56 Correspondence [isf"Tui 



ducing the cry " More Pork." Now, the Owl's cry sounds like 

 " Who " repeated rapidly about eight times. The Podargus 

 strigoides is the bird which calls " Cuckoo," and which the early 

 settlers thought sounded like the words " More Pork " ; it should 

 be so written, not " Mopoke," which is meaningless. — I am, &c., 



Eidsvold, Queensland, March, 1913. THOS. L. BANCROFT. 



[Regarding Australian Magpies, ornithologically they have been 

 placed in the Sub-Order Acromyodi, or " Singing Birds." Orni- 

 thologists from other lands, who have travelled, state that the 

 Magpie is one of the finest feathered songsters of the world. The 

 other points raised by Dr. Bancroft are published for whom they 

 may concern. No sound field observer admits that the call of 

 the small brown Owl is produced by the Frogmouth (Podargus), 

 whether the sound be " Buck-buck," " Boo-book," " Who-who," 

 " Mo-poke," or even " Cuc-koo." The sound varies according to 

 distance. Ask such an observer as Mr. E. M. Cornwall, Mackay, 

 Queensland, who, by cleverly mimicking the calls, in many dis- 

 tricts, has invariably brought the Boobook Owl, and not a 

 Podargus, into the tree overhead. — Eds.] 



THE R.A.O.U. " CHECK-LIST. 



To the Editors of " The Emu." 



Dear Sirs, — After carefully going through the R.A.O.U. 

 " Check-list," I agree that it involved much time and forethought 

 on the part of the compilers. I do not consider that the " Check- 

 list " was adopted by the ornithologists of Australia, because the 

 members who attended the Tasmanian session did not fairly 

 represent Australian ornithologists. After the list was accepted 

 I spoke to several of the members, and they told me they did 

 not know what they were voting for ; and others said — " We are 

 tired of being chopped about from one list to another ; anything 

 will do as long as it is a fair list." I cannot see for a moment 

 how the list can stand when it is built up on such an unsafe basis 

 as John Gould's nomenclature. Another thing, what right has 

 anyone to draw a line at Gould and say, "That is the limit," 

 especially when we consider that Australian ornithology is but 

 in its infancy, and the best of Australian ornithologists know 

 little more than the ABC of it ? How can a list stand when 

 it contains so many very shaky sub-species which are called 

 species ? Take, for instance, two at random, like Zosterops 

 halmaturina and Petroica camphelli. It is a pity all this time and 

 energy should be wasted, for wasted it is, when the R.A.O.U. 

 " Check-list," in its conservative way, has tabooed trinomials in 

 the face of the ornithological world having accepted them. 



There are many other weak points in the list which could be 

 remedied, but the foundations will not warrant the repair. — • 

 I am, &c., S. A. WHITE. 



Wetunga (S.A.), 9/6/13. 



[The above letter has been referred to me by the editors for 



