bibliography of the subject. 4i 



§ 4. On the Literature of New England 

 Ornithology. 



Under this head it is proposed to present a sum- 

 mary notice of previous writings on New England 

 Ornithology. This literature dates back, at least two 

 hundred and fifty years, notices of New England 

 birds being contained in some of the very earliest 

 historical, political, and other publications relating to 

 America. All such writings, however, may of course 

 be passed over as obsolete, having at most a present 

 interest only for the antiquarian and the bibliographer, 

 excepting, perhaps, in the single case of the Great 

 Auk, whose former existence on the shores of New 

 England they attest. There are likewise a number 

 of treatises on the Ornithology of North America at 

 large, which relate in due part to the birds of New 

 England. Such are the standard works of Vieillot, 

 Wilson, Bonaparte, Nuttall, and Audubon, in the first 

 half of the present century, and the later ones of 

 Baird, of Coues, and of Baird, Brewer, and Ridg- 

 way. Aside from such works of general scope, which 

 it is not proposed to include in the following list, 

 there are very many treatises devoted exclusively to 

 New England Ornithology. Nearly all of these, as 

 will be seen, are extremely modern ; they give gratify- 

 ing evidence of the diligence and success with which 

 numberless New England writers have of late inves- 

 tigated the birds of their country. The list is derived, 

 with permission, from Dr. Coues' Bibliographical Ap- 

 pendix to the "Birds of the Colorado Valley," and is 

 believed to be practically complete. Most of the pub- 



