l’lllliUb'Ul’lllC ()ltNl'l‘llUliUGY. 3 The importance of ‘tematie classification is also shown in the ne- ets before we can study them to advantage. As the alphabet is the foundation of a written language, so this great series of scientitic names, which appears so formidable to the student, is the groundwork for all ornithological research. l’lu‘losop/u'c ()Nll/lu)/ovr/‘I/.—llatViug learned the alphabet of orni- thologv. we may pass from the systematic to the philosophic study of birds; from the study of dead birds to that of living ones. A study of specimens shows their relationships through structure, but a study of the living bird in its haunts may tell us the cause of structure. In classifying birds we have taken note of their form and coloration; our object now is to determine how these characters were acquired.

cessit,_v of naming obje

As l’rof. l‘]. S. Morse has said. “There is no group of animals which exceeds birds in varied and suggestive material for the evolu- tioni ’ Compare a llunnningbird with an Ostrich, a Swallow with a Penguin. and the enormous variation in the structure and habits of birds is brought very forcibly to our minds. When we remember that these widely divergent types descended from a reptilian ancestor, we are impressed anew with the truth of Prof. Morse‘s remark.

A brief review of the more important branches of philosophic ornithology will show how rich a field is open to the student of birds. They are: (l) The origin of birds and their place in Nature ; * (‘2) their distribution in time and space. and the influences which determine their present ranges: Jr (3) the migration of birds. its origin. object. ex- tent. and mannerzi (4) the nesting: of birds, including a study of the significance of sexual differences in form, color, and voice, the location and construction of the nest. the number and color of the eggstogether with the habits of birds during the entire nesting season; (:3) the eflect

* See Newton‘s Dictionary of Birds (London : Adam and Charles Black, 1893) ; articles, “ Anatomy of Birds “ and " Fossil Birds "', Cones‘s Key to N. A. Birds,

t Read The Geographical Distribution of North American Mammals. by J. A. Allen. Bull, Am. Mus. Nat. Ilist.. iv. 1392.111), 190-2“: four maps. The Geo» graphical Origin and Distribution of North American Birds. considered in Rela- tion to Fauna] Areas of North America. by J. A. Allen. The Auk, x. 1893. pp. 977150 : two maps. The Geographic Distribution of Life in North America with Special Reference to the, Mmmnaliu, by C. Hurt Merriam. )I. D., Proc. of the BioloL’ieal Soc. of Washington. vii. 1391!. pp. 17761 : one map. Laws of Tempera- turc Control, by Dr. C. Hart. Merriam, Nat. (teog. Mug, \‘i, 1894, pp. 229—238; three maps.

t On this subject read urtieles by the following authors: J. A. Allen, Scrib- ner‘s Magazine. xxii, IRRI, pp. 9327938: Bull. Nuttall Orn. Club, v, 1880. pp. 151— 151 1 Scott. ibitl,. vi. 1K8]. pp, {1771th ; Brewster. Memoirs Nuttall (lrn. Club (Cam- bridge. N:1ss.\. .\'o. 1, pp. 22 : (‘ooke and Merriam. Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley (Washington. 18%) ' Chapman, Auk. v. 1888, pp. 37—39; xi, 1894. pp. 1247‘: Ltlt‘nlis. Auk, ix. t. pp, 28430: xi. 189-). pp. 26—39. 94—117;

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