The discussion about the use of indigenous bird names reminded me of
a passage from one of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, which could
equally apply to birds...
The forest of Skund was indeed enchanted, which was nothing unusual
on the Disc, and was also the only forest in the whole universe to
be called -- in the local language -- Your Finger You Fool, which
was the literal meaning of the word Skund.
The reason for this is regrettably all too common. When the first
explorers from the warm lands around the Circle Sea travelled into
the chilly hinterland they filled in the blank spaces on their maps
by grabbing the nearest native, pointing at some distant landmark,
speaking very clearly in a loud voice, and writing down whatever
the bemused man told them. Thus were immortalised in generations of
atlases such geographical oddities as Just A Mountain, I Don't Know,
What? and, of course, Your Finger You Fool.
--
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Paul Taylor Veni, vidi, tici -
I came, I saw, I ticked.
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