The origin of this volume began in the deliberations of the Council and Centennial Committee of the American Ornithologists' Union. The committee, in its various versions, undertook the planning for the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the union. The charge to the original committee was broad in scope and reflected the thinking of many individuals. Our files on the activity of the committee go back to before 1975, but surely others have more complete memories and more extensive files. The history and activities of the committee may warrant their own documentation.

One of the suggestions of the committee, made early in its existence, was the production of a reviewlike volume to cover contemporary ornithological research. An additional group of authors was to attempt to indicate research directions for the future. Some even suggested trying to project to the union's bicentennial! As in the history of many committees, a compromise was reached. Most of these developments occurred during the 1979 annual meeting at College Station, Texas. In 1980, Walter Bock, representing the committee, asked the editors to begin preparation for the volume. General guidelines, which included a list of prospective topics and authors provided by a subcommittee, were our first source of direction. The diversity of topics suggested was staggering but nevertheless strongly influenced the present content and form of the volume.