Analytical Key prepared by Professor Jones. It has not been thought best to give 

 large jilace to these matters nor to intrude them upon the text, because of tlie 

 manv excellent manuals which already exist giving especial attention to this tield. 



The nomenclature is chiefly that uf the .\. O. U. Check-List. Second Edition, 

 revised to include the I'durtcenth ."^uiiplenient, to which reference is made by 

 number. Departures have in a few instances been made, changes sanctioned by 

 Ridgway or Coues. or ju^iilied by a consideration of local material, it i<. of 

 course, unfortunate that the puhlicatinn of the Third Edition of the A. I). L'. 

 Check-Tist has been sn long delayed, inscimucb that it is not even yet available. 

 On this account it has not been deemed worth while to provide in these volumes 

 a separate check-list, based on the A. O. U. order, as had been intended. 



Care has been exercised in the selection of the English or vernacular names 

 of the birds, to offer those which on the whole seem best fitted to survive locally. 

 Unnecessary departures from eastern usage have been avoided, and the 

 changes made have been carefully considered. As matter of fact, the English 

 nomenclature has of late been much more stable than the Latin. I'or instance. 

 no one has anv difficulty in tracing the Western Winter Wren thru the literature 

 of the past half century : but the bird referred to has. within the last decade. 

 posed .successiveb- under the following scientific names: Trnylodytcs Iiienialis 

 pacificus. Anortbura h. p.. Olhiorchihis h. p., and Nanntts h. p.. and these with 

 the sanction of the A. C). U. Committee — certainly a .striking example of how not 

 to secure stability in nomenclature. With such an example before us we may 

 perhaps be pardoned for having in instances failed to note the latest discovery of 

 the name-hunter, but we have humbly tried to follow our agile leaders. 



In the preparation of iilumage descriptions, the atteni])! to derive them from 

 local collections was jjartially abandoned because of the meagerness of the ma- 

 terials offered. If the work had been purely British Columbian, the excellent 

 collection of the Provincial Museum at Mctoria would have been nearly sufficient : 

 but there is crying need of a large, well-kept, central collection of skins and 

 mounted birds here in Washington. .\ creditable showing is being maile at 

 Pullman under the energetic leadership of Professor W. T. Shaw, and the Stale 

 College will always reciuire a representative working collection. The L ni\ersity 

 of \\'ashington, however, is the natural repository for West-side si)ecimens, and 

 perhaps for the official collection of the State, and it is to be devoutly hoped that 

 its present ill-assorted and ill-housed accumulations may early give jilace to a 

 worthy and com])lete display of Washington birds. .Among* private collections 

 that of Mr. J. INF. Edson. of P)ellingham, is the most notable, representing, as it 

 does, the |)atient occupation of extra hours for the past eighteen years. I am 

 under obligation to Mr. Edson for a check-list of his collection (comprising 

 entirely local species ), as also for a list of the birds of the Museum of the Belling- 

 ham Normal School. The small but well-selected assortment of bird-skins belong- 

 ing to -Messrs. C. W. and |. II. I'.owles rests in the Ferry Museum in 'I'acoma. 



