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investigation ; but it is certainly not a subject which should be attacked 

 in a hurry. On the contrary, it seems to me that years of close applica- 

 tion are necessary for an acquisition of the requisite knowledge^ before 

 anyone can venture to speak with authority concerning tlie natural 

 arrangement of Birds. I am, moreover, certain that a lifetime is 

 necessary to master the subject in all its details^ and I would point out 

 what the study of systematic ornithology means to a man who sets 

 himself to acquire an actual knowledge of every species of bird. By 

 working very hard for 300 out of 365 days in a year, and by burning 

 much midnight oil, it is just possible to describe and to work out 

 the synonymy of one species a day — not more. That is the average 

 which a man can attain to by very close application ; and if he 

 can describe and collect together the synonymy of 300 species every 

 year, it will be good work indeed. Of course I mean taking one 

 species with another into consideration; and it will surprise any 

 one who has not gone deeply into the subject to find what a mass of 

 synonymy belongs to even an African or Indian species, and what a 

 long time it takes to verify the references. I have had^ as you will 

 all admitj some experience of systematic work with the ' Catalogue 

 of Birds/ and this is the result of my calculations — that a man can 

 hope to acquire some practical knowledge of species and their literature 

 by unswerving application to work for forty years ! This will leave him 

 but little leisure either for the study of comparative anatomy or osteology ; 

 and it is evident that a comprehensive work on the comparative osteology 

 of birds would be extremely useful at the present time. It is to be 

 hoped, as I said before^ that Dr. Shufeldt or some equally competent 

 anatomist will consider the advisability of publishing a ' Handbook of 

 Avian Osteology/ but to be of use it must be diagnostic. 



The publication of the ' Catalogue of Birds ' will, I trust, render it 

 unnecessary in the future to spend weeks and months in the hunting up 

 of synonymy. This part of the ground at least has been cleared, and 

 the student of the next generation will benefit by the drudgery 

 which so many of us have had to perform in our day. To return, 

 in conclusion, to my simile of " brick ^^ building [antea, p. 56), I may 

 add a hope that this reunion of Ornithologists, and the interchange of 

 ideas which is taking place between us, will strengthen the bond of 

 sympathy which exists between ornithologists all over the world, and 

 that the outcome of the session of the Second Ornithological Congress 

 in this beautiful and hospitable city of Budapest will result in the con- 

 tribution of many ^' bricks " towards the completion of the great Orni- 

 thological structure which we have in hand. If the present Address be 

 considered as adding even ever so little towai'ds the consummation of 

 our hopes, the present speaker will feel more than satisfied. 



