THE AUSTRAL AVIAN 

 RECORD. 



Vol IV., Nos. 2 and 3- July 28th, 1920. 



CONTENTS. 

 Avian Taxonomy . . 



A Name-List of the Birds of New Zealand 



A Name-List of the Birds op Australia . . 



pa 



AVIAN TAXONOMY. 



By Gregory M. Mathews and Tom Iredale. 



Recent taxonomists have failed to provide a scheme to meet 

 with any general approval, the best known being far from 

 faultless. American ornithologists have deferred the con- 

 sideration of the higher avian systematics on the grounds of 

 convenience — a plea unexpected from progressives, but one 

 continually urged by conservative ornithologists. 



It has always seemed to us that a knowledge of the 

 relationships of the higher groups is of much more importance 

 than the study of geographical variations of species. It is 

 admitted that much more careful study is necessary in connec- 

 tion with the former than with the latter, but in our opinion 

 the difficulties only make the subject more interesting. A 

 comphcation has been present in the pecuhar usurpation of 

 recent taxonomies by individuals ignorant of avian forms. 

 We have been quite unable to appreciate the reasons for 

 acquiescence in the unmerited dogmatism of such writers, 

 whose inabihty to understand avian evolution has been 

 disguised by the usage of barbaric terms. 



Really only three taxonomists have dealt with bird 

 classification in a scientific manner, viz., Stejneger, Sharpe 



