Vol. XII, 



1912 



] Forgotten Feathers. 5 1 



accompanied by his principal officers and Mr. Lewin, painter and 

 Naturalist, set out on a progress to view what he called ' his latest 

 conquest,' i.e., the road across the Blue Mountains to Bathurst." 



J. W. Lewin died in 1819, and was buried in New South Wales. 



The plates in this work were the first natural history subjects 

 executed in Australia.* In fact, only one set of engravings was 

 done before — some views on copper (the copper being taken from 

 a ship's bottom). 



[Mr. E. A. Petherick, the Australian bibliographer, was present 

 when Mr Mathews' remarks on John Lewin were read. In view 

 of the interest attached to the paper, and that it may be 

 historically correct, Mr. Petherick offered to correct some misstate- 

 ments, hence the foot-notes, which Mr. Mathews will no doubt 

 accept in the same kindly spirit as was offered by Mr. Petherick. — 

 Eds.] 



From Magazines, &c. 



Great Brown Kingfisher Breeding in Captivity.— The Avi- 

 cultural Society's medal has been awarded to Mr. Cosgrave for 

 breeding the Laughing Jackass [Dacelo gigas) — vide Avic. Mag., 

 Ser. III., vol. ii!., p. 88. 



New Genus of Australian Bird. — In The Ibis (1912), p. 120, 

 Mr. A. J. North, C.M.Z.S., proposes a new genus, Trichodere, for 

 Ptilotis cocker elli. Gould pointed out that this bird " possesses 

 characters peculiar to itself to demand a distinct generic ap- 

 pellation," and Mr. North adds : — " While differing in minor 

 characters from Glycyphila, Meliornis, and Ptilotis, it may be 

 readily distinguished from all these, and every other genus of 

 the family Meliphagidce, by the hair-like appearance of the sides 

 of the feathers on the throat and fore-neck." The wonder is 

 that so distinctive a bird was not separated generically ere this. 



Hooded Parrakeets {Psephotus ciicullata). — Members of the 

 R.A.O.U. who attended the Sydney session last year will recollect 

 seeing a beautiful pair of these birds alive at the Australian 

 Museum. Concerning a pair that nested in England, Mr. H. B. 

 Astley, writing in The Avicultural Magazine, February, 1912, 

 p. 122, states : — " In November, iqii, my pair of this lovely 

 variety of Golden-shouldered Parrakeets nested in a bird-room, 

 the hen laying three eggs and sitting well, but the eggs did not 



* Lewin previously produced a work on the insects of New South Wales 

 (London, 1805), containing 18 plates, dated 1803 and 1804. These were the 

 earliest engravings executed in Australia. The set of engravings on copper 

 from a ship's bottom (by Preston) were first published in 18 14. — E. A. 

 Petherick. 



