Abstract
A SINGLE work giving a complete list of the birds of the world had not been published for more than thirty years, during which time very many new forms had been described and much revision had been made in classification and nomenclature. The list which Mr. Peters, of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, is compiling, and of which this is the first of ten volumes, will therefore be an invaluable work of reference for ornithologists if the remainder of the task can be accomplished without too great delay. The information given is restricted to the names of the genera, species, and sub-species, the authorities for these, abbreviated synonymies, and summaries of the distribution of each form. On many controversial points of nomenclature and validity the author has necessarily had to follow his own judgment, but apart from differences of opinion in this regard, there is likely to be little criticism of the way in which he has begun his great labour. The arrangement and the typography are admirably clear.
Check-List of Birds of the World.
James Lee
Peters
By. Vol. 1. Pp. xviii + 345. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press London: Oxford University Press, 1931.) 17s. 6d. net.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Check-List of Birds of the World. Nature 130, 115 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/130115d0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/130115d0