^°'g^^^] Notes and News. ^7 



Respecting the long delayed new edition of the late Dr. Coues's ' Key 

 to North American Birds,' we ha\e received the following circular of 

 information from the publishers, which we feel sure will interest all 

 readers of 'The Auk.' 



"Messrs. Dana Estes & Co. announce that the fifth revised edition ot 

 the 'Key to North American Birds,' by Dr. Elliott Coues, so long and 

 patiently awaited by the public, will be ready in the spring of 1903. The 

 reason for the unusual delay in its publication may be briefly stated. 

 When Dr. Coues died in 1899 he left the manuscript wholly finished, but 

 the copy was rendered hard to decipher without tiie exercise of most 

 intelligent care by reason of innumerable interlineations, erasin-es, ab- 

 breviations, 'riders,' and detached notes, written in a minute, and some- 

 times diificult handwriting. It was evident that had the Doctor lived he 

 would have cast his material, although completed as he left it, into a form 

 which would present fewer difficulties to the compositor. His sudden 

 death left the copy in such shape that the task of revision and preparation 

 for the press required double the amount of work that had been anticipated. 

 The publishers, however, liave had the good fortune to obtain the services 

 of a thoroughly equipped ornithologist, who has read the proof with the 

 most painstaking care, which has been ably supplemented by the efforts 

 of a number of professional proof readers. The result is a book which 

 Dr. Coues would have been proud to own as the crowning work of his 

 life. The publishers announce it as being absolutely authoritative and 

 definitive, and express confidence that it is entirel3' free from errors of 

 statement or form. 



"Some of the features which will make the work more than ever in- 

 dispensable to ornithologists, professional as well as amateur, may be 

 briefly summarized : 



"i. The detailed, careful descriptions of species — as in former 'Keys.' 



"2. The accounts, much fuller than in former editions, of the breeding 

 habits of birds — dates, nests, and particularly the detailed description of 

 eggs, with careful measurements of same. 



"3. The full collation in the text (not in an appendix as in former 

 editions) of the nomenclature of species in the 'Key,' with the nomencla- 

 ture and numeration of the American Ornithologists' Union Check-List. 



"(4) The full synonymies and bibliographical references in the case of 

 nearly all species — a new feature of the ' Key,' and invaluable to students 

 of all degrees of advancement. To the preparation of this important 

 feature of the last edition of liis ' Key,' Dr. Coues brought his rare gifts 

 as bibliographer and nomenclator. The painstaking character of this 

 work makes it possible for the student to extend with ease his researches 

 in the case of a great many species. 



"(5) The professional discussion of questions of classification and 

 nomenclatiu-e by perhaps the most eminent of modern ornithologists. 



"(6) The introductory (/'. c, general) descriptions of ordirikl, family, 

 and other groups, are much amplified over those in preceding editions of 



