122 THE AUSTRAL AVIAN RECORD [Vol. I 



Caledonian relationships as recorded in literature, but 

 decided, " The two flightless rails turn the balance in 

 favour of New Zealand." The fact that one of the two 

 flightless rails is generically allied to Tricholimnas, a New- 

 Caledonian flightless close relation of the Australian 

 Eulabeornis, and has nothing in common with its supposed 

 allies Gallirallus (=Ocydromus) and Cabalas, while the 

 other has no close relationship with the New Zealand 

 Mantellornis (=Notornis) but is a true Porphyria — and 

 might have more easily arrived at Lord Howe Island 

 from New Caledonia than from New Zealand — annuls 

 that conclusion. Gregory M. Mathews. 



ON THE GENERIC NAMES ANTIGONE AND 



MATHEWSIA. 



By Professor L. Brasil. 



In that part of Wytsman's Genera Avium, Family 

 Gruidce, which is shortly to be published, I have retained 

 the generic name Antigone Reichenbach, 1852, for Cranes 

 of the Grus antigone group ; therefore I must say why 

 I do not follow Iredale, who rejects this name, and 

 has introduced instead the new one Matlieivsia (Bull. 

 B.O.C., Vol. XXVIL, p. 47, 1911). 



Iredale rejects Antigone Reichenbach because pre- 

 viously, in 1847, Gray would have utilised the same name 

 for a mollusc (P.Z.S. 1847, p. 184). To my mind, Gray's 

 use of the word cannot be taken into consideration. 

 In effect, Gray did not propose Antigone as a new name 

 for a mollusc, he only included "Antigone " Schu- 

 macher, 1817, in the synonymy of Chione. There is 

 evidently here an orthographical error — perhaps a simple 

 mista.ke of transcription made by Gray, or an error of 

 the press ; Schumacher has never used Antigone for 

 Venus cancellata, as Gray says, but Antigona. That is 

 quite different. In Schumacher's work, the word Anti- 

 gone which is used at the same time as Antigona, is only 

 the French translation of the Latin word. The logical 



