120 Letters, Extracts, and Notes, [Ibis, 



other species are Linnet, Tree-Sparrow, and Chaffinch,^ 

 wliicli go over in their usual small parties. 



The great majority of the Swallows appear to have left 

 here about the 25 th of September. 



Yours faithfully, 



C. J. Alexander, Pte. 

 8 October, 1916. (2nd Queen's). 



Australian Subspecies. 



Sir, — I would like to give a short explanation in con-; 

 nection with the letter from my good friend Edwin Ashby 

 in the October ' Ibis/ pp. 664-665. He has suggested that 

 subspecies w^ere superfluous and that geographical variants 

 were only recognisable. But " subspecies " is the sliort 

 name for a " geographical variant/' so that we are actually 

 in agreement. Further, he wrote : — " Personally I think 

 that this being the case, Rhipidura rufifrons should stand 

 for the whole series as if this had not been accepted," 

 Yet in my ' List of the Birds of Australia,' published in 

 1913, I had taken up this standpoint, and if Mr. Ashby will 

 refer he will see it consistently used. Again he quotes the 

 case of " Fardalotus affinis " Gould as being of a different 

 nature, stating : '^ I have not met with any intermediate 

 forms/' These, however, have been recorded by more than 

 one worker, and I have such in my collection. 



I should just like to add that I have concluded that the 

 value of subspecies is almost negligible in Australian 

 Ornithology. In the Palaearctic Region they may be useful, 

 but even here I think that they have been much overrated ; 

 while if large series are examined from Australia very many 

 subspecific forms can be diff'erentiated, but larger series 

 always link most extreme cases up very quickly. Conse- 

 quently in my ' Birds of Australia ' I have depreciated 

 subspecies even as advised by Mr. Ashby in his letter, but 

 this course was adopted nearly two years ago. 



Yours faithfully, 



Foulis Court, Gregory M. Mathews. 



Fair Oak, Hants, 



23 November, 1916. 



