After being labelled ‘Tabuan Parrot’ in Phillip’s Voyage (1789) and White’s Journal (1790), the bird was labelled ‘King’s Parrot’ in the notes that George Caley sent to Vigors and Horsfield for their work on Australian birds. Caley also used ‘King Parrot’, apparently a reference to King in the same sense. Caley had arrived in the colony with Governor King in April 1800 (4 months after JW Lewin) and left in 1810. It is tempting to think that the pet King Parrot shown in Hunter’s sketchbook might have belonged to King (his fellow officer). However King was at Norfolk Island for nearly all his first two periods in Australia (1788-17900; 1791-1796). King succeeded Hunter as governor in September 1800, and himself returned to England in 1806. It seems likely the term ‘King’s Parrot’ (or ‘King Parrot’) came into use between 1800 and 1806. From: Denis Wilson Sent: Saturday, 19 April 2014 8:30 PM To: David McDonald (personal) Cc: CanberraBirds Subject: Re: [canberrabirds] Another new book of bird words: 'The Eponym Dictionary of Birds' I feel one of Geoffrey Dabb's lectures on the origin of the name King Parrot coming on. Good. Time for a refresher on that subject.
Denis Wilson Are you amongst Greg Hunt's "increasingly hysterical environmental activists"? If not, why not? The Great Barrier Reef decision of 31 January 2014 is a travesty. |
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