THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 71 



A DECADE IN AUSTRALIAN OOLOGY. 



By a. J. Campbell, F.L.S. 



(Read before the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, 10th July, 



1893.; 



Ten years have elapsed since I completed a series of papers on 

 Australian oology, which I had the privilege of reading before 

 this Club. As some of you are aware, these papers were subse- 

 quently issued in the form of a manual, at the end of 1883. It 

 was mentioned at the time that the manual had no pretensions to 

 anything approaching a complete work, but was intended to act 

 as a stimulus, and to show how much there remained to be 

 accomplished in the oological field. I am aware that a few 

 errors have crept in, which our more recent or perfect knowledge 

 has brought to light ; but it has been well said, " Show me the 

 man who never makes a mistake, then I'll show you the man 

 who never does any work." 



Since 1883 Australian oology has made rapid strides. Then 

 there were about 430 known descriptions (albeit some very im- 

 perfect) of Our eggs ; now we possess 560, about 80 of which 

 were described and exhibited before the Field Naturalists' Club, 

 including a score which remain unique, inasmuch as to-day they 

 are the only descriptions extant of the species enumerated. 



However, many oologists have sprung up in the Club, and I 

 verily believe indirectly through my papers. I may iriention the 

 names of Messrs, J. Gillespie, Ed. Cornwall, R. Hall, D. Le Souef, 

 G. A. Keartland, J. Gabriel, C. French, jun., C. and T. Brittle- 

 bank, E. Dombrain, Dr. W. M'Gillivray, and others, who possess 

 in a greater or less degree first-class collections. They are quite 

 a host at my back, and individually aid me much in my work. 

 There are also many friends in the other colonies. By the way, I 

 may say that an ornithologist is not necessarily an oologist, but a 

 working oologist must perforce be an ornithologist, and to be 

 •successful must have enthusiasm combined with singleness of 

 purpose, besides possessing the keenest eyesight and very 

 discriminating ears. 



Then there are those who went into letter-press with descriptions 

 of eggs. Dr. Lucas described a few ; Colonel Legge recorded 

 some of the sea-birds' of Tasmania ; Mr. R. D. Fitzgerald other 

 eggs from the Richmond and Clarence districts; Messrs. W. 

 T. White and Tryon furnished the first descriptions of Australia's 

 only Stork (Xenorhynchus australis, Latham) in Queensland. 

 Meanwhile Dr. E. P. Ramsay and Mr. A. J. North, F.L.S., have 

 added valuable contributions to Australian oology. 



Of those who have gone to the " eternal habitations" during 

 the last decade, I would mention that distinguished oologist and 

 the most agreeable of correspondents, the late Dr. Kutter, of 



