Lapwings, Loons and Lousy Jacks: The How and Why of Bird Names

306 Pages·2016·66.41 MB·English

by  Ray Reedman

LAPWINGS, LOONS AND
LOUSY JACKS

LAPWINGS, LOONS AND
LOUSY JACKS
The How and Why
of Bird Names
Ray Reedman
Pelagic Publishing
Published by Pelagic Publishing
www.pelagicpublishing.com
PO Box 725, Exeter EX1 9QU, UK
Lapwings, Loons and Lousy Jacks: The How and Why of Bird Names
ISBN 978-1-78427-092-6 (Hbk)
ISBN 978-1-78427-093-3 (ePub)
ISBN 978-1-78427-094-0 (Mobi)
ISBN 978-1-78427-095-7 (PDF)
Copyright © 2016 Ray Reedman
The author asserts his moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be produced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without prior permission from the publisher. While every effort
has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information
presented, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express
or implied. Neither the author, nor Pelagic Publishing, its agents and distributors will be
held liable for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by
this book.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library.
Cover image:
Lapwing Family by Martina Nacházelová (www.nachi.artstation.com).
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements................................................ vii
Preface........................................................... ix
1 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES........................................1
Roots and routes 2
Widening horizons 3
2 FRAMEWORKS ................................................... 5
The milestones 5
Developments before Linnaeus 7
Linnaeus and the Linnaean system 8
The evolution of formal English names 10
3 INSIDE THE SYSTEM............................................. 14
The matrix 14
Classic deviations 15
The names behind the names 15
Things in their place 17
Cardinal points 20
And the scientists didn’t always do so well… 21
Warts and all 22
4 THE NAMES AND THE STORIES...................................24
5 NEW HORIZONS................................................209
Crossing the great divide: North American names 210
Let’s go fossicking: Australian names 220
The Trinidad trail 239
Journey’s end 251
6 APPENDIX THE LEGENDS BEHIND THE NAMES ....................253
Avian transmutations in the Classical world 254
Other legends 258
Bibliography ....................................................262
Index ..........................................................265
My father, Alf, taught me about the outdoors; my mother, Elsie, gave me my
love of books. My wife, Mary, has been my companion and support for almost
sixty years. My grandchildren, Robert, Jade and Amber, are the future. This is
for them.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many years ago, a colleague, Ann Cole, involved me in her work on ‘eagle’
place names (cited later). Another colleague, John Allen, gave me a copy of
the Oxford Book of Bird Names. Both inadvertently sowed the seeds of this idea.
When I retired, the late Martin Sell was a generous mentor and friend who
taught me a great deal and encouraged me to follow his lead in teaching the basics
of ornithology to adults. Martin also introduced me to what is now the Berkshire
Ornithological Club, where such as Colin Wilson, Ted Rogers and Bill Nicoll,
among many others, shared their knowledge, skills and friendship. Ken and Sarah
White later introduced us to the wonders of birding in Andalucia. It has been a
fulfilling experience.
My brother-in-law, Reg Coombes, and his late wife, Jean, hosted us many
times in Florida and Canada and always went out of their way to introduce us to
local wildlife opportunities. My sister Marian and her husband, Henry Morrison,
have always lived close to nature in Australia, so our visits to them have allowed
me to savour some very special environments. As a result, so much of this book is
about very happy memories.
In New South Wales, Clive and Enid Johnson were generous hosts: Clive
introduced me to the name ‘Lousy Jacks’ as we explored their farm. In Nova
Scotia, Bob and Wendy McDonald took us birding in the Wolfville area. More
formal birding activities have introduced us to some wonderful professionals:
Carol Probets in the Blue Mountains, Luke Paterson in the Northern Territory,
Mike Crewe of Limosa, and Roodal and David Ramlal in Trinidad.
Carol was quick to respond to a couple of requests for help with Australian
names, as too was Bob Flood on a pelagic matter. I much appreciate the help and
feedback I had at an earlier phase of the work from Andy Swash and David Lindo
in particular.
Ernest Leahy and the Birds of Berkshire Atlas Group have allowed me to
reproduce the line drawing of a Common Scoter, which originally appeared in the
2013 Berkshire Atlas. Katrina van Grouw freely offered her wonderful Trumpet
Manucode drawing, which first appeared in her masterpiece The Unfeathered
Bird. The bird pictures are generally my own work, but there are a few exceptions:
Adrian Brown supplied the photo of the Great Northern Diver/Common Loon;
Mary took the photo of the Thekla Lark; and the late Ros Hardie photographed the
Woodchat Shrike for us, as it was on her side of the minibus.
Clearly I am indebted to a whole library of references, whose authors for one
reason or another have focused on the wonderful world of birds. These are listed
at the end, but the works of Messrs Lockwood, Jobling, Choate and Macdonald
viii · ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
have been particularly important to me. I much appreciate the permissions to cite
from assorted works by the following: British Birds; the British Ornithologists’
Union; the British Trust for Ornithology; Bloomsbury Publishing plc; Ebury Press;
Encyclopaedia Britannica; the Gilbert White Museum and Thames & Hudson;
the Harvard Common Press; HarperCollins; the International Committee for
Zoological Nomenclature; Oxford University Press; Phaidon; Reed New Holland;
and Tony Soper in person.
Adrian Brown and Gray Burfoot have long put up with my in-car ramblings
as this book developed, and have both provided valuable feedback as reviewers of
the text: in another life we all called it marking homework. Mary read the work
through at an earlier stage. The final copy-editing by Hugh Brazier was a rigid
and disciplined exercise, conducted with a real sense of common purpose and a
great deal of good humour. As a result, rough edges were smoothed and errors
corrected. Obviously I am indebted to Nigel Massen who willingly and enthusias-
tically took on the task of converting my draft into a finished volume. My thanks
to him and to the Pelagic team.
And finally, none of this would be possible without the birds. This book is
about much more than their labels, so please read on and I hope that you will
discover that they have a much more profound meaning for me as symbols of
wonder and beauty – and even of life itself.