Are any Tweeters familiar with the book, "Lewis and Clark: Pioneering
Naturalists?" In the index of this book is a list of birds (and other
animals) that were discovered and first described by Meriwether Lewis
(with Clark in a supporting role). The book is an excellent treatment
of an often under emphasized aspect of the L&C expedition: the natural
history discoveries.

Anyway, I was trying to come up with a count on the bird species Lewis
discovered, and I find that many of the species listed are actually
subspecies, and in a few cases, I can't match up the species name with
any scientific name in my NG field guide, Spinus tristris pallidus, for
example. In other cases, the birds' range extends into the east (like
Brewer's Blackbird) and that makes me wonder if truly they were new to
science.

If nothing else, I am seeing my limitations in taxonomy and, more
sharply, nomenclature and wanting to do something about it. Three
questions: Does anyone know if a specific treatment of L&C bird
discoveries has been done since this book came out in the late 1960's?
And, can anyone point me to a crash course in avian taxonomy and
nomenclature? Finally, should subspecies - learning them and about them
- be a more important topic in the recreational birders' education than
it is?

Kristi Streiffert
Coulee Dam, WA