4 Bird -Lore 



1861. The same volume contained his ' Notes on the Ornithology of 

 Labrador,' gathered during a summer excursion in i860. 



These papers, written at the age of eighteen, might appear to- 

 day, in spite of their author's youth and the great advances 

 which have occurred in the science of ornithology, as creditable 

 productions of an experienced ornithologist. Without attempting 

 to present a list of the rapidly increasing number of Doctor 

 Coues' ornithological papers, we may state that from 1861 to 1884 his 

 contributions to the literature of ornithology numbered about 350 titles, 

 including many extended papers and some eight separately published 

 volumes. 



The last named date concluded Doctor Coues' activity in ornithol- 

 ogy for an interval of about twelve years, a period in which he was 

 largely occupied with editorial work on the Century Dictionary, and 

 with the production of fully annotated editions of the travels of Lewis 

 and Clarke, Zebulon Pike, and other early explorers ; but about 1895 

 Doctor Coues manifested a new interest in ornithology, and at that time 

 began to prepare a third edition of his ' Key to North American Birds,' 

 and it affords us great satisfaction to be able to say, on the authority of 

 Mr. Dana Estes, the publisher of this work, that the manuscript was 

 ready for the press several weeks before Dr. Coues' death. 



Dr. Coues' influence in ornithology was first widely felt on the 

 publication of his 'Key to North American Birds,' in 1872, which, 

 as a popular and authoritative handbook, was replaced only by its 

 second edition, a practically new work issued in 1884,* and differing 

 from the current reprint only through the absence of certain ap- 

 pendices. Measured by results, this was Dr. Coues' most valuable 

 contribution to the science of ornithology; the work of a great stu- 

 dent and equally great teacher, made eloquent by its author's mar- 

 velous powers of expression. It is, beyond comparison, the best book 

 on general and systematic ornithology ever published, and has con- 

 tributed more to the advance of American ornithology than any other 

 work since the time of Audubon. 



Dr. Coues' distinguishing characteristic, as a man, was a virility 

 of mind, which forced his powers to the utmost, resulting in his 

 enormous productivity, and, eventually, his premature death. 



As an ornithologist, he was eminent as an anatomist, systematist, 

 nomenclator, bibliographer, and biographer. Doubtless his peers 

 exist in any of these branches of the science of birds, but one 

 searches in vain for another individual who might claim to be his 

 equal in all; and this deliberate estimate of his rank places Elliott 

 Coues foremost among ornithologists. — F. M. C. 



*The accompanying photograph of Dr. Coues was taken just prior to the publication of this 

 work, and represents him in his prime. 



