8 PBEFACE. 



PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 



In response to requesrs from beginners, a table has been added 

 on page 190. This table shows the page on which a bird of a 

 certain size may be found. 



Pending the completion by the Royal Australasian Ornitholo- 

 gists' Union of its oflacial Check-list of the Birds of Australia, 

 the scientific names have been left as in the first edition. 



PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. 



The position as regards the scientific names of Australian 

 birds is still uncertain, and even chaotic. Mr. Gregory M. 

 Mathews, F.R.jS.11, author of The Birds of Australia, continues 

 to make numerous changes and emendations. The Check-list 

 Committee of the R.A.O.U. is working on the Second Edition 

 of the Official Check-list. Therefore, it has been decided to 

 leave the scientific names in this edition as they were in the 

 first and second editions. 



September, 11)] G. 



NOTES. 



Where one number is placed over another at the left side of the 

 page, the lower number denotes the number of species of that 

 genus found in the world; the upper denotes the number of species 

 found in Australia and Tasmania. 



The number at the right side of the page is the length of the 

 bird in inches (from the tip of bill to the tip of tail). 



The families of birds known are numbered consecutively, thus, 

 F. 11, F. 12, and so on. The number after a family name denotes 

 the number of species recorded from Australia and Tasmania. 

 The distribution of the species of each family amongst the six 

 zoogeographical regions is shown thus: 



F. 17. COLUMBIDAE (2), WOOD PIGEONS, Passenger- 

 Pigeon, Rock-Dove, 119 sp.— 41 (40) A., 25(17)0., 

 18(10)P., 19(17)E., 4(0)Nc., 24(20)N1. 



This should read: Family number 17 of the world's birds, 

 COLUMBIDAE (two of which are found in Australia and Tas- 

 mania) contains the Wood Pigeons, including the Passenger- 

 Pigeon (of North America) and the Rock-Dove (of Europe). It 

 comprises 119 species, of which 41 are found in the Australian 

 Region, 40 of them being confined to this region; 25 are found in 

 the Oriental Region, 17 being confined to it; 18 are found in the 

 Palaearctic Region, 10 of which are not found outside the regio*u; 

 19 have been recorded from the Ethiopian Region, 17 being pecu- 

 liar to that region; 4 have been recorded from the Nearctic 

 Region, none of which is restricted to the region; 24 have been 

 recorded from the Neotropical Region, 20 being peculiar to it. 



The name in black type is the name accepted by the Austral- 

 asian Association for the Advancement of Science in 1898, and 



