PREFACE. XI 



advantage of the material upon which the}^ are based; but in all eases 

 it has been the author's desire to express exactly the facts as they appear 

 to him in the light of the evidence examined, without any regard 

 whatever to preconceived ideas, either of his own or of others, and 

 without consideration of the inconvenience which may result to those 

 who are inclined to resent innovations, forgetful of the fact that knowl- 

 edge can not be complete until all is known. This question of species 

 and subspecies and their nice discrimination is not the trivial matter 

 that some who claim a l)roader view of biological science affect to 

 Ijelieve. It is the very foundation of more advanced scientific work; 

 and without secure foundation no architect, however skillful, can rear 

 a structure that will endure. 



The nomenclatural rules followed are those of the American Orni- 

 thologists' Union, as presented in their "Code of Nomenclature." 

 These have been strictly adhered to in all respects. 



The synonymies of this work have proven by far the most laborious 

 part of its preparation, great pains having been taken to verify refer- 

 ences whenever practicable, to include all which may be of use to those 

 desiring an index to the literature of each species and to exclude those 

 which would not serve some particular purpose. Special features are 

 the mention of the type locality and location of the type specimen 

 whenever it has been practicable to determine the same; the mention 

 of all nomenclatural com})inations and variations, and reproduction of 

 the exact form in which the name accompanying each citation was 

 originally given. When the locality to which a citation refers can be 

 ascertained it has been given, the purpose being twofold: Future 

 workers in a more limited geographic field may thereby more easily 

 consult the literature concerning it, and when it may hereafter become 

 necessary to further subdivide a given species or subspecies the refer- 

 ences may be assorted without the time-consuming labor of consulting 

 the numerous books and papers cited. Regarding the matter of 

 orthography, etc., in citations, the extreme exactness which has been 

 attempted may seem both useless and pedantic. It is believed, how- 

 ever, that while the utmost accuracy of this kind can do no harm it 

 may — in respect to some aspects of the case certainly will — do much 

 good as a reaction from the gross carelessness which has hitherto 

 prevailed. Anyone who has had occasion to verify citations must 

 know that the amount of inaccuracy and misrepresentation in current 

 synonymies, even the most authoritative and elaborate, is simply 

 astounding. They al)Ound with names which do not even exist in the 

 works cited, with those which do not correspond with the orio'inals in 

 orthography, and others which have no meaning or use wtiatever, 

 being evidently culled from indices without reference to what their 

 status may be on the pages indicated. The correction of an author's 

 orthographical errors is a pernicious practice, though umch in vogue; 



