Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 12:56:19 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Walter Ellison Subject: Re: DiMaggio's Bunting: quotes & names. the AOU. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi All, re. the AOU: Although I agree that $42 is worthy of a second thought when one is considering shelling out a membership/subscription I will also point out that you can't find a 1000 page up-to-the-minute textbook for any branch of natural science for as little as forty-plus bucks these days. Even among scientific journals "The Auk" is a bargain - check out the subscription rates of some Elsevier and Springer-Verlag titles at your local research library some day. Also there's almost no truly hard-core biochemistry in "The Auk" just enough to run some DNA sequences to see how similar the DNA seems to be among related birds. On the other hand there is plenty of abstruse statistical jargon, physiology that seems irrelevant (oddly enough, it is relevant), and jargon-laced ecological mumbo-jumbo that could be written more clearly. However, the journal is as worthwhile as Harry says it is - there's always something topical and worth reading e.g. reviews of field guides that really give them a critical once-over, lively and almost intemperate debate over issues such as whether birds are "living dinosaurs" or not, obits of some real pioneers in the study of birds (I am looking forward to the "In Memorium" for Dick Pough to learn more about him). etc. I remember Bob Smart from my salad days when he was still teaching at a private school in New Hampton, New Hampshire back in the late 60s. Chris Leahy quotes Bob in his section on "Birdsmanship" (the fine art of subtle birding one-upmanship) in his encyclopedic "Birdwatcher's Companion". I recommend Bill Oddie's "Little Black Bird Book" for a wonderfully concise, and funny, rundown of the foibles of high intensity rarity-driven birding. Bill came up with some lovely little songs for birders including such deathless ditties as "Thank Heaven for little Gulls", and the Aussie-influenced "Ptarmigan-garoo Down Sport". He also came up with such wise observations as "hoopoes always show up on vicar's lawns"; "[Bohemian] waxwings are seen exclusively by housewives through their kitchen windows (always feeding on mountain-ash berries - the waxwings, not the housewives)" this, he goes on, is due to the waxwing's popularity on Christmas cards in Britain; and "rare ducks prefer being shot by wild fowlers". Bill also has a very "useful" tongue-in-cheek primer on how to fool a Bird Records Committee - including how to pass off a Skylark as a Pectoral Sandpiper (all right he started with Skylark for Richard's Pipit). Finally, I always enjoyed Pete Dunne's "CMBO alternative AOU Check-list". I believe the proper terms for starling were "Swill Warbler" and "Dirt Martin", he also termed House Sparrow "Churchill's Warbler", in honour of Winston I presume, and there was always the dastardly "Muke Squam" (Mute Swan). I still use his egret names - "Snegs" and "Gregs", felt sorry for the poor Tree Swallow that became a "Merlin Snack", and feel respectful awe for the "Imperial Corn Buzzard" (Common Raven). Thanks Harry for bringing up the memories. Good Birding, Walter Ellison 23460 Clarissa Road Chestertown, MD 21620 phone: 410-778-9568 e-mail: rossgull@crosslink.net "A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast" - E. B. White (in "Stuart Little") ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================