THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
and the names utilised in my List of the Birds of Australia will be generally 
maintained here. 
For the purpose of these notes it would not be worth while going 
back beyond 1840, when G. R. Gray, in his List of the Genera of Birds, 
divided his Order Accipitres into two suborders: “A. diumi^^ and 
“A. noctumi.^^ The latter will be discussed later. 
The “A. diurni ” was divided into two families, Vulturidae and Falconidse, 
the former of which had no Australian representatives. The latter was 
divided into seven subfamilies, viz., Polyborinse, Buteoninse, Aquilinse, 
Falconinse, Milvinae, Accipitrinse and Circinse. 
Numerous genera were recognised, many of which have since been 
further subdivided, though some of the ones there admitted have been 
recently rejected, probably on account of lack of deep study of this 
family. 
The monographic study made of this group by Kaup shortly afterwards 
was not accepted in its entirety mainly on account of the views held by 
that author. Kaup published a long account in 1844, and adding to it in 
the Isis 1845-8, then published in “ Jardine’s Contributions to Ornithology 
1849-51 ” a r^ume, with additions and corrections. I wiU deal with the 
last-named article only. 
J. J. Kaup was probably the most philosophical ornithologist of his 
time and he became captivated by the “ Macleay quinary system.” This 
apparently futile system captured the brains of some of the cleverest heads 
of Europe and Kaup fell a victim to it. The idea is so dead now that 
it is quite probable that many of my readers have never heard of it, and 
as the founder has a sentimental interest of the greatest value to Australians, 
I would here make a few notes regarding it. 
A very recently published comment of a practically contemporaneous 
worker may be here cited. In the Journ. Proc. Royal Soc. N. S. Wales, 
Vol. XLVIII., pp. 141-151, 1914, Hedley has reprinted the “Australian 
Journal of Dr. W. Stimpson.” On p. 146 is reprinted the note made by that 
voyageur in Sydney on the 29th Dec., 1853, as follows : “ I spent this day 
in the city examining Wilcox’s collection. That gentleman gave me some 
curious accoimts of some naturalists whom I had long known by reputation, 
but did not dream of finding in propria persona in this part of the world. 
He informed me that Macleay, the originator of the ‘ circular theory ’ of 
classification in natural history, was now residing at this place and that 
Swainson, who carried out that theory so fully in zoology (see his works in 
Lardner’s Cyclopedia) was now wandering in these parts, poor and neglected, 
though still hopelessly moping over zoological subjects, though old and past 
