PHILOSOPHIC ORNITHOLOGY. 3 



The importance of systematic classification is also shown in the ne- 

 cessity of naming objects before we can study them to advantage. As 

 the alphabet is the foundation of a written language, so this great 

 series of scientific names, which appears so formidable to the student, 

 is the groundwork for all ornithological research. 



Philosophic Ornithology. Having learned the alphabet of orni- 

 thology, we may pass from the systematic to the philosophic study 

 of birds ; from the study of dead birds to that of living ones. A 

 study of specimens shows their relationships through structure, but 

 a study of the living bird in its haunts may tell us the cause of 

 structure. In classifying birds we have taken note of their form and 

 coloration ; our object now is to determine how these characters were 

 acquired. 



As Prof. E. S. Morse has said, "There is no group of animals 

 which exceeds birds in varied and suggestive material for the evolu- 

 tionist." Compare a Hummingbird with an Ostrich, a Swallow with 

 a Penguin, and the enormous variation in the structure and habits of 

 birds is brought very forcibly to our minds. When we remember 

 that these widely divergent types descended from a reptilian ancestor, 

 we are impressed anew with the truth of Prof. Morse's remark. 



A brief review of the more important branches of philosophic 

 ornithology will show how rich a field is open to the student of birds. 

 They are : (1) The origin of birds and their place in Nature ; * (2) their 

 distribution in time and space, and the influences which determine 

 their present ranges ; f (3) the migration of birds, its origin, object, ex- 

 tent, and manner ; \ (4) the nesting of birds, including a study of the 

 significance of sexual differences in form, color, and voice, the location 

 and construction of the nest, the number and color of the eggs, together 

 with the habits of birds during the entire nesting season ; (5) the effect 



* See Newton's Dictionary of Birds (London : Adam and Charles Black, 1893) ; 

 articles, " Anatomy of Birds " and " Fossil Birds." 



t Read The Geographical Distribution of North American Mammals, by J. A. 

 Allen, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., iv, 1892, pp. 199-244 ; four maps. The Geo- 

 graphical Origin and Distribution of North American Birds, considered in Rela- 

 tion to Faunal Areas of North America, by J. A. Allen, The Auk, x, 1893, pp. 

 97-150 ; two maps. The Geographic Distribution of Life in North America with 

 Special Reference to the Mammalia, by C. Hart Merriam, M. D., Proc. of the 

 Biological Soc. of Washington, vii, 1892, pp. 1-64 ; one map. 



t On this subject read articles by the following authors : J. A. Allen, Scrib- 

 ner's Magazine, xxii, 1881, pp. 932-938 ; Bull. Nuttall Orn. Club, v, 1880, pp. 151- 

 154 ; Scott, ibid., vi, 1881, pp. 97-100 ; Brewster, Memoirs Nuttall Orn. Club (Cam- 

 bridge, Mass.), No. 1, pp. 22 ; Cooke and Merriam, Bird Migration in the 

 Mississippi Valley (Washington. 1888) ; Chapman, Auk, v, 1888, pp. 37-39 ; xi, 

 1894, pp. 12-17 ; Loomis, Auk, ix, 1892, pp. 28-39 ; xi, 1894, pp. 26-39, 94-117 ; 

 Stone, Birds of E. Penn. and N. J., Bird Migration, pp. 15-28. 



