Like Dennis, I also appreciated Jerry Blinn's cage-rattling
case for capitalizing the formal English names of birds.

I've tried to do my little bit for the cause.

Because my agency does water-quality studies, which often
involve the effects of contaminants on plants and animals,
I sometimes run across English bird names in the reports
that I edit. I always urge the authors to capitalize bird
names, mostly for the same reasons mentioned by Jerry and
Dennis.

The more often that our way appears in reputable print then the
closer we get to making it the standard.

--Jim Lyles <jrlyles at usgs.gov>
Tacoma <jrlyles at eskimo.com>


Nota bene: This communication, which I composed during my
official work break, is consistent with my agency's campaign
of outreach to the communities and citizens for which we
mightily labor.

(Y'all buy that?)