^°'„,,.1^] " Official Chech-lisl of the Birds of Australia." 135 



** Official Check-list of the Birds of Australia. " 



Pkoi'oskd Second Edition. 



Members will be pleased to know that ornithologists have 

 heartily welcomed the i)roi)osal of the Council that a committee 

 should present recommendations concerning a second edition of 

 the "Official Check-list." Without exception, members have 

 signilied their approval and their desire to assist. 



Australian ornithologists will hi' pii-ased that Mr. Mathews, 

 who has clone such v^aluable wt)rk for many years past for 

 Australian ornithology, has agreed to co-operate. The Council 

 requested his assistance, and appreciates his prompt and ready 

 offer sent before he could receive the request. It may not be 

 out of place to state here, as the list for Mr. Mathews' monu- 

 mental work, " The Birds of Australia," will be closed shortly, 

 that the Council regrets much that he did not allow the Council 

 and editors the privilege of reviewing officially or seeing officially 

 the parts of this great work, though they were sent to at least 

 one newspaper in Melbourne. However, the Council bears no ill 

 feeling in the matter, and extends a hearty welcome to Mr. 

 Mathews. 



The following notes are collated from material mostly worked 

 up by Mr. Mathews and published in his various lists of Australian 

 birds, the Austral Avian Record, and his "Birds of Australia" 

 (vols, i.-iii., and vol. iv. in part). 



In order that members of the R.A.O.U. may have before them 

 sufficient evidence to enable them to give an intelligent vote * 

 on the use of the B.O.U. generic and specific names for the second 

 edition of the "Official Check-list," the following facts concerning 

 the generic and specific names of the "Check-list" are given : — 



A. — Generic Names. 



There are 2>3i genera for the 751 species of the "Check-list." 

 Three-quarters (251) of the generic names are common to Mathews' 

 1913 list and the "Check-list." Thirty-five extra-Hmital generic 

 names are apparently valid, though Mr. Mathews has considered 

 the Australian representatives to be worthy of generic rank. 

 Thus, only 47 of the "Check-list" generic names are in question. 

 Sev^en of these are settled by the new B.O.U. list, and five are 

 " preoccupied," for the same name was used earlier for another 

 animal, so that only 35 need be considered. Twenty of these 

 have an earlier valid name. There seems to be no reason for 

 refusing to use these 20 prior names, so that only 15 names can 

 cause trouble. Three of these are objected to under " one- 

 letterism " — that is, there is a similar name which possibly 

 invalidates the "Check-list" name. However, " one-letterism " has 

 been stretched until it is claimed that Melophagits (the sheep tick) 



* A vote is necessary', as the proposal departs from the priiici))les accepted 

 at the Launceston session in 191 1. 



