Oberholser's "Bird Life of Louisiana" (La. Dept. Conserv. Bull.28, 1938), was a notable contribution to the ornithology of the GulfCoast region and the lower Mississippi Valley, for it gave not onlya complete distributional synopsis of every species and subspeciesof bird then known to occur in Louisiana but also nearly every recordof a Louisiana bird up to 1938. However, at the time of theappearance of this publication, one of the most active periods inLouisiana ornithology was just then beginning. The bird collectionin the Louisiana State University Museum of Zoölogy had beenstarted only the year before, and the first comprehensive field worksince the time of Beyer, Kohn, Kopman, and Allison, two decadesbefore, was still in its initial stage. Since 1938 the Museum of Zoölogyhas acquired more specimens of birds from Louisiana thanwere collected there in all of the years prior to that time. Many partsof the state have been studied where no previous work at all hadbeen done. Also in the last eight years some capable ornithologistshave visited the state as students at Louisiana State University,and each has contributed greatly to the mass of new data now available.Despite the excellence of Oberholser's compilation of records,it is, therefore, not surprising that even at this early date twenty-fouradditions can be made to the list of birds known from Louisiana.Furthermore, this recently acquired information permits theemendation of the recorded status of scores of species, each previouslyascribed to the state on the basis of comparatively meagerdata.
The plan is to publish eventually a revision of the birds of Louisianawhich will incorporate all of the new information, but theprojected scope of this work is such that many years may elapsebefore it is finished. The present paper is intended to record onlythe more pertinent additions, particularly records that may be significantin connection with the preparation of the fifth edition ofthe American Ornithologists' Union's "Check-list of North AmericanBirds." There are numerous species for which Oberholser citedonly a few records, but of which we now have many records and[Pg 180]large series of specimens. If, in such instances, the treatment givenin the fourth edition of the American Ornithologists' Union'sCheck-list would not be materially affected, I have omitted mentionof the new material in this paper.
I am indebted to a number of ornithologists who have presentedtheir notes on Louisiana birds to the Museum of Zoölogy and whohave done much to supplement its collections. Outstanding amongthese are Thomas R. Howell, Robert J. Newman, Sam M. Ray,Robert E. Tucker, Harold E. Wallace, and the late Austin W. B