4 Bird -Lore 1861. The same volume contained his ' Notes on the Ornithology of Labrador,' gathered during a summer excursion in i860. These papers, written at the age of eighteen, might appear to- day, in spite of their author's youth and the great advances which have occurred in the science of ornithology, as creditable productions of an experienced ornithologist. Without attempting to present a list of the rapidly increasing number of Doctor Coues' ornithological papers, we may state that from 1861 to 1884 his contributions to the literature of ornithology numbered about 350 titles, including many extended papers and some eight separately published volumes. The last named date concluded Doctor Coues' activity in ornithol- ogy for an interval of about twelve years, a period in which he was largely occupied with editorial work on the Century Dictionary, and with the production of fully annotated editions of the travels of Lewis and Clarke, Zebulon Pike, and other early explorers ; but about 1895 Doctor Coues manifested a new interest in ornithology, and at that time began to prepare a third edition of his ' Key to North American Birds,' and it affords us great satisfaction to be able to say, on the authority of Mr. Dana Estes, the publisher of this work, that the manuscript was ready for the press several weeks before Dr. Coues' death. Dr. Coues' influence in ornithology was first widely felt on the publication of his 'Key to North American Birds,' in 1872, which, as a popular and authoritative handbook, was replaced only by its second edition, a practically new work issued in 1884,* and differing from the current reprint only through the absence of certain ap- pendices. Measured by results, this was Dr. Coues' most valuable contribution to the science of ornithology; the work of a great stu- dent and equally great teacher, made eloquent by its author's mar- velous powers of expression. It is, beyond comparison, the best book on general and systematic ornithology ever published, and has con- tributed more to the advance of American ornithology than any other work since the time of Audubon. Dr. Coues' distinguishing characteristic, as a man, was a virility of mind, which forced his powers to the utmost, resulting in his enormous productivity, and, eventually, his premature death. As an ornithologist, he was eminent as an anatomist, systematist, nomenclator, bibliographer, and biographer. Doubtless his peers exist in any of these branches of the science of birds, but one searches in vain for another individual who might claim to be his equal in all; and this deliberate estimate of his rank places Elliott Coues foremost among ornithologists. — F. M. C.
- The accompanying photograph of Dr. Coues was taken just prior to the publication of this
work, and represents him in his prime.
