INTRODUCTION. 



IN THE Museum of the Geological Survey of Alabama, 

 at University, is a small but well preserved collection 

 of birds brought together by the late Dr. William Cush- 

 man Avery of Greensboro, Ala. Most of the specimens 

 w^ere collected and preserved by Dr. Avery's own hands, 

 although there are many secured by exchange with well 

 known ornithologists, and a few that were purchased. 

 The collection as a whole is fairly representative, except 

 for the water birds, but is of especial interest because 

 the greater part of the specimens were collected in the 

 vicinity of Greensboro, and at other points in Alabama — 

 a State none too well known ornithologically. 



Since the death of Dr. Avery in 1894, many sub-species 

 have been described and sweeping changes have been 

 made in nomenclature, rendering a revision of the col- 

 lection desirable. The privilege of this work was given 

 the writer' by Dr. Eugene A. Smith, State Geologist, and 

 in January, 1914, a complete check of the collection was 

 made with the assistance of Mr. Lewis S. Golson, of 

 Prattville, Ala. All records were placed at our disposal, 

 and though these consisted only of five combination cata- 

 logues and journals and a few loose pages, many interest- 

 ing facts regarding the bird-life of the region and the 

 early ornithological struggles of Doctor Avery were 

 gleaned from them. 



It was at first proposed by Dr. Smith to publish a cata- 

 logue of the revised collection, but because Dr. Avery's 

 published notes are scattered through journals long since 

 out of print, or otherwise unavailable, and because the 

 unpublished material contained in his note-books seems 

 of considerable value, it was decided to bring all together 

 in a bulletin in the form of an annotated catalogue. 

 The following list of 216 species and subspecies is the 

 result. Alabama specimens only are included in this, 

 though the collection contains many western and north- 

 ern birds, and others taken beyond the boundaries of 



