Iq6 From Magazines, 6-c. [isf o"t. 



Mr. Mathews to be quite sufficient for the foundation of a new 

 sub-species, and he proceeds accordingly. It is quite impossible for 

 us to go into controversy with one who •' has personally handled ' 

 30,000 specimens of Australian birds, but we are quite certain 

 that there must be a mistake somewhere, and leave it to others 

 who are better acquainted with the Australian Ornis than we are 

 to find out where these mistakes are." 



"Additions and Corrections" to Mr. Mathews' "Reference-List" 

 appear in The Austral Avian Record, vol. i.. No. 3, pp. 73-80. 



Correspondence. 



MR. MATHEWS' LIST OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS : A QUERY. 



To the Editors of " TJie Emu." 

 Sirs, — Is there any necessity for ornithological students to have 

 so many sub-species to wade through as Mr. Mathews has 

 created in his latest list of Australian birds ? Are we to assume 

 that through force (or possibly change) of environment some 

 comparatively small differences are created that form a sufficient 

 basis for a new sub-species 1 Were there not too many before 

 this list was issued .'' 



Granted that the new " sub-species " should be so described, 

 why give personal names instead of descriptive ones .■* To give 

 a name which describes the sub-specific character, if necessary, 

 would be an advantage from an educational standpoint. Is this 

 new list such aid as it should be for purposes of identification ? 



The use of personal names in science is always understood to 

 be complimentary to persons who have made some noteworthy 

 discovery, or who have performed a signal service to the 

 particular branch in which they are interested — not merely for 

 collectors who may by chance (or for gain) forward some local 

 variety or phase of bird or other life procured in their own 

 neighbourhood in the hope of their names being handed down 

 to posterity. Does not giving the name of the collector to every 

 new sub-species (?) sent in discount its worth and the value of 

 distinctions which have been worthily bestowed .'' — I am, &c., 



H. KENDALL. 



To the Editors of " The Emu." 



Sirs, — My attention has been drawn to the preface in Mr. 

 Gregory Mathews's work. " The Birds of Australia," wherein the 

 learned author makes the following statement regarding the 

 nomenclature of Australian birds : — "The most gratifying feature 

 in connection with my work is the declared intention of the 

 Royal Ornithologists' Union (voiced by Mr. Milligan, Emu, vol xi.. 

 p. 136, 1911) to give loyal adherence to the system, presently 

 adopted by the national authority on ornithology within the 

 British Dominions, namely, the British Museum. 



