62 PUBLICATIONS OF SPENCER F. BAIRD. 



1858. Baird, Spencer F.— Coutiuued. 



The synonymj- and specific characters, original in this work, have been used again and again 

 by subsequent writers, with various modilications and abridgment, and are in fact a large 

 basis of the technical portion of the subsequent History of North American Birds by Baird, 

 Brewer, and Ridgway. Such a monument of original research is like to remain for an in- 

 definite period a source of inspiration to lesser writers, while its authority as a work of 

 reference will always endure."— Ellot Coues. 



The following extract from the preface explains the scope of this work: 



"The present report is a continuation of a systematic account of the vertebrate animals of 

 North America, collected or observed by the diflerent parties organised under the direction 

 of the "War Department for ascertaining the best route for a railroad from the Mississippi 

 Kiver to the Pacific Ocean. 



" The collections of these expeditions having been deposited with the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion by the War Department, in compliance with an act of Congress, the undersigned was 

 charged by the Secretary of the Institution with the duty of furnishing the series of general 

 reports upon them, as called for by the department. The account of the Mammals having 

 been published in 1857, that of the Birds is herewith furnished, prepared according to the 

 plan announced in the preface to that volume." 



"As in the volume on the Mammals, by the insertion of the comparatively few species not 

 noticed by the expeditions, this report becomes an exposition of the present state of our 

 knowledge of the Birds of North America, north of Mexico. This addition, while rendering 

 the work more valuable to the reader, was absolutely necessary for the proper understand- 

 ing of the "Western Fauna, the species of which are generally so closely allied to the Eastern 

 forms as to require in most cases more minute and detailed descriptions of the latter than 

 have been published." 



" Certain portions of the report have been prepared by Mr. John Caasin, of Philadelphia, 

 and Mr. George N. Lawrence, of New York, well known as the leading ornithologists of the 

 "CTnited States. Mr. Cassin has furnished the entire account of the Raptores, from p. 4 to 64, 

 of the Grallce, from p. 689 to 753, and of the Alcidce, from p. 900 to 918, in all about 135 pages. 

 Mr. Lawrence has written the article on the Longipeyines, Totipalmes, and Colymbidce, from 

 p. 820 to 900, making 80 pages." 



"To Mr. P. L. Sclater, of London, acknowledgments are due for the examination of cer- 

 tain specimens in European museums, and for other valuable aid in determining points of 

 synonymy ; some of his notes received too late for insertion in their proper places will be 

 found in Appendix A. Much assistance has also been rendered in various ways by Dr. J. G. 

 Cooper." 



"In the introduction to the general report upon the Mammals will be found a detailed ac- 

 count of the ditferent railroad surveying parties from which Zoological collections were 

 received, with their respective routes." * * * 



"A collection of about 150 species received from Mr. John Gould, of London, contains 

 many rare birds from the Northwest and Arctic regions (some of them types of the ' Fauna 

 Boreali-Americana'), as well as others from Mexico and Gnatamala. The latter have proved 

 of great service for comparison with closely allied species of the United States, as have also 

 specimens from Mr. P. L. Sclater, of London, Mr. J. P. Ven-eaux, of Paris, and Mes-srs. J. H. 

 Gurney and Alfred Newton, of Norwich, England." 



"The types of Eastern birds have been furnished by the collection of the author depos- 

 ited in the Smithsonian Institution. This consists of a full collection of birds of Central 

 Pennsylvania, with sex, date, and measurements before skinning. It also embraces a large 

 number of Mr. Audubon's typical specimens used in the preparation of his ' Birds of 

 America,' including many of those from the Columbia Kiver and Rocky Mountains, fur- 

 nished him by Mr. J. K. Townsend." 



"In addition to the collections just mentioned, with others not enumerated, all in charge 

 of the Smithsonian Institution, and amounting to over 12,000 specimens, types have been 

 supplied for the occasion by Mr. Cassin, Mr. Lawrence, Mr. John G. Bell, Dr. Michener, and 

 others. The ornithological gallery of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, be- 

 lieved to be the richest in the world, has also furnished the means of m.aking many essential 

 comparisons." 



"The measurements of the specimens have usually been made in hundredths of the Eng- 

 lish inch,* mostly with the dividers. All the measurements in the list of specimens are as 

 made before the bird was skinned, each collector being responsible for the accuracy of his 

 work. The comparative tables of measurements show, in many cases, the change of dimen 

 sions produced in the dried skin. " S. F. B. 



""Washington, October 20, 1853." 



< Preface, Expl. and Surv./or the Pacific Railroad, vol. ix, 1853-'56, pp. xiii and xv, xvi. 



