PREFACE. 



Dr. J. M. Wheaton transmitted his monumental "Report 

 on the Birds of Ohio" to Prof. J. S. Newberry, Chief Geol- 

 ogist of Ohio, on November 1, 1879. It was finally printed 

 by the state and distributed in 1882. One year later, at the 

 first Congress of American Ornithologists' Union, held in 

 New York, September 26-29, 1883, a committee was ap- 

 pointed to whom was referred the question of revising the 

 classification and nomenclature of the Birds of North Amer- 

 ica. That committee's work was completed, accepted, and 

 the results printed in a Check-List* early in 1886. Until 

 the publication of this Check-List there had been no uni- 

 formity in the nomenclature of birds,' each author practically 

 building his own system. Dr. Wheaton adopted, in a some- 

 what modified form, "The nomenclature of Dr. 



(Elliot E.) Coues in his Check-List of North American 

 Birds," published in 1874. That system followed the cus- 

 toms of the time by beginning with the highest and ending 

 with the lowest forms. The nomenclature adopted by the 

 committee of the American Ornithologists' Union* turned 

 the old system about, beginning with the lowest and ending 

 with the highest forms, as they were then regarded. Seven 

 years after the completion of his work and four years after 

 its publication, therefore, the nomenclature of Dr. Wheaton 

 became obsolete, for the new nomenclature found immediate 

 acceptance the country over, and has since been the working 

 basis of all American Ornithologists. 



The need of a Revised Catalogue of the Birds of Ohio 

 has been sorely felt, chiefly that the nomenclature might be 

 uniform with that of all more recent publications on Orni- 

 thology. The score of years which have elapsed since Dr. 

 Wheaton's Catalogue was issued have seen other changes 



*The A. O. U. Check-List of North American Birds, for sale 

 by L. S. Foster, 30 Pine street, New York City. 



538 



