Vol. XIV .1 Review. TOO 



1914 J -^ 



claim of this bird to be considered a good species. Mr. Mathews 

 included it in the " Reference-list," but rejected it in his new 

 hst. The dark and white forms of the Reef-Heron are named as 

 two separate species by Mr. Mathews in his new Hst, and are 

 considered one species in the " Official Check-list." Time and 

 more material will settle the point. 



One good result of Mr. Mathews's continued efforts is already 

 apparent. Australian ornithologists are more clearly realizing 

 that the ornithology of Australia is but a part of ornithology 

 generally. They realize that their work must fit in with that 

 done in other countries. Mr. Mathews's new list emi)hasizes the 

 close relationship of some of the birds of Australia to those of 

 neighbouring lands, for more than 130 Australian species of birds 

 are listed as geographical races of extra-limital species. 



The thanks of ornithologists are due to Mr. Mathews for the 

 enormous amount of time, energy, and money he is spending in 

 his endeavours to produce a complete work. It is evident that 

 he considers no expenditure of time or money too great so long 

 as a doubtful point remains to be cleared up. He has set himself 

 so high a standard, and is so candid and critical of his own work, 

 and so determined to have it, in his own opinion, just right, that 

 he is a far keener critic of that work than any other ornithologist 

 is likely to be. Mr. Mathews claimed something approaching 

 finality" in the " Reference-hst " when he wrote in the intro- 

 duction : — " I do not claim that the nomenclature in this hst 

 can be accepted as final: but I can confidently state that the 

 emendations and alterations will be comparatively few." Yet in 

 " A List of the Birds of Australia " Mr. Mathews himself has made 

 "emendations and alterations" which total many hundreds. 



Ornithologists look forward to the day when finality will 

 be reached in bird naming. British ornithologists can rest 

 assured that their Australian confreres will see to it that Australia 

 stands in line with the rest of the Empire in this matter, as it does 

 in matters national and imperial. The present, in both arenas, 

 is a time of uncertainty and trouble. In Austraha the R.A.O.U. 

 used officially in its journal, The Emu, names according to Mr. 

 Mathews's "'Hand-Ust of the Birds of Australasia," which was 

 based on Dr. Sharpe's " Hand-hst of Birds." Mr. Mathews 

 himself superseded his " Hand-list " in iqi2 by "A Reference-hst 

 to the Birds of Australia "—a work so unsatisfactory to himself 

 that he almost immediately proposed another hst, which has now 

 been issued. Meanwhile, the Council of the R.A.O.U. pressed to 

 completion the work taken in hand ten years ago of the issue of 

 the first edition of the " Official Check-list of the Birds of Aus- 

 tralia." The " Hand-hst " is no longer available : the " Reference- 

 hst " has been superseded. " A List of the Birds of Australia " 

 is revolutionary, and certainly not final, for the author, even 

 before he left England, altered names of birds in the concludmg 

 parts of vol. iii. of "The Birds of Australia," and, further, his 

 visit to Australia provided him with additional material. Mr. 



