11-Oct mbrazil@TVNZ.CO.NZ OSJ 6th Edition Dear Kantorians, Greetings. Referring back to some earlier mail about names, lists etc. I have since re-found th esummary of the newly announced OSJ "Check-list of Japanese birds 6th edition". This is essentially the same as 5th, with for example Meguro still retained in the Family Meliphagidae (recent research places it in the Zosteropidae). In summary : (1) "family" classification has hardly changed, but some subspecies have been elevated to species apparently eg tsugumi/daruma-enaga/uguisu/hitaki/kasasagi-hitaki (2) the arrangement of species is almost same as 5th edition exept Toratsugumi,Ogasawara-gabicho,Mamijiro,Chishima-shigi,Hamashigi ie no account taken of recent taxonomic work by Sibley and Monroe. (3) the arrangement of sub-species is now from west to east/north to south/mainland to island Ogasawara archipelago, Iwo-jima, Daito-jima (4) some changes have apparently been made to scientific names (I have no details as yet). (5) The following new records have been accepted Kourai-hikuina Porzana paykullii Toshima-ooshima Gobizukin-kamome Larus relictus Osaka Hime-umisuzume Alle alle Okinawa Mori-mushikui Phylloscopus sibilatrix Hegura-jima Barairo-mukudori Sturnus roseus Hegurajima (6) some changes have been made to Japanese names of Orders and Families Order Kamo (Order Gankamo) Family Kamo (Family Gankamo) Order Taka (Order Washitaka) Order Kakko (Order Hototogisu) Family Kakko (Family Hototogisu) (7) Some changes have been made to Japanese names of speicies eg: Yamadori (Kita-yamadori) Kiji (Kita-kiji) Washimimizuku (Karafuto-washimimizuku) Tsumenaga-sekirei (Kimayu-tsumenaga-sekirei) Daito-uguisu (Daito-hashinaga-uguisu) Uchiyama-sennyu (Uchiyama-shima-sennnyu) Kawarahiwa (Kokawarahiwa) (8) species curently under examination are: Diomedea exulans Anser caerulescens atlanticus Anser indicus Sarkidiornis melanotos melanotos Falco peregrinus calidus Circus aeruginosus aeruginosus Porphyrio porphyrio Pluvialis dominica Tringa flavipes Larus pipixcan Larus minutus Larus philadelphia Larus glaucoides Larus fuscus Sterna paradisaea Alle alle Columba oenas Tyto capensis Halcyon smyrnensis Pitta sordida Erithacus rubecula Monticola saxatilis Monticola gularis Turdus viscivorus Paradoxornis webbianus Acrocephalus agricola Sylvia curruca Ficedula parva parva Zosterops erythropleura Emberiza bruniceps Wilsonia pussilla Carduelis carduelis Sturnus roseus Dicrurus leucophaeus Like all OSs they move slowly. Many of the species under consideration are well documented, with photographs and seen by large numbers of people. Quite why they are still under consideration is not clear. Cheers, Mark Brazil