Patrick,
My posting was in response to the question "why are black and
gold birds called "Regent"". I think that if an Australian bird is black
and gold then giving it the common name of "Regent" was an obvious though
not prescriptive option for those responsible for naming birds in the late
18th and early 19th centuries (a period when the issue of regency was
current and meaningful).
I have absolutely no idea how people naming individual species actually
decided what common name to give, or why. Only that that colour combination
had an association with the word regent and thus became a (non-prescriptive)
option.
It helps us understand why a naming decision may have been taken for
a black and gold species, but doesn't answer the question of what factors
determined the naming of the Regent Parrot (it may have had nothing at all
to do with colour).
Isn't there a book somewhere which gives possible reasons for the common
names of Aussie birds?
Russ Lamb, Maleny,SEQ
|
