Recent Lite?' attire. 
2 44 
arbitrary line and include the whole “Nearctic Region,” thus taking in the 
table lands of Mexico nearly to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. 
To the analyses and comparisons succeed “Remarks on the use of 
Names,” ten pages being devoted to the principles which have guided the 
author in his philological researches so far as the etymology, orthography, 
and orthoepy are concerned. This portion of the work has something 
more than an indirect value, for it forms a condensed, readily available 
grammar of the subject to which it pertains. The assistance here rendered 
by his literary associate, Mrs. S. Olivia Weston-Aiken, is fittingly ac- 
knowledged in the Introduction. 
In the body of the Check List the names are printed in bold type, both 
English and Latin, and are numbered i to 888: Sub-generic names are 
entirely discarded, as is the sign of “var.” between specific and sub- 
specific terms. The nomenclature of sub-species is therefore trinomial, 
without the slightest disguise. The technical name is followed by the 
name of the original describer of the bird, and by that of the authority for 
the particular combination adopted. The “concordance of previous lists,” 
mentioned in the title, is effected by referring by number to Baird’s List 
of 1858, Coues’s Check List of 1874, and Ridgway’s Catalogue of 1880, in 
the case of every species. 
On each page the names are duplicated in smaller type, divided into syl- 
lables marked for quantity and accent, anfi their pronunciation therefore 
shown, according to the system of orthoepy advocated. The most impor- 
tant point secured, however, is the etymology or derivation of the scientific 
words. “On the whole,” say the authors of this part of the work, “it has 
not been our intention to go beyond a good fair definition of these Greek 
and Latin words, considering that all practical purposes are thus sub- 
served.” The etymologies are really, however, traced far back in many 
cases. “Nothing of the sort has been done before, to the same extent at 
any rate, and it is confidently expected that the information here given 
will prove useful to many who, however familiar they may be with the 
appearance of the names on paper, have comparatively little notion of 
the derivation, signification, and application of the words, and who un- 
wittingly speak them as they usually hear them pronounced, that is to 
say, with glaring impropriety. No one. who adds a degree of classical 
proficiency to his scientific acquirements, be the latter never so extensive, 
can fail to handle the tools of thought with an ease and precision so 
greatly enhanced, that the merit of ornithological exactitude may be 
adorned with the charm of scholarly elegance” (p. 4). 
The Check List proper is concluded with “a list of words defined,” 
alphabetically arranged, and therefore serving as an index to the work. 
The volume finishes with a chronological list of Dr. Coues’s writings 
on ornithology. 
Aside from modifications which affect the ornithological or scientific 
status of the “Check List,” the changes in nomenclature are numerous 
and radical. Under our accepted, but in certain ways pernicious, system 
of ornithological nomenclature most of these were probably necessary; 
