There is a little more to the story than that. The book was published by Yale University Press in 1924, for a memorial fund. I acquired a copy in the US in
1986 and, given the engaging illustrations, was going to suggest some kind of republication in Australia. However I found this had been anticipated by a Peter Smith, using his own copy. Mr Smith’s great grandfather was a paddle-steamer owner, and he had a
childhood at Wahgunyah and a keen interest in the old river trade. The facsimile edition was put out in 1984 by Shoestring Press of Wangaratta.
The reprint noted the ‘eccentricities in the spelling and other inaccuracies included in the text’. The original manuscript had been edited by someone whose
‘sources of information on, and knowledge about, Australia would have been limited’.
Some years ago I raised the mystery of the Cape Java blue duck on this chatline. When preparing his book Ian Fraser asked me if I had been able to reach any
conclusion about it. Unhappily not. If Captain Peirce gave us ‘Ibex’, it might have been a swamphen.
It lives on with the Bunyip, the Yowie, the Great Swamp Ibex and the Disoriented Multiplying Grassbird as one of the semi-real creatures of the great Australian
wildness.
From: Martin Butterfield [
Sent: Wednesday, 11 January 2017 8:02 AM
To: Geoffrey Dabb
Cc: COG List
Subject: Re: FW: [canberrabirds] A quiz!
I presume that is a submission of "Don't know any of them."
I must admit the "Ibex" is pretty good - and, while I would automatically distrust anyone with a mo like that, I suspect it is something to do with current predictive text rather than what was written
in the 19th Century.
On 11 January 2017 at 07:38, Geoffrey Dabb <> wrote:
Shallow-water stuff! Here is a slide from a forthcoming talk on Australian bird names …
From: Martin
Butterfield [
Sent: Wednesday, 11 January 2017 4:49 AM
To: David McDonald (personal)
Cc: COG List
Subject: Re: [canberrabirds] A quiz!
Yes, providing this is declared for the species for which you use it. Note that one of the names in the quiz is not included in that excellent
volume.
On 10 January 2017 at 20:40, David McDonald (personal) <> wrote:
OK, I won't use Google, but is it OK to use Fraser, I & Gray, J 2013,
Australian bird names: a complete guide, CSIRO Press, Collingwood, Vic.?
David
On 10/01/2017 5:18 PM, Martin Butterfield wrote:
I have been doing some list matching and come up with some interesting bird names. I am interested how many people can put the name used
in the current official COG List to these vernacular names found in one of my lists -
without using Google!
-
Diver
-
Carr Goose
-
Canvasback
-
Allied Harrier
