COMPARISON OF THE PROVISIONAL SCHEMES 

 OF THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS.i 



I the present paper to offer any scheme 

 of my own for the classification of birds, although it is a question 

 that has long engaged my attention, and I hope soon to publish, 

 in another connection, a provisional scheme, presenting what I 

 take to be a natural taxonomy of Aves in so far as it is now 

 understood. My only object here is to offer a few brief remarks 

 upon the more prominent schemes for the classification of birds 

 which have been put forward within recent times, and in a way 

 compare the views of their sponsors. Careful recapitulation, 

 undertaken from time to time, is always an advantage to any 

 science, especially if that recapitulation is made along compara- 

 tive Unes and according to scientific methods. In other activities 

 in which men engage, the benefits attaching to the occasional 

 calling of a halt, with the view of taking account of the progress 

 made ; to making sure that advancement is being made along the 

 right lines, has always been recognized. This, too, holds true m 

 the domain of ornithological science. In fact, those who make 

 the greatest, the surest and most substantial progress m anythmg 

 are the ones who command a digested and available knowledge 

 of all that has been previously accomplished in the field m which 

 they labor. 



It will be a red-letter day for our science when any spe- 

 cies or subspecies of birds is and are known throughout the 

 world by the same name, vernacular or scientific. That is, the 

 opinion in regard to nomenclature will be unanimous, 



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will be equarrejoicing'when that day arrives, when a unanimity 

 of opinion exists in regard to the classification of ^^^^'^ ^^^[^^'j; 

 quite possible that many species now existing in the wor s a\ i- 



