24 



authors, and the acumen with which he has ferreted out questions 

 of priority of nomenclature, have resulted in the most wholesale change 

 of names in Ornithology ; and as these determinations have been largely 

 accepted in America, but not yet in Europe, there has arisen a wide 

 divergence in nomenclatural usage between the Ornithologists of the 

 Old World and those of the New, which finds accentuation in the Lists 

 of Birds published by the British and American Ornithologists^ Unions 

 respectively. Luckily for myself, the present Address does not concern 

 itself with nomenclature, and I only mention the subject out of respect 

 to the name of Dr. Stejneger, who is responsible for most of the recent 

 discoveries which have led to such drastic changes; so that it is not 

 surprising to find that, in the scheme of classification which he sets 

 forward in the ' Standard Natural History,' a number of perfectly new 

 and, as it seems to me, unnecessary names have been showered upon 

 the ornithological world, already sufficiently burdened with the task of 

 remembering names. 



The following is Dr. Stejneger's scheme in detail; and I must 

 emphatically state my conviction that, Avith the exception of some of 

 Professor Elliott Coues's essays, there has never been a popular work on 

 birds so well conceived as the " Aves " volume of the ' Standard Natural 

 History,' or one which, professedly popular in its aims, contains such an 

 amount of sterling new and original work. It differs, moreover, from 

 most recent schemes in giving diagnostic characters for every Order and 

 Family, and is thus entitled to the foretnost rank as an original work. 



Subclass I. SAURURJE. 



Order I. OHNITHOPAPPI. 



{Archceopteryx, Laopten/x ?) 



Subclass II. ODONTOTORMJE. 

 Order I. PTEllOPAPPT. 



{Ichthyornis, Apatornis). 



Subclass III. ODONTOHOLCiE. 



Order I. DR0MJ50PAPPI. 



(Hesperornis, &c.) 



Subclass IV. EURHIPIDURJE. 



Super-Order I. BROMJEOGNATKM. 



Order I. STRUTHIONES. 



Super-family I. Struthioideae. 

 Super-family II. Rheoideas. 

 Super-family III. Casuaroideae. 



Family 1. Dromaiid^. 

 2. Oasuariid.^;. 



Super-fauaily IV. Dinornithoideae. 



