be Ral eit EN ie cen ei ara Mo AA | in ONE a ko EE Re A > oe 
SPREE Ay gale yee E a PL OE eg 7, Se, Ce heey 
OLR arg th a, va RS wy Fl 
Boe eter AT 
- 
a 1876.] Progress of Ornithology in the United States. 587 
was followed, in 1791, by William Bartram’s enumeration of the 
birds known to this excellent naturalist as inhabitants of the 
eastern portion of the United States, published in his Travels 
in North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida, 
ete, ; this list embraced about two hundred and fifteen species, and, 
though mainly a nominal one, was accompanied by typographical 
signs indicating the range of the species at the different seasons of 
the year, while a few were described at some length in other parts 
of the same work. In many cases Linnwan names were used for 
the designation of the species; but to the larger number he gave 
new names, which, being generally unaccompanied by descrip- 
‘tions, are now to a very large extent undeterminable. ‘This pa- 
per is especially noteworthy as forming the first important con- 
tribution by an American to American ornithology. 
The next paper in order of time was by Jeremy Belknap, who 
in his History of New Hampshire (vol. iii.), published in 1792, 
devoted ten pages to birds, giving a list of about one hundred 
and sixty species. The current Linnean names were used, to 
which a few new names were added. Although no descriptions 
are given, the names generally clearly indicate the species meant. 
Though not commonly referred to by scientific writers, it forms 
a highly important paper and one worthy of attention. Samuel 
Williams, in his Natural and Civil History of Vermont (pub- 
lished in 1794), devoted also about the same number of pages to 
the birds of Vermont. Scientific names of about fifty species are 
given in full, and the generic names of a dozen others. The pa- 
Per also embraces a number of pages of valuable notes. These 
two last-named articles show that several species were then com- 
mon in New Hampshire and Vermont that long since became ex- 
tinct there, and are hence papers of considerable historic interest. 
In 1799, Benjamin S. Barton published his Fragments of the 
Natural History of Pennsylvania; this rare folio contains a list 
of the birds of Pennsylvania, with notes on their migrations. 
Although John Clayton published a valuable paper on the 
ids of Virginia as early as 1693 (Philosophical Transactions, 
Vol. xviii.), and although many enumerations of a few of the birds 
of many portions of the Atlantic States, from Florida to Maine, 
Were made by different writers during the seventeenth and eight- 
eenth centuries, some of which possess especial value in a historic 
Point of view, the four papers already mentioned constitute the 
bulk of the ornithological literature written by Americans prior 
to the time of Alexander Wilson. 
