^°';g^"^-] Correspondence. 55 



Correspondence. 



IS THE AUSTRALIAN MAGPIE A SONGSTER ? 



To the Editors of " The Emu." 



Sirs, — It would be interesting to learn whether many members 

 of the Ornithologists' Union agree with certain statements that 

 have been made in that excellent little work, " An Australian 

 Bird Book," by J. A. Leach. Too much could hardly be said in 

 praise of the book, but it is a pity it is marred by a few mistakes. 



On pages 2 and 3 of the introduction we are told that our 

 Magpie {Gymnorhina tibicen) is one of the great song-birds of the 

 world, and again, on page 150, " That glorious songster, the 

 Australian Magpie." The Magpie is not a song-bird at all ; it 

 utters naturally a harsh guttural sound ; yet in confinement, 

 curiously, it can be taught to whistle a few bars of certain tunes. 

 The Magpie lives in association with the Butcher-Bird {Cracticus 

 destructor), which latter is, without a doubt, the finest songster of 

 Australia. The mistake is continually being made, the Magpie 

 being credited with the song of the Butcher-Bird. 



Mr. Frank Tate, in the introduction to Leach's " Bird Book," 

 page 4, remarks : — ^" Australian nature-poetry will be handicapped 

 until our children give names like ' Bobolink ' and ' Chickadee ' 

 and ' Whip-poor-will ' and * Jacky Winter ' to our birds." Well, 

 we have so named a large number, but the Royal Australasian 

 Ornithologists' Union ignores the names and suggests others. We 

 are told to call the Blood-Bird {Myzomela sanguineolenta) by 

 the name "Sanguineous Honey-eater"; the Crack-a-barney or 

 Twelve Apostles {Poniatorhimis frivolus) by the name " Grey- 

 crowned Babbler " ; the Willie Wagtail (Rhipidtira motacilloides) 

 by the name " Black-and-White Fantail " ; the More Pork 

 {Podargus strigoides) the " Tawny Frogmouth " ; and so on. 

 Could anything be more absurd ? It is sincerely hoped that the 

 new names will not " catch on." On page 104 the following 

 occurs :— " The Tawny Frogmouth is one of the most peculiar, 

 and is the ugliest of birds. On account of its wide mouth, it is 

 called the Frogmouth. and on account of the confusion connecting 

 it with the Boobook Owl, which calls ' Mopoke,' this bird is also 

 called the Mopoke." Page 85 — " The Boobook Owl, though not 

 often seen, calls ' Mopoke,' which sounded like Boobook to the 

 aboriginal ear, but became Cuckoo to the first white residents. 

 . . . . Confusion was caused, for when daylight came, and 

 the Frogmouth was seen sitting in the tree, the Frogmouth was 

 supposed to be responsible for the frequent calls of the previous 

 night. However, some reliable observers, notably Mr. C. H. 

 M'Lennan (' Mallee-Bird ') and Mr. T. H. Tregellas, claim that 

 the Frogmouth does call ' Mopoke ' occasionally, but the Boobook 

 Owl is the bird that is responsible for the frequent ' Mopoke ' 

 on calm evenings." In " The Birds of Australia," by Lucas and 

 Le Souef, page i8g, the Boobook Owl is also credited with pro- 



