1 lo Recent Literature, [july 



by a host of names tor almost every species and genus, due largely to the 

 carelessness and lack of opportunity of our predecessors. If we are pro- 

 vincial enough to shut ourselves off from the rest oi the world and adopt 

 a sot oi names that suits our fancy, well and good, but wo cannot expect 

 others to adopt our list, and if tln\\ follow our principle we shall have as 

 many sots oi namos as there are countries and there will ho no universal 

 language oi science. 



There is no way to abolish the host oi namos already coined, and the 

 clamor to preserve 'time-honored names' is ridiculous. Not only do we 

 all differ as to what namos are ' timo-honorod ' hut the loudest claimants 

 for such action do uot hesitate to subdivide old genera and so wipe out 

 one half of each ' time-honored name,' as effectually as if done by the 

 principle of priority. Therefore the International Zoological Congress 

 established its Commission on Nomenclature which has prepared a 

 code and which renders opinions upon questions that give rise to different 

 personal interpretations. The only way to secure uniformity in nomen- 

 clature is to follow absolutely both :■ lions of the 

 Commission. Any individual or committee that sets up a now point of 

 departure for nomenclature or his own personal opinion in opposition to 

 that of the Commission hinders by s ( > much the realisation oi that end. 



In the oaso oi the present 'Check List ' we fear thai the progress of 

 ornithology in Australia has boon to some extent hindered although the 

 progressive bird students oi the country Fortunately possess in Mr Gregory 

 M Mathews' ' Reference List ' an admirable check-list of Australian birds 

 on advanced linos, following rigidly the International 'Code' and "Opin- 

 ions' except in the failure of the author to recognise Brisson's genera, 

 a stand that we have always sincerely regretted. It is unfortunate that 

 the Australian Committee could not have seen its way clear to avail itself 

 of Mr Mathews' laborious researches in nomenclature and so establish 

 toda\ as the official Australian nomenclature, what will inevitably sooner 

 or later supersede that which is here presented. 



In matters of the recognition oi subspecies and subdivision of genera 

 we cannol expect uniformity except by the majority vote of a committee, 

 as the persona] equation has here to be reckoned with and no eodo can 

 settle the questions involved. Therefore we must expect differences in the 

 number of forms included in the present list and that oi Mr. Mat hew s 

 In its acceptance and rejection of forms however the Committee, apparently 

 fails to comprehend the true nature oi a subspecies. For instance it recog- 

 nises two subspecies of s CCUrring in Tasmania, whereas, if 

 there are two recognisable forms it is the different environmental conditions 

 oi Tasmania and Australia which have differentiated the two forms. If 

 both occur together then we have either two distinct species or a mere case 

 of individual variation which requires no recognition in nomenclature. 

 Just how 'subspecies' and 'geographic races' are differentiated, too. is 

 not clear. Mr. Mathews regards the form just mentioned as a very ques- 

 tionable - geographic race 'yet the committee establishes it as a ' subspecies' 

 with a binomial name! 



