INTRODUCTION. 



15 



5. That species or subspecies for any reason included in the List, 

 in regard to the specific or subspecific validity of which any reasonable 

 doubt exists, shall have their respective numbers followed by a note 

 of interrogation. 



6. That Giraud's at present unconfirmed species of Texan birds be 

 included in the List on Giraud's authority. 



7. That species and subspecies the zoological status of which can- 

 not be satisfactorily determined, like, e. g., Rcgulus cuvieri and Spiza 

 townscntii of Audubon, be referred to a hypothetical list, in each case 

 with a brief statement of the reasons for such allocation. 



8. That a list of the fossil species of North American birds be added 

 as an Appendix to the List proper. 



9. That the names of subgeneric and supergeneric groups of North 

 American birds be included in the List in systematic order, to the 

 end that the List may represent a classification as well as a nomen- 

 clature of the birds. 



TO. That references be given to the original description of the spe- 

 cies, and to the publication whera the name as adopted in the List was 

 first used ; that the number borne by each species and subspecies 

 in the Lists of Baird, 185S, of Coues, 1873, of Ridgway, 1880, and of 

 Coues, 1882, be bracketed in chronological order after tne synonymatic 

 references. 



11. That a summary statement of the habitat of each species and 

 subspecies, with special reference to its North American range, be in- 

 cluded in the List. 



12. That the name of each bird shall consist of its generic with- 

 out its subgeneric name, and of its specific with its subspecific name, 

 if it have one, without the intervention of any other term. 



13. That specific be typographically distinguished from subspecific 

 names by the use of a smaller type for the latter. 



14. That every technical name be followed by a vernacular name, 

 selected with due regard to its desirability. 



15. That the name of each species and subspecies be followed by 

 the name of the original describer of the same, to be enclosed in pa- 

 rentheses when it is not also the authority for the name adopted. 



16. That all specific and subspecific names shall begin with a 

 lower-case letter. 



17. That the sequence in classification followed in previous Lists 

 be reversed, the List to begin with the lowest or most generalized 

 type, and end with the highest or most specialized. 



