Birds collected during the Whitney South Sea Expedition. 13, A systematic list of the birds of Rennell Island with descriptions of new species and subspecies. American Museum novitates ; no. 486

The exploration of the bird fauna on Rennell Island has always been considered as one of the outstanding ornithological tasks since C. M. Woodford discovered there in 1906 an endemic genus of the Zosteropi- dae.But the inaccessibility of the island and the bad reputation of the inhabitants prevented a thorough exploration for many years, till Mr. H.Hamlin's enterprise and courage finally led to success in an investiga- tion of this isolated island.The results of this collecting trip have far exceeded expectations, and the bird fauna of Rennell Island has turned out to be one of the most interesting in the whole South Sea.With a feeling of great satisfaction I accepted the offer of The American Mu- seum of Natural History to work out this fine collection.My work was greatly facilitated by the kind help and advice I received from my colleagues, Dr. F. M. Chapman, Dr. R. C. Murphy, and Mr. J. T. Zimmer.My special thanks are due to Lord Rothschild, who permitted the loan of valuable specimens from the Tring collection, and to Mr. Arthur Goodson, who supplied me with many notes and measurements from collections in the Tring Museum.In the arrangement of the families and genera I have departed from the former publications in this series in order to accord with Mr. James L. Peters' forthcoming 'Check List' of the birds of the world, which in turn follows the arrangement proposed by Dr. A. Wetmore.2All measurements are in millimeters, weights in grams, and colors according to Ridgway's 'Color Standards.'Mr. Hannibal Hamlin has increased the value of the collection considerably, by notes on the geography of Rennell Islandand the ecology of its bird life.