Vol. x:c 

 1903 



] Allen, TJie A. O. U. Check- List. 



elude the names of 6 genera, 8 species, and 4 subspecies, and the 

 status of 8 species and 30 subspecies. In other words, only 52 per- 

 cen tof the modifications proposed have been endorsed by the 

 Committee. If there had been no Committee to which these 500 

 or more questions could have been referred for a formal verdict it 

 is perhaps easier to imagine than to describe what would have 

 been the condition of the nomenclature of North American birds 

 jn igo2. Of course some tender corns have been trodden on, and 

 the owners of some of them still prefer their own opinion to that 

 of the Committee, and possibly in some cases their action is 

 warranted. But doubtless all will admit that a few errors are 

 better than chaos. The chief departure from the Committee's 

 rulings relate to certain groups retained in the Check-List as 

 subgenera, contrary to the general consensus of opinion ; the ten- 

 dency to their recognition as genera doubtless only anticipates the 

 final action of the Committee, these questions being among its 

 deferred cases. 



A word, in conclusion, in reference to the 'hair-splitting' 

 tendencies of the day, of which complaint is more or less preva- 

 lent. The degree of difference' necessary for formal recognition 

 in nomenclature is ever likely to be a bone of contention, its 

 decision being, in the nature of the case, more or less a matter of 

 temperament as well as of opinion. The danger of excessive 

 splitting is greater now than ever before, since we have reached 

 a point where comparatively few strongly marked local forms 

 remain to be discovered and named, while the number of enthu- 

 siastic young workers is steadily increasing. Plainly, not every 

 degree of differentiation that can be recognized by the trained 

 expert needs recognition by name, and not every slightly 

 differentiated form that can be distinguished readily on compari- 

 son of large series of specimens should be considered as entitled 

 to a place in a list of North American birds. The trinomial 

 system unfortunately lends itself readily to abuse, and can easily 

 be made to bring the whole system of naming subspecies into dis- 

 repute. Whether or not the differentiation is so readily dis- 

 tinguishable as to warrant its recognition in nomenclature is a 

 question that may very fittingly be left to a Committee of experts, 

 whose combined opinion is more likely to be right than that of a 

 single authority, however cautious and experienced. 



