Tweets,

I need your help, please. Every day in the biology class at Sequim High
School, Shirley Anderson, the teacher, gives the students a "species of
the day," in which the students learn scientific name, habitat, and
characteristics of a local plant, animal, or other organism. Part of
learning the scientific name includes the English translation of the
Latin name.

Today they studied Redhead, _Aythya_ _americana_. Shirley cannot find
the English translation of _Aythya_ and neither can I. Nothing in the
high school library helped, either. Does anyone out there know the
English translation of _Aythya_, or the origin of this name? If anyone
has the book _Words for Birds_ (now out of print, I think) it would
undoubtedly say, but I don't have a copy.

This is a true test of the value of the internet!

Thank you in advance for your reply.

Bob Boekelheide
Sequim