| My thinking about avicide began while waiting for a second breeding attempt by Aust. Spotted Crakes at Forde. Some weeks had gone by following observed copulation with no chicks emerging from the reeds. The crakes' nests are found in reeds where most of the of breeding is hidden. If a second nest was made, two lots of rain could have washed it away or predators may have been. All speculation. I coined the word not knowing it already existed as a nonce. The context I had in mind was of a larger bird killing or eating young crakes. I agree with John Harris that plain English and a minimum of syllables is the way to go Aviation, aviator, aviatrix, genocide, pesticide and lunar module were coined and have come into common usage. I still like the sound and look of avicide even though plain English does a better job. It seems to me to mean , the killing of a bird, so It could mean the killing of o bird by another bird. Could it be brought back into use? Bill Graham
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