466 Recent Literature. Ort 



Loct. 



RECENT LITERATURE. 



The A. O. U. Check-List of North American Birds, Third Edi- 

 tion.i — The third edition of the A. O. U. Check-List was authorized at 

 the stated meeting of the Union held in November, 1905, when also a com- 

 mittee was appointed to consider the A. O. U. Code of Nomenclature, 

 and report what changes in the Code, if any, seemed necessary to better 

 adapt it to present day needs. The Code committee later recommended 

 a number of modifications, mainly in the nature of amplification and ex- 

 plicitness of statement. The chief modification was the adoption en bloc 

 of Rule 30 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, as re- 

 vised at the Seventh Congress held at Boston in 1907, in relation to the 

 determination of types of genera. This rule was virtually the same in 

 effect as the rules on this subject in the original A. O. U. Code of 1886, 

 and hence served to confirm the type designations of the first and second 

 editions of the Check-List, with only the two or three exceptions sub- 

 ject to a special provision. As a result of the committee's work, a re- 

 vised edition of the Code was published in July, 1908. 



The committee in charge of the preparation of the new edition of the 

 Check-List devoted nearly four years to the work, notwithstanding the 

 labor was divided among several subcommittees, to whom great assistance 

 was rendered by other members of the Union. Every detail of nomen- 

 clature, the verification of references, and the geographical distribution of 

 the species and subspecies received the most thorough consideration, the 

 time and labor expended on this new edition probably greatly exceeding 

 that given to the preparation of both the preceding editions and their 

 supplements. 



The new edition differs from previous editions in several important 

 particulars, both typographically and otherwise, as follows: 



(1) Subspecies are distinguished from species by having all the matter 

 relating to them printed in smaller type than that pertaining to species. 



(2) In the case of composite or polytypic species, the range of the group 

 as a whole is briefly given, under the name of the species, which serves as a 

 caption for the group, the North American subspecies of the group follow- 

 ing in due sequence, with their respective ranges stated in detail. In 



1 Check-List 1 of | North American Birds | Prepared by a Committee | of the I 

 American Ornithologists' Union | Tliird edition (revised) | — | Zoological Nomen- 

 clature is a means, not an end, of Zoological Science i — | New York | American 

 Ornithologist's Union | 1910 — 8vo, pp. 1-430, and 2 maps of North America, one 

 colored, to show the life zones, the other plain, giving localities. August, 1910. 

 $2.50. 



American Ornithologists' Union | Abridged | Check-List 1 of | North American 

 Birds I — I From the | Third Edition | — | New York | American Ornithologists' 

 UnioD I 1910 — Pocket Edition, 3J by 6 inches, pp. 77, printed only on the right 

 hand page. August, 1910. 2.5 cents; 10 copies, $2.00. 



