Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2002 11:33:34 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Walter Ellison Subject: Re: Scarlet Tanager question MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The discussion of folk vernacular names for birds brought some of my old favourites back to mind. I too had not heard the name "Pocket Bird" for Scarlet Tanager, but the explanation makes good sense. A few of the vernacular names that came to mind were the Newfoundland name for Pine Grosbeak - they call it the "mope" . BTW - For access to the rest of the colourful bird names used by denizens of "the Rock" there is a list of Newfoundland vernacular names in Montevecchi and Tuck's Nuttall Club publication on Newfoundland birds. I also remember running into a dairy farmer on a hillside in Braintree, VT who called Bobolinks "skunkbirds". Lastly I was amused by the many names of the Laughing Kookaburra (a funny enough name as is) listed in the old Pizzey guide including "woop woop pigeon" and "bushman's alarm clock". One comment on Bonnie's list - the same Braintree, VT farmer told my father and I that the Eastern Kingbird was the "bee martin", for my part I've never heard anyone call a kingfisher a "bee martin" but maybe that's just the limits of my experience. Happy Birding, Walter Ellison 104 Maple Ave #1 Chestertown, MD 21620 410-778-9568 rossgull@crosslink.net "A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast." - E. B. White ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================