20 Correspondence. 



Mr. Ogilvie Grant's name is brought forward as rejecting tri- 

 nomials, and every time it is stated that the American orni- 

 thologists are not in favour of trinomials, it must make those 

 oversea ornithologists smile, when the ornithological world 

 knows that they are of one accord in the support of trinomials. 



Re Mr. Milligan's statement at the presentation of the 

 Check-list, that the system would fall by its own weight (that 

 is by using trinomials) and that leading British ornithologists 

 were not using trinomials, it matters not who he was quoting, 

 or who put the information into his hands at the last momenta 

 it is enough 'that Mr. Milligan made good use of his brief, and 

 laid great stress on the lines quoted to impress his audience 

 with the necessity of accepting a list in binomials. 



The quotation from The Auk, Vol. XXIX., pp. 5fil-5„ 

 written by Mr. Joseph Grimnell of California, seems to be mis- 

 understood completely, as the works of that gentleman will 

 plainly show. 



I would like to refer to "Letters of Appreciation" in the- 

 last "Emu." The only one which carries weight, being that 

 of Mr. Tom Carter. I am much surprised at the letter, and 

 cannot believe now that Mr. Carter would take such a step- 

 backwards. Why not quote the last Ibis, tenth series, 

 Vol. II., No. 1, p. 148. When speaking of the R.A.O.U. Check- 

 list it says this is supposed to be based on the work of Could, 

 and on the catalogue of the birds in the British Museum, and 

 its adoption could only lead to the most hopeless confusion. 



The Auk, Vol. XXX., pp. 445-7, after a most scath- 

 ing review of the R.A.O.U. Check-list, concludes with, "We- 

 regret exceedingly that we cannot endorse this Check-list for 

 general use: aside from all questions of nomenclature, it would 

 serve a valuable purpose as a conservative list of Australian 

 species and sub-species, but here it fails in so much as the lack 

 of synomy makes it difficult or impossible to ascertain with 

 which forms the many recently discovered races have been 

 united. 



If the reviews of the leading scientific journals of the 

 world were published it would give Australian ornithologists 

 a chance to weigh them with "Letters of Appreciation." 



Since seeing Dr. Leach's letter in the last "Emu" I have 

 been wondering if some of us are not looking at Australian 



