402 DIVERS. 



School " of ornithologists are nothing if not " separatists," and by 

 separating forms which appear to them to have gained the right to 

 distinct and separate recognition, the A. O. U. are proving their 

 right to the title of "pioneers of modern ornithological science," 

 given them by an illustrious European savant. 



Whether the path which these "pioneers" are blazing — with 

 its unbending adherence to a fixed line, over whatever difficulty it 

 may lead — will be followed strictly by future systematists, is a 

 debatable question; but followed strictly or but partially, the 

 present generation of American ornithologists have established 

 themselves among the leaders of the science, and the influence of 

 their determinations is acknowledged wherever birds are studied 

 or described. 



I will not pretend to be in full sympathy with all of the separating 

 that has been attempted, nor of all that has been accepted. There 

 will be, doubtless, a revision of the present system, — nay, many 

 revisions; ornithology is in its infancy yet. I follow the American 

 school because an amateur writer must follow somebody, — we 

 have had too many unskilled hands tinkering with systematic 

 work. I follow the Americans also because I am doing American 

 work for American readers, and the use of the A. O. U. system of 

 classification and nomenclature will avoid confusion. I follow this 

 system for another reason : I consider it the best that has as yet 

 been issued ; and so I give to Briinnich's Murre specific instead 

 of varietal rank. 



This bird does not differ in habits from its congeners. During 

 the winter it lives on the open sea, and in the breeding-season 

 assembles in large flocks on bold cliffs and rocky headlands. It is 

 an expert diver, using wings and feet to get under water and to 

 swim through it. 



