At last night’s meeting Chris Davey discussed the Mathews list and Neil Hermes, who has written on its origin, added comments.
In its 158 species the list includes several species we would now regard as having largely retreated to the west or north: Diamond Dove, Stone-curlew, Bustard, Brolga, A Bittern, Cockatiel, Budgerigar, the babblers, Blue-faced, Singing
and Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters.
The real oddity is ‘Red-tailed Black Cockatoo’, evidently an error, the Glossy possibly being intended. I am unaware of any revision of or correction to the list. It was published in July 1943, and Mathews is recorded as being in Canberra
1940-1945. It is surprising that no resident observer (Cayley in hand) said ‘Hey Gregory – great ticks with the bustard and the brolga, but are you sure about that Red-tailed Black Cockatoo?’.
If he had claimed it on this chatline someone would have done so, perhaps offline, perhaps not.
