Most of us would regard avian taxonomy as a complex and subtle
business and a source of endless argument and debate over the
most minute of details. So it always comes as an amusing
surprise to me to catch a glimpse of that broad brush taxonomy so
prevalent in the population at large.
Two little examples.
I saw a young child in the Botanical Gardens one day pointing to
an Australian magpie-lark in the gutter and saying in an excited
way to his mother "Duck, duck, duck!" His mother corrected him:
"No, that's not a duck, that's a bird."
In Adelaide busses there is an anti-alcohol advertising sign
showing a cockatoo in shirt and tie seated between two adults on
a bus who are looking at it with a very curious expression. The
slogan says something to the effect that "If you drink it's not
just your friends who will think you're a galah." The only
problem is the cockatoo is white with a very yellow erect crest!
Bill
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William Venables, Department of Statistics, Tel.: +61 8 303 3026
The University of Adelaide, Fax.: +61 8 303 3696
South AUSTRALIA. 5005. Email:
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