Mr. Floyd points out an interesting ABA blog article about names and checklist
order. First off, despite the impression my quiz might give, let me say I do
not regard misspelling a felony. I confess to having messed up
"MacGillivray's" (and "Steller's" and "wigeon") more than once in my journals.
That said, I read another entertaining blog entry lately, this one about Big
Day's at night authored by Mr. Floyd. It talked about rules and how sometimes
they make sense, sometimes they are to be thrown aside like dirty laundry. I
basically agree. It just seems to me a person's legal name should not be
subjected to innocent or blatant dissing out of pure laziness or whim. We all
have field guides and just because spellcheck doesn't understand "MacGillivray"
doesn't mean we can't open our books for something other than relearning the
50th time what makes a subadult gull a Mew vs. Ring-billed. When the article
pointed out by Mr. Floyd, written by Ted Hartley, informs us the "official"
committee might well change this man's name to the most common way it is
misspelled by birders seems a total cave-in to the butchering of the English
language we are already subjected to in myriad ways. Will the AOU Board soon
be replaced by the cast of "Duck Dynasty"? Which reminds me, several weeks
back I was atop Cameron Pass, near a thawing wetland, and heard a bird in the
darkness. Was it a Richardson's (or however you spell his name) Owl or a
Hookum Pate?
Lettermann
Fort Collins
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