10 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1899. 



These authors are Bonaparte, Townsend, Leib, Gambel, Tru- 

 deau, Cassiu, Dudley, Hoy, Jones, McCall, Heermann, Sclater, 

 March, Suckley, Woodhouse, Couch, Ivenuerly, Xantus-De Vesey, 

 Henry, Baird, Elliot, Lawrence, Coues, Cooper, Ridgway, Hoopes, 

 Herrick, Ogden, Gentry, Rhoads and Stone. 



Along with the above have been grouped the following Amer- 

 ican writers: Wilson, Audubon, Say, Nuttall. Cabot, Bryant and 

 Krider, some of whose types are in the collection, but Avho pub- 

 lished elsewhere than in the Academy's journals. The sequence 

 is nearly chronological. 



Cassin, being an equal contributor to the ornithology of the Old 

 and New World, is placed at the end of this list, and following 

 him are considered Peale's types and those of the various foreign 

 authors contained in the collections purchased by Dr. Wilson, i. e. , 

 Jardine, Strickland, Massena, Verreaux, Lafresnaye, Sir A. Smith, 

 Gould, Lesson, Vieillot, Eytou, Heine, Prevost and Knip. 



In nearly every case I have selected one specimen as the type in 

 cases where the describer did not make a selection, giving prefer- 

 ence to the male over the female if both are described. This prac- 

 tice seems preferable to considering all the specimens of the original 

 lotto be " cotypes, " especially as it is often impossible to ascer- 

 tain how many of the specimens were in the describer' s possession 

 at the time the diagnosis was prepared. 



However, in order to be as accurate as possible, I have, in every 

 case, included mention of all the specimens which might be con- 

 sidered as " cotypes " or " paratypes," whether in the Academy's 

 collection or not, so that those Avho do not agree in the above 

 practice will find all the evidence before them. 



Care in selecting a definite type and referring to it in the original 

 publication cannot be too highly commended, as the confusion and 

 difficulties that are presented by the carelessness of the older 

 writers in this respect are only too apparent after having completed 

 a study such as this. 



The species are entered under the names by which they are gen- 

 erally known at the present time, the nomenclature following the 

 American Ornithologists' Union Check List in the case of North 

 American birds, and the British Museum Catalogue, in the main, in 

 the case of foreign birds. 



It is probable that some names here regarded as synonyms in 



