Systematic notes on Asian birds. 51. Dates of avian names introduced in early volumes of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal

The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal contains many new names of birds and other animals but accurate dating of the new names is difficult. The Society wanted it to contain a monthly meteorological report and in many, if not most, years deliberately issued the journal early in the month after that covered by this report, thus the December issue would normally have appeared in January. However, this pattern broke down due to the ill-health of the editor and periodic financial crises, resulting in backlogs of four months or more. Here, we focus solely on papers in which new birds are named and where it has been suggested that the imprint year was not the year of publication. We note the inconsistent dating of these papers in the past and recommend the year that is best used for each.