Re: Primary numbering

Warblerick@aol.com
Sun, 28 Feb 1999 18:15:58 EST


Paul, thanks for trying to help but I'm afraid your message did not make
things any clearer for me...
  
 Noble Proctor's book Manuel of Ornithology goes into some detail about avian
topography, and I see that primaries are indeed numbered backwards from the
outermost to innermost, but why then do both the Seabirds(Harrison) and
Gulls(Grant) books choose to number them the other way around. Gulls are
certainly confusing enough without adding another terminology hurdle. Perhaps
in the first edition of Grant's Gulls he has them numbered the other way? I
don't know, since I only recently purchased the newer second edition,
paperback 1997. Still trying to find the answer to this puzzle...

Warblerick@aol.com
Rick Sussman
Ashton,MD