;..Rr.t;cNr 
Vol. XXIV. -| 
1925. J 
LEACH, Naming Australian Birds 
171 
1. 
2 . 
3. 
4 . 
Period. 
Linnaeus to Latham (1758-1801.) 
Latham to Gould (1801-1837) . . 
Gouldian (1837-1869) . 
After Gould (1869-1924) .. . . 
Names. 
Years. 
Generic. 
Specific. TotaL 
43 
60 
199 
259 
36 
112 
177 
289 
32 
108 
252 
360 
55 
34 
76 
110 
166 314 704 1018 
NAMES OF WIDELY SPREAD BIRDS. 
The Australian avifauna containing representatives of “every 
widely spread family of birds but two” (Vultures and Wood¬ 
peckers) has 54 names (23 generic and 31 specific), dating back 
to Linnaeus—the great Swedish botanist—who, gathering names 
from earlier ornithologists, used them binomially. None be¬ 
longs to a strictly Australian bird. 
THE BEGINNINGS OF PRIORITY. 
5 
L 
% 
The B.O.U. List of British Birds (1883) used priority from 
the 12th Edition of Linnaeus’s Systema Natures (1766); The 
Checklist of North American Birds (1886) used the 10th Edi¬ 
tion (1758), in which Linnaeus developed binomial nomenclature. 
The second edition of The B.O.U. List of British Birds (1915) 
used priority from 1758. Thus the B.O.U. took a great step 
towards uniformity. The Official Checklist of the Birds of 
Australia (1913) was based on 1766, so a second edition as from 
1758 became necessary. Unanimously, members in 1915 voted 
for “the same name for the same bird.” 
the international commission and finality. 
With the appointment of B.O.U. and A.O.U. committees, 
ornithologists hoped that the forthcoming Systema Avium would 
be official and final. The authority of the International Com¬ 
mission on Zoological Nomenclature—the Zoological League of 
Nations before the League of Nations itself—has even less reality 
than has the political League. The International Commission 
announced (Opinion 67) that “One hundred and two Bird Names 
had been placed in the Official List of Generic Names.” Amongst 
these was Gallinago for the migrating Snipe. Several lists pub¬ 
lished recently contain Capella of Frenzel 1801 for Gallinago 
(1815). Thus has vanished the basis of an earnest desire! Few 
respect the authority of the International Commission. Appar¬ 
ently, “absolute bedrock priority” will cause further changes. 
Priority was, and possibly will be, the main cause of alteration. 
No less than 160 names of the Official Checklist were changed 
to a prior name. 
