178 From Magazines, &c. [_^I"un. 



protection in New South Wales, but anomalies remain. Why, 

 it may well be asked, is the Spotted-sided Finch the only Finch 

 to receive any protection, and why does it get so little ? Every- 

 one knows that our beautiful native Finches are shipped in 

 thousands to Europe, or to die on the way, and if the rarer species 

 are not to be exterminated this traffic must be controlled, or, 

 better still, stopped altogether. Again, the Acanthizas are to 

 get ten years' absolute protection, while the Emu-Wren and 

 Wood-Swallow have to be content with a close season. The 

 Kestrel might well be included in the protected list, but is not. 

 A distinction is made in the schedule between foreign and 

 Australian birds : it will come as a surprise to the ordinary 

 reader to find the Indian Minah [AcridotJieres tristis) classed as 

 an Australian species. That occurs in the original schedule, 

 but the additions now made to it are not quite free from 

 elements of confusion. Probably it is the wish to avoid the 

 cul-de-sac into which strict adherence to the law of priority would 

 in this instance lead that is responsible for the appearance of the 

 name Mahirus australis as one of the Blue Wrens. The inten- 

 tion is good, but the result is confusing. Under the original 

 schedule there was a close season for " Blue Wrens : Mahirus 

 cyaneus and Mahirus lavibeiti" — that is to say, the common 

 Blue Wren and the Lambert Wren. Now Mahirus austrahs is 

 added to the protected list. If this is the common Blue Wren, 

 it was protected already, and, one would think, all the more 

 effectually for being given the name by which it is usually 

 known. The case is a good example of the confusion that is 

 caused by the present day craze for " priorities " without respect 

 to the claims of usage, and is another proof oi the necessity for a 

 thorough revision of nomenclature. When a thoroughly com- 

 petent committee has dealt with the list no such trouble will be 

 likely to occur, and the opinions of individual observers will only 

 take a place corresponding to what they are worth. 



Obituary Notice. 



HUTTON.— On 27th October, at sea, Frederick Wollaston Hutlon, F.R.S., in his 

 69th year. 



The news of the death of Captain Frederick Wollaston Hutton, 

 F.R.S., of New Zealand, will be received with the deepest regret, 

 not only by ornithologists, but by his scientific brethren 

 throughout the world. The sad event was not unexpected by 

 the few who knew how unsatisfactory his health had been of 

 late. It took place on board the steamer Rimutaka, off South 

 Africa, whilst, with Mrs. Hutton, he was returning from England, 

 where he had been for the sake of his health. 



Captain Hutton had made for himself a distinguished name in 



