> What's a Jumping Jenny? Yorke Peninsula vernacular for a ????
>
I've heard that, or something like it, for some kind of babbler I think
- though of course Jenny Wrens ('brown' Superb Fairy-wrens) come to
mind.
...... and whilst we're in crow-eating territory (South Australia), I
guess some in the rest of the world know what the difference is between
an Australian Magpie and a Murray Magpie (Peewee, Mudlark, Magpie-lark,
Guttersnipe, etc.).
This topic will never go out of fashion, and I for one don't mind too
much (provided we get a rest from it occasionally on Birding-Aus).
Birding conversations are peppered with informal bird names,
abbreviations and corrupted names (everyone should know for example that
the GST is not a Goods & Services Tax, but a Grey Shrike-thrush! ....
Tip Eagles [or Sh*te Hawks] are of course Silver Gulls ..... etc.).
That tradition is unlikely to die off either, as long as it persists so
strongly in the vernacular of Australian English. Don't lose too much
sleep over it - save the formal RENs (Recommended English names) for
those places where they are needed - official checklists, atlas
databases, journals, etc. - as various other correspondents have noted.
NB: For those fans of the word nankeen, relax, it's in the current
official REN for the kestrel and night-heron.
Lawrie Conole
Fitzroy North, Victoria, Australia
37°46'57"S 144°58'45"E
http://www.users.bigpond.com/ocoineoil/
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