the paradise parrot and thought it 'without exception the most beautiful of the whole tribe I have ever yet seen in Australia.' He begged Gould to name it after him, saying, 'I know of no species that would delight me more to see gilbertii attached to than this beautiful bird.' Gould declined, saying he did not like naming species after people, and anyway, he had just recently named another species after him. Apparently, Gould saw no contradiction in this explanation and though the paradise parrot is now extinct, Gilbert is remembered in the Gilbert's whistler. Naming the Gilbert's whistler was one of Gould's rare ornithological mistakes. He had already named the eastern race of the same bird, calling it the 'unadorned thickhead', perhaps giving some indication of what he thought of the bird. By convention, the first name stands, so today the scientific name is Pachycephalia inornata. But while technically speaking, the name Gilbert's whistler refers just to the western race of the bird, the name is used universally today for the species. Gould also honoured Gilbert when naming two animals that Gilbert had collected for him from the dense heath in the south-west of Western Australia, Gilbert's dunnart and Gilbert's potoroo. Gilbert collected specimens of 432 birds, including 36 new species from Western Australia, and 318 mammals, including 22 species not previously known in the west. By the end of January 1844, he was back in Sydney, and during the next six months worked his way to the Darling Downs in Queensland. The Coxen family who settled the Darling Downs region were related by marriage; Gould's wife Elizabeth (née Coxen) was sister to Charles and Stephen, and aunt to Henry William Coxen. The families allowed Gould and Gilbert to stay on their properties to collect fauna and flora of the district. Leichhardt's expedition While Gilbert was considering which part of the continent should next be investigated, Ludwig Leichhardt arrived with the other members of his expedition to Port Essington (east of Darwin, and since abandoned), and Gilbert was allowed to join the party in September 1844. In November, they decided the party was too large for the amount of provisions they had with them, and Leichhardt ruled that the two who had joined last should return. Eventually, however, it was decided that Hodgson and Caleb should return, and Gilbert remained to become later on practically the second in command