zoöchlorin, zoömelanin. These evenly
distributed, as turacin, zoönerythrin, and zoöfulvin, or in patches, as
zoömelanin, impart their respective colors to the feather parts in
which they exist.[67] The color of the mass of the feather may,
however, owing to various colors in the small feather parts, be
different from that of any part.
Of these pigments none seem to be peculiar except turacin. This
pigment is altered by wetting the feathers, and comes from the
feathers into the water in which the birds bathe, a fact of
considerable interest, since the birds maintain their normal color,
thus necessitating a new supply of pigment.
White feathers are the result of the light being reflected as a whole
from the finely divided feather parts. Some grays are the result of
small black nodes in the barbules, which nodes are of considerable
size, and do not disperse the light, being distributed along the
barbules. Other grays are the result of a small quantity of black
pigment.
Yellow feathers colored with zoöfulvin receive their hue from this
pigment, which is pretty evenly distributed through the texture like a
dye.
Red feathers, as those of the Flamingo, Cardinal Bird, and the like,
are so colored by a red pigment similar to the yellow one. Brown
feathers are colored by a brown pigment in the feathers, which is for
the most part collected in patches within the cells of the feather.
Violet pigments are said by some to exist, while others have never
been able to extract them, so the causes of this color still remain in
doubt.
Green feathers owe their color to various causes. In some it is due
to a green pigment, as Turacoverdin or zoöchlorin, in others it is said
to be due to a mixture of yellow and blue dots. The olive-greens are
sometimes produced by a yellow pigment overlying a dark brown or
black.
All the above pigments seem to be blended and used in gaudily
colored birds much after the manner of paints by artists. So that a
great variety of colors may be produced from a few pigments by the
skilful hand of nature.
Metallic feathers, properly speaking, are those which partake of
the characters shown by the red crests of the Woodpeckers. The
metallic appearance is limited to the barbs, the barbules not showing
this peculiarity, and being quickly shed. If a feather from the crest of
a Woodpecker, say Picus pubescens, be examined, it will at once be
noticed that the red barbs have few if any barbules, and that the
barbs themselves are enlarged. Such barbules as are present, are not
red but black, and only serve to diminish the effects of the red parts.
They would seem accordingly to be properly classed among useless
hereditary organs. That the red color is due to a pigment is proved by
dissolving it out and by its persistence when examined by
transmitted light. But what causes the brilliancy which has led to
their being called metallic? This is due to the extreme smoothness of
the barbs, the horn-cells of which they are composed being fused
together and solid. Thus the unabsorbed rays of the beam of light
which strikes them are reflected as a whole, instead of being sent in
every direction by the walls of the cells as in most cases. The metallic
feathers differ from ordinary feathers in the same way that window
or glass paintings differ from ordinary pictures. They simply give off
much more light, and thus produce more marked effects on our eyes.
The colors of metallic feathers seem to be limited to the red end of
the spectrum, the colors varying from yellow or orange to red; blue,
green or purple feathers constructed on this principle do not seem to
abound.
So far we have only had to deal with pigments, and all has been
plain sailing, but the various accidental colors shown by feathers are
far more difficult of explanation. Not only are the parts extremely
small, but the entire subject of accidental colors as regards organic
structures has been in large part dealt with from a theoretical point
of view. The question has not been how is the feather part made, but
what kinds of structures will produce such color effects. Accordingly
divers opinions have been expressed on the subject, the most
probable of these we shall now endeavor to sketch out.
Blue colors seem to be accidental, that is, the result of other causes
than pigments. Not only have all efforts to extract the pigments
failed, but blue feathers appear gray when examined by transmitted
light. Again, no blue can be found in transverse sections of blue
feather parts. This method of studying the colors of feathers is
worthy of more extended use than it has yet had. By this means all
physical effects of the outer coat are avoided, and the exact position
of the pigments can be seen. Sections are quickly prepared by
fastening the feather on to a piece of pith with collodion, and
mounting sections pith and all. The pith keeps the sections on end, a
result otherwise difficult to obtain.
Gray-blues, such as those seen in Dendrœca cœrulescens, are due
to opalescence. The feather is full of fine granules of black or darkish
pigment, which in a manner already described produces a blue color.
 Brilliant blues, as those shown by Sialia sialis, Cyanospiza
cyanea, Cœreba lucida, and the like, do not seem to be susceptible of
a like explanation. The color is too intense and pure to be produced
in such a small space by opalescence. So most authors have simply
ascribed it to some other form of interference, as a thin outer plate,
which would seem on examination to be the true cause. Figure 2,
drawn from a section of a Bluebird’s barb enlarged about one
thousand diameters, will give an idea of the structure found in such
cases. The central cells are full of some dark pigment, probably
zoömelanin, while the surface is bounded by a transparent layer of
horn varying from ¹⁄₃₀₀₀₀ to ¹⁄₁₀₀₀₀ of an inch in thickness. Thus we
have a contrivance not ill adapted to the production of interference
colors, the black pigment absorbing all rays which are not reflected
by the horn coat on the outside. Yet there are decided difficulties in
this view. Thin as it is, the outer horn coat is thick compared to the
length of light waves, and again the blue color is constant. However,
in spite of these objections, the color must be ascribed to the action
of the outer coat of cells. The structure of other bright blue feathers is
much the same, though differences in minutiae exist. Thus the outer
layer of cells, the external walls of which form the outer coat of the
barb, are devoid of pigment in the Blue Jay. (Fig. 3.)
Here it is of interest to note that the barbs of the brown female
Indigo bird differ but slightly from the bright blue barbs of the male.
In the female the pigment is more diffuse, and the outer horny coat is
thicker and less dense and lustrous.
The above feathers with their smooth outer coat are connected
with true iridescent feathers by an intermediate group. I refer to the
highly-colored blue and green feathers of such birds as Chlorophanes
atrocristatus (Fig. 2) and Cœreba lucida. In these the ends of the
barbs are enlarged and the barbules reduced to a minimum, after the
manner of the Woodpeckers; unlike them, however, the surface is
rough, each cell being rounded out. When examined under a
microscope such barbs appear as if covered with a mosaic of gems.
Sections show, whatever may be the shape of the barb, that the walls
of the iridescent parts are extremely thin, so thin that exact
measurements cannot be made with the instruments at my disposal.
The thickness got when reduced to fractions of an inch, is
approximately ¹⁄₁₀₀₀₀₀₀ of an inch, a film sufficiently thin for all
purposes of interference. Many of these feathers when magnified
show that the color is not uniform, but that all the colors contribute
their quota to the final color. The figure of a section of a barb of
Chlorophanes atrocristatus will give some idea of such a feather. In
this case the final color seems to be the result of mixing the light
reflected from the dark end with that from the yellow triangular part.
We now naturally come to the true iridescent feathers, of which
the Peacock may be taken as an example. The iridescent barbules are
made up of flat, wonderfully thin cells, arranged end to end, as
shown in figure 5. When examined with transmitted light, they are
seen to be films full of a brownish pigment more or less evenly
dispersed through the mass. When cut in sections and looked at on
edge they resemble, even under quite high powers, the edge of a
piece of paper. Here we have the most admirable contrivance for the
production of iridescent light, the plates being fully thin enough, and
all white light which may get through the walls being taken up by the
brown pigment within. All the parts of the eye are constructed on the
same plan, and only provided with brownish pigments, hence the
color must be due to variations in the thickness. Here it is well to
notice that the colors are quite constant.
The brilliant colors of these feathers have often been ascribed to
irregularities of surface, the traces of the cell cavities being mistaken
for pits on the surface. That this is an error is at once shown by
examining a section.
Before leaving the subject I cannot refrain from calling attention to
the wonderful diversity of means employed, as well as their
complexity in the production of feather colors. Among the Parrots we
have the most skilful painting combined with accidental colors. Yet
all ornithologists base specific differences on slight variations of
color, and this in spite of the fact that birds may change their color
according as they are wet or dry, owing to the nature of their food, or
to slight differences in the quantity of pigment.
In this they are no doubt often right, but when we come to
varieties based on the very faintest distinctions of color and form, we
may well pause till more is known of avian physiology.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE I.
 Fig. 1. Diagramatic representation of the effect of a film on light.
Fig. 2. Transverse section of a barb of Chlorophanes atrocristatus; Hartnack 3–
9 im. the light part yellow, the dark part dark brown.
Fig. 3. Transverse section of a barb of Cyanocitta cristata. Hart. 3–9 im.
Fig. 4. Same of Cyanospiza cyanea ♂.
Fig. 5. Two sections of a barbule of a Peacock.
Fig. 6. Section of barb of Sialia sialis much magnified.
 ON A COLLECTION OF BIRDS LATELY
MADE BY MR. F. STEPHENS IN ARIZONA.
BY WILLIAM BREWSTER.

(Continued from p. 94.)

33. Peucedramus olivaceus (Giraud) Coues. Olive-headed

Warbler.—The Olive-headed Warbler, one of Giraud’s famous
“sixteen” Texas species, has found an unquestioned place in our
fauna only on the strength of three Arizona specimens, taken by Mr.
Henshaw at Mount Graham, in September, 1874. Accordingly, the
acquisition of the fine series catalogued below can scarcely fail to be
a matter of much interest. As will appear from the accompanying
data, Mr. Stephens met with the bird in only a single locality in the
Chiricahua Mountains where it was apparently not uncommon in
March: but he writes of a previous specimen (an adult male) taken
among the Santa Catarina Mountains, in February, 1880, a date
which seems to imply that the species winters in the latter range. His
observations throw no light on its still unknown breeding haunts.
The specimens obtained during the past season were found in pine
woods on the mountain sides at an elevation of from ten to twelve
thousand feet. Although individuals often occurred not far from one
another, two were rarely seen in actual companionship. The only
exception to this is noted under date of March 24, when a small flock
was met with on a steep slope near the summit of one of the
mountains. In their actions these Warblers reminded Mr. Stephens
of Dendrœca occidentalis. They spent much of their time at the
extremities of the pine branches where they searched among the
bunches of needles for insects, with which their stomachs were
usually well filled. Occasionally one was seen to pursue a falling
insect to the ground, where it would alight for a moment before
returning to the tree above. The only song heard consisted of “a few
low notes” which were rarely uttered, but a peculiar “cheerp” was
repeated at frequent intervals.
The examples before me illustrate a fact which I do not find
mentioned by previous writers, viz., that during the first year the
males wear a plumage similar to that of the females. I have three in
this condition; two of them, although in unworn dress, are absolutely
undistinguishable from adults of the opposite sex; the third (No. 77),
however, has the throat appreciably tinged with the brownish-saffron
of the adult male. The females show some variation in respect to the
dusky patch on the side of the head. In most of them it is confined to
the auriculars, and even there is much mixed with yellow; but No. 46
has a continuous, dull-black stripe extending from the bill through
the eye, and spreading over the auriculars in a broad, well-marked
patch. Nos. 94 and 101 differ from the others in having the crown so
slightly washed with olive-green that the whole upper surface is
nearly uniform, a condition which I take to be the immature one of
this sex. The adult males show but little individual variation. Both
sexes and all ages have the basal half of the lower mandible light
brown.
44. ♂ ad., Morse’s Mill, Chiricahua Mountains, March 14, Length,
5.10; extent, 9; wing, 3.12; tail, 2.35; culmen, .56; tarsus, .72.
45, ♂ ad., same locality and date. Length, 5.40; extent, 9.20; wing,
3.16; tail, 2.55; culmen, .55; tarsus, .69. Iris dark brown.
72, ♂ ad., Morse’s Mill, March 19. Length, 5.40; extent, 8.90.
91, ♂ ad., Morse’s Mill, March 24. Length, 5.40; extent, 9; wing,
3.08; tail, 2.50; culmen, .55; tarsus, .75.
92, ♂ ad., same locality and date. Length, 5.20; extent, 8.90.
102, ♂ ad., Morse’s Mill, March 25. Length, 5.30; extent, 8.80;
wing, 3.10; tail, 2.44; culmen, .56; tarsus, .75.
77, ♂ im., Morse’s Mill, March 20. Length, 5.20; extent, 8.90;
wing, 3.03; tail, 2.37; culmen, .55; tarsus, .77. In plumage of the ♀.
90, ♂ im., Morse’s Mill, March 24. Length, 5.10; extent, 8.50;
wing, 2.85; tail, 2.30; culmen, .56; tarsus, .71. Same remarks.
103, ♂ im., Morse’s Mill, March 25. Length, 5.10; extent, 8.50;
wing, 2.90; tail, 2.33; culmen, .57; tarsus, .67. Same remarks.