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THE ZOOLOGICAL RECORD (AVES)

W. P. C. TENISON

“ Explorate solum ; sic fit via certior ultra ”, which may be interpreted : “ Explore the ground ; so the way forward may become surer ”. Such is the motto which appears on the title-page of each completed volume of the annual record of zoological literature. I t is difficult to conceive how any science can progress unless some index or record is maintained of work done to date. This particularly applies to museum work, where a classified collection has to be made available to the workers in the various kinds of animals. Discoveries in relationships and changes in nomenclature, unless widely known and recognised, could only lead to confusion. And how valuable it is to any progress if a worker can easily discover what others may be doing in the same field as himself.

Such must have been the thoughts in the minds of a certain group of English zoolo- gists, chiefly connected with the British Museum, nearly one hundred years ago. Under the general editorship of Albert Gunther, who himself compiled the sectionson Mammalia, Reptilia and Pisces, the ‘ Zoological Record ’ was started. As explained in the preface of the first volume, its object was “ to give in an annual volumc, reports on, abstracts of, and an index to, the various zoological publications which have appeared in the prc- ceding year ” ; and so “ to form a repertory which will retain its value for the student of future years ”.

Unity of plan throughout the various sections was aimed at and certain rules were laid down, according to one of which “ the boundary between popular and scientific literature having bccome of late rather indefinite, such popular publications [are] to be mentioned as deserve attention by their tendency to promote scientific knowledge, directly or indirectly”. “ Contributors ”, or as we call them now “ recorders or compilcrs ”, were recom- mended to commence each record with “ a list of the various publications” with “ remarks on their object, extent and nature ” so that “ the student should be fully informed what he may expect to find in the work ” ; and further, to arrange the contents of all the publications systematically in the second, special, part of the Record.

In the early years the compilers attempted to give what amounted to a critical review of all the literature. With the start of the present century, however, the enormous increase in the number of publications necessitated a more concise handling, and the present form of the Record was evolved, each section following the same arrangement. Firstly a list of all publications, whether separate or forming part of a journal, etc., are arranged in alphabetical order under their authors. This part is called “ Titles ” and, up to 1955, they have always been numbered for easy reference. Secondly a “ Subject Index ” by which the searcher may find a reference to recent works dealing with the subject in which he may be interested, e.g. Physiology, Ecology, etc. Thirdly “ Distribution ”, which is a geographical index to the works listed. Fourthly the “ Systematic Index ” or classified list contains all the new names and refers the species to the works in which they are mentioned.

The great ornithologist Alfred Newton was one of those responsible for starting the ‘ Zoological Record’ and he compiled the Aves section himself until his work as Professor of Zoology at Cambridge forced him to hand over to a junior at the British Museum, R. Bowdler Sharpe. This young man apparently had ideas of his own and on 9 July 1872 Professor Newton. who was now the general editor, wrote to Mrs. Hugh

The first volume dealt with the literature of 1864 and was published in 1865.

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Strickland, daughter of Sir William Jardine, as follows : “ Mr. Sharpe gives me plenty of trouble with the Record, making it like a bookseller’s catalogue, with little ‘ puffs ’ of all his friends’ and correspondents’ works, which I am obliged to cut out in the most unsparing manner, still it was better than his performance last year, and if he will go on he will in time be made into a Recorder, but he declared the other day he would not do it again. If he sticks to this resolution it will cause me much inconvenience for I am sure I do not know where to look for another man.” Actually Sharpe continued as Recorder till 1874, with some assistance from H. E. Dresser and Dr. James Murie, and took it on again in 1882 and 1883, and finally from 1890 until his death on Christmas Day 1909.

In the years Sharpe was away from England the work was done by Osbert Salvin, Howard Saunders or A. H. Evans ; but altogether he was responsible for compiling the Aves section for nearly thirty years. Considering the immense amount of work he did in preparing catalogues and his “ Hand List of Birds ”, with his routine duties as head of the Bird Room, it must be assumed that he received a lot of help from those stalwarts, Mr. Charles Cubb and Mr. Jimmy Wells, attendants in the old Bird Room.

Another worker in the Bird Room of the British Museum, though not on the estab- lished staff, was then appointed Recorder for Aves, William L. Sclater, who had recently returned from SoQth Africa. For thirty-four years he compiled the Record, besides doing his Museum work and producing many catalogues, including his famous ‘ Systema Avium Aethiopicarum ’. He was also general editor of the ‘ Zoological Record ’ from 1921 to 1937, and from his wide zoological knowledge he was able to prepare other sections when need arose. On Sunday 2 July 1944 his house in Sloane Court was destroyed by a flying bomb, and though he was not actually wounded he could not survive the shock. The Record for 1943 was produced post- humously under his name.

The lot now fell to the present writer, who had worked in the Museum since 1925, though not in the Bird Room. The amount of literature published each year since the war, and the rapid rate at which it is expanding, gives the Recorder for Aves nearly a full-time job. For several years now the number of “ Titles ” has exceeded 2000, and could be far more if all “ Short Notes ” were recorded, but on the grounds of economy these must be restricted to the more important and interesting ones. Notes of purely local interest in the journals or reports of the numerous small ornithological societies and clubs throughout the world will, in future, have to be omitted from the Record.

It should be noticed that Recorders receive a lot of help from the Librarians at the Natural History Museum, who as “ searchers ” supply them with titles and references to their special subjects in non-specialised journals, but as regards ornithology the Recorder has been expected to search all his specialist journals and record all articles therein. The opportunity may be taken to mention that there are still journals of local and foreign societies which the Recorder does not see. Editors are urged to make sure that their publications are made available for inclusion in the ‘ Zoological Record ’. The journals will of course be preserved subsequently in the Museum for reference.

The “ Systematic Index ” has always followed Bowdler Sharpe’s classification, and since his death a note to that effect has been printed each year. But with effect from 1956, the more modern classification of Wetmore, Mayr, Amadon and Greenway is used.

Something should be said about the financial side of the ‘ Zoological Record ’ as a whole. To begin publication Dr. Gunther had persuaded a publisher, Van Voorst, to produce the annual volumes, but it was too unprofitable. So in 1871 a Zoological Record Association was formed, members being liable to the extent of k5 in the event of funds not being equal to meet the expenditure. By 1886 that Association found itself unable to continue through lack of support and the Zoological Society of London under-

He was 80 years old.

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took the sole responsibility. An account of the subsequent attempts to obtain inter- national co-operation may be found in Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell’s Centenary History of the Zoological Society (1929).

Today, to quote from the Annual Report of the Zoological Society, “ Receipts from sales are still inadequate to meet the cost of production and, as in the past, the Record is largely dependent on donations”; further, ‘‘ it should be emphasised that the services of the specialists responsible for the compilation of the various sections are obtained more or less on a voluntary basis ”.

The list of donations to the Zoological Record Fund has never much exceeded E2000 a year, of which the Royal Society gives L.500, the British Museum L450, the Zoological Society A250, and recently UNESCO has given about E400. It is discouraging therefore to some Recorders to note how little their own particular specialist societies seem to value the work they are doing, if measured by the amount of their financial support to the Fund.

The writer is indebted to the late Sir Norman Kinnear for permission to use Newton’s letter to his great-aunt Mrs. Hugh Strickland, and to Mr. A. C. Townsend and the Museum Library Staff, the late Captain C. H. B. Grant and Mr. C. W. Mackworth- Praed for their help and advice in writing this paper.