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THE ZOOLOGIST. 



THIRD SERIES. 



Vol. VII.] MAKCH, 1883. [No. 75. 



ON TRINOMIAL NOMENCLATURE. 



By Joel Asaph Allen. 



(Assistant in ihe Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A.) 



By some remarks on trinomial nomenclature in the very able 

 and discriminating review of ' The Coues Check List of North 

 American Birds,' published in the October number of 'The 

 Zoologist' (1882, p. 396), I am forcibly reminded how little 

 our English fellow-workers understand what the trinomial 

 nomenclature of American zoologists really is, and how little 

 they appreciate its purpose and import. To most English 

 authorities who have referred to it, it seems to have proved the 

 most thorough stumbling-block imaginable; indeed, to us on 

 this side the water it is a mystery that it should be so universally 

 misunderstood. 



To explain clearly the points at issue it is necessaiy to refer 

 briefly to the recent history of our knowledge of North American 

 birds. Those who have closely followed our ornithological 

 literature for the past twelve years must appreciate how 

 thoroughly the Ornithology of North America has been studied, 

 both in the field and in the museum, or how vast is the amount 

 of material which has passed under the critical eye of experts. 

 The whole of our immense trans-Mississippian territory, as well 

 as Florida, Alaska, and portions of Mexico and the British 

 Possessions, has been traversed and more or less carefully 

 explored by well-trained collectors, their accumulated spoils 

 amounting to not less than 50,000 to 75,000 specimens. Except 



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