Talk:Eastern parotia

Could someone please check the naming of the Eastern Parotia? The Australian Museum has it named after Helena Forde (who I am researching) rather than a Princess Helena. Helena Forde (nee Scott) has much better connections to this bird.

https://australian.museum/about/history/exhibitions/birds-of-paradise/eastern-parotia/

LPascal (talk) 06:48, 12 November 2020 (UTC)LPascal

I have now looked into the naming of this bird. I see there are two theories about who this bird was named after, but nothing definitive online, except for the Australian Museum statement. However I think if someone were to go through the archives of the Australian Museum or the Queensland Museum, where Walter De Vris was curator for a time, you would find it was named after Helena Forde (nee Scott). It is clear from the old lists of birds of paradise that Parotia Lawesi, related to Parotia Helenae, was described (and possibly named) by EP Ramsay and Parotia Helenae was named by Walter de Vris. Edward Pearson Ramsay was curator of the Australian Museum and de Vris of the Queensland Museum around the same time and they would have known each other. Ramsay and Helena Scott were lifetime friends and Helena's father AW Scott was a trustee of the Australian Museum. Helena and her sister Harriet were the foremost natural history illustrators of their time and knew most of the scientists in NSW and beyond. Helena contributed her father's collection of moths and butterflies to the Australian Museum and illustrated mammals, insects, bird's eggs and other flora and fauna for the male scientists. Around the time that the two parotias were named, there were other birds being named after that circle of scientists. De Vris would have known Helena Scott, if not personally, then through her reputation. For example see https://ia800204.us.archive.org/13/items/biostor-101858/biostor-101858.pdf http://biostor.org/reference/53915 So I'm leaning very strongly towards the parotia being named after Helena Forde (nee Scott).LPascal (talk) 10:56, 12 November 2020 (UTC)LPascal