canberrabirds

Another new book of bird words: 'The Eponym Dictionary of Birds'

To: <>
Subject: Another new book of bird words: 'The Eponym Dictionary of Birds'
From: "Philip Veerman" <>
Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2014 13:46:15 +1000
I think the majority of eponymous bird names are awkward. They are also mostly biologically irrelevant and often expressions of colonial obsequiousness, especially if not named for someone who actually contributed. They still mostly contain the correct apostrophe use, although some names like Gouldian Finch (instead of Gould's Finch) by pass that. Though he named that for his wife. Eponymous place names now almost all do not retain the correct apostrophe use (e.g. Batemans Bay should surely be Bateman's Bay, or if that is not what it means, then Batemen Bay).  
 
The history appears convincing that Australian King-Parrot should be King’s Parrot but being a big parrot it really becomes so much easier to think of it as the latter and would look odd to call it the former, even though formerly more formally correct. As I see it, subsequent to that, the hyphen only makes sense on the basis that it takes King-Parrot as a group name, so as to include other species, not from Australia. As such, it abandons the original eponymous meaning of the name. As for King Vulture and no doubt several other species, surely they would be named for an impression of features of the creature (like King Penguin & Emperor Penguin), rather than eponymous reasons (a particular king or someone with that name).
 
Philip
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Geoffrey Dabb [
Sent: Sunday, 20 April 2014 10:13 AM
To:
Subject: FW: [canberrabirds] Another new book of bird words: 'The Eponym Dictionary of Birds'

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 


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.

"The Nature of Robertson"
www.peonyden.blogspot.com.au

 

On Fri, Apr 18, 2014 at 10:03 AM, David McDonald (personal) <> wrote:

Beolens, B, Watkins, M & Grayson, M 2014, The eponym dictionary of birds, Christopher Helm, Exeter, England.
From publisher's website http://www.bloomsbury.com/au/the-eponym-dictionary-of-birds-9781472905734/#sthash.wRrG20W8.dpuf  :

 

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