possibly £50 with little gain in clearness, and no gam m information 
o-iven. The aim, therefore, was, if possible, to keep each reference to 
one line. Where space permitted, full abbreviations have not been 
used. 
To J. Xeil McGilp, Esq., K.A.O.U., Adelaide, is due credit for the 
inclusion of the map which indicates Australian type localities. He 
sent a generous contribution. Mr. C. It. Long, M.A., late editor ol 
publications, 'Education Department, Melbourne, kindly superintended 
the preparation of the map by Mr. A. H. Hansford, Melbourne. I o 
these gentlemen thanks are due. 
The committee was fortunate in securing interesting notes on the 
scientific names and a suggested pronunciation for each from Mr. H. 
Wolstenholme, B.A., of Wahroonga, Sydney. Mr. Wolstenholme, for 
years, lias been interested in the classical names of birds and has allowed 
the committee to publish, as an appendix, the results of his researches. 
This will be much appreciated by ornithologists the world over. 
Like the authors of The Concise Oxford Dictionary , “we have also 
to admit that, after trying hard at an early stage to arrive at some 
principle that should teach us when to separate, when to hyphen and 
when to unite the parts of compound words, we had to abandon the 
attempt as hopeless and welter in the prevailing chaos.” An adjective 
and a noun are not joined, two nouns are usually joined by a hyphen 
though when each contains one syllable only they are sometimes written 
as one word. 
It is hoped that this second edition of the Official Checklist, by 
using “ the same name for the same bird,” by following strictly the 
International Code, and by using the large genera advocated by many 
ornithologists in Britain, America, and other countries, will prove 
that a considerable step lias been taken towards the long-proposed 
authoritative official list of the Birds of the World — tlic Systema Avium 
— the aspiration of every student and bird-lover. 
On behalf of the Checklist Committee, 
J. A. LEACH, 
Convener. 
376 Flinders-street, Melbourne. 
June, 1926. 
