142 
Review of 
and throughout the Asiatic Isles. The predominant fami¬ 
lies in Australia are the Meliphagida , or honey-eaters, 
and Psittacida , or parrots ; the former stretching in 
gradually diminishing numbers along the Asiatic Isles to 
the Malay Peninsula, represented in Asia and Africa by 
the sun-birds, and in America by the humming-birds, but 
yielding to both in beauty of plumage ; and the latter, 
though found in all the other provinces except Europe, yet 
nowhere so abundant in species : and we cannot conceive 
a more beautiful volume than the one on the parrots will 
prove when the work comes to be bound up, since in 
no other part of the world have they more splendid 
colouring. 
This remark brings us back to the work itself, where, 
on Plate 1, we have the JEgotheles Nova Hollandice , 
or little mawe-pawk, a bird which has been favoured 
with no less than five specific names: and here we 
would point out the injustice 'which, by the present system 
of naming birds, is done to the first describer, more par¬ 
ticularly if that describer be also (as it will be in the case 
of Gould himself) the first discoverer. The first de¬ 
scriber (or Latham, in this instance) calls the bird 
Caprirnulgus Nova Hollandice . Messrs. Vigors and 
Horsfield, several years afterwards, institute a new genus, 
and call the bird JEgotheles Nova Hollandia , affixing 
their own names ; whereas it should be JEgotheles Vig. 
& Hors.; Nova Hollandice , Lath.: and if the date were 
added, both of the institution of the genus and species, 
full justice would be done to all parties, and we should 
not see such an everlasting changing of genera merely 
to attach Nob. to the species; and in whatever genus it 
might afterwards be found necessary to place the bird, 
the specific name would be a lasting memento of its first 
describer: and we again call on Mr. Gould for self- 
interest, if not for justice, to set the example. That it 
