Vol. IX. 1 



1910 



I Death of Dr. Richard Boivdlev Sharpe. ^79 



"The chief trouble I have had has been from the persistent way in 

 which vernacular English names are quoted without the Latin names. 

 Mathews' ' General Index' will, however, put this right. I find him a very 

 good fellow, and an extremely keen man. When once his work gets started 



1 think he will do splendid work. 



" In reading through T/it' Emu I find th it many Australian naturalists — 

 Colonel Ryan for one— have visited England, and apparently have not been 

 to see me. Perhaps they hit on my vacation time, as I do not remember 

 their coming to the Bird-room. As I have not been away on vacation for 

 four years (since my congress), I can't think that I could have missed them. 

 As Le Souef will tell you, I am a very busy man, but I always do my 

 best. I seldom have a moment to myself, and have to do the most of my 

 work at home, and scarcely an evening that I do not work from 8 p.m. till 



2 and 3 a.m. I have finished vol. v. of the ' Handlist ' at last, thank 

 God ! " 



Notes and Notices. 



Erratum. — Emu, part 2, p. 70 — " I first met with this Robin 

 on 1 2th November, 1908." The date should read " 17th." 



A National Collection. — With 750 species, Mr. H. L, 

 White, Belltrees, Scone, New South Wales, possesses the largest 

 Australian oological collection extant. 



" The New Collecting." — A good deal is written just nov/ 

 in denunciation of the collectors of birds' skins and eggs, 

 &c. Why do not these " new collectors " be logical and 

 advocate a heavy tax on cats ? For one bird killed by or for 

 ornithologists at least a thousand are killed by the "feline 

 favourites." — TJie Bulletm (London). 



Nomenclature. — Since the inception of the A.O.U. the list 

 of Australian birds followed has been that of the Australasian 

 Association for the Advancement of Science, which was adopted 

 at Sydney, 1898. This list will eventually be superseded by the 

 proposed A.O.U. " Check List." In the meantime, if authors of 

 articles, &c., are obliged to use other authorities for nomenclature, 

 references should be given, because it is obvious that only one 

 accepted name should be used for a given species in the pages 

 of The Emu, otherwise some confusion may arise, for which the 

 editors can hardly be responsible. 



The Price of a Plume. — The Royal Society for the Protec- 

 tion of Birds has been making excellent use of Mr. A. H. E. 

 Mattingley's Egret pictures in England. Six sets of seven 

 subjects, enlarged, are being shown in shop windows in leading 

 thoroughfares, while lantern slides, made from the photos., are 

 being exhibited at many lectures throughout the country. But 



