Glenn,
Where
does science stop and whim begin? Did we not have this debate a long time ago
and did we not agree that it was whim rather than science, but nevertheless
regarded as science, that influenced one taxonomist (scientist) to regard a
taxon as a species when another, using the same data, considered it
sub-species? Each scientist gave reasons for arriving at their conclusion; for
allocating the subject into one category rather than the other. I see the
choice here as somewhat similar, so there maybe an element of whim.
If
you have not seen McGill’s 1949 paper which quotes observations by Hindwood and
Hutton, you will have missed one of the strengths of my argument to include
House Crow with “. . the several gulls, wagtails and others . . ” as a ship
assisted migrant. Hutton states that while on a trip from Ceylon to Australia,
“a Crow accompanied them all the way, resting on the ship at night or when
fatigued. The ship had just left Colombo when the bird was discovered flying
overhead”. I class this as ship
assistance. The bird landed on the ship voluntarily and then used it from
necessity. It was not forcibly “transported”.
There
is no similar positive evidence for accepting Black-billed Magpie.
Whim,
science or a bit of both?
Mike
Carter
