Vol. XII."] 

 igi2 J 



From Magazines, Src. 135 



and poems are among the other contents. Some of the ilhistrations 

 are from photographs by Mr. A. H. E. Mattmgley, C.M.Z.S. A 

 copy of the Gould League (N.S.W.) certificate forms an inset. 



* * * 



Mutton-Birds.— Adverting to the excursion of the B.O.C. to 

 PhilHp Island rookeries {vide page 58), the following observ- 

 ations made on the Aleutian Islands (a far cry from Phillip 

 Island to the Aleutians) by Mr. A. C.Bent, June, 191 1, and 

 published in the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collection, vol. Ivi., 

 No, 32, will be read with interest : — "Among the vast flocks of 

 dark-coloured Shearwaters [^Puffinus griseus and P . tetinirostris)* 

 seen in and about Unimak Pass, it was impossible to separate 

 these two species at any great distance. Certainly both species 

 were present, for we identified both at close range, though none 

 were shot, as we could not pick them up. I never saw any- 

 thing approaching their abundance in Unimak Pass when we 

 went through there on 4th June ; small black whales were 

 numerous, and the Shearwaters were following them about to 

 feed upon the remnants of food left on the surface by the 

 whales ; on account of this habit they were called ' Whale- 

 Birds.' The water was literally black with birds all around us 

 as we sailed through acres and acres of them, wildly scrambling 

 to get out of our way or rising in great clouds to sweep away 

 over the smooth water. For several hours we were almost 

 constantly seeing or passing through these great rafts of 

 Shearwaters, and I should not dare to hazard a guess as to how 

 many hundred thousand we saw." 



* * * 



"Reference-List to the Birds of Australia." — Mr. Gregory M. 

 Mathews, in The Emu, vol. vii. (1908), published a "Hand-list'" 

 of Australian birds showing 883 species. He now publishes, in the 

 Novitates Zoological, vol. xviii. (1912), a "Reference-List" 

 bringing the species and sub-species up to 1,448. Mr. Mathews 

 has found it necessary to add and alter numerous names, and to 

 create many new genera, the whole being an example of a great 

 amount of research and laborious toil. 



In reviewing the "Reference-List," The Ibis (1912), p. 346, 

 remarks : — " We quite agree with Mr. Mathews in pronouncing 

 this proceeding to be ' revolutionary.' Nothing like it, we believe, 

 has been done before, and it is evident that Mr. Mathews takes 

 quite a different view from his fellow-workers of what is sufficient 

 variation to necessitate the recognition of a sub-species. So far 

 as we can make out, the sub-species first described in the present 

 list are about 540. Each of them is accompanied by a short 

 statement as to how it differs from its nearest ally, but the 

 characters assigned to them are in most cases extremely meagre. 

 Such slight variations as being ' paler above,' or 'darker below,' or 

 ^ size less,' especially when there is a difference in locality, seem to 



* Both birds are Australian, the latter being the Pliillip Island species. — Eds. 



