Actually, Kortright includes the following synonyms, all, I think, providing
fairly damning evidence for how we should interpret "Oldsquaw:"

Mammy Duck
Mommy
Old Granny
Old Mammy
Old mommy
Old-wife
alewife
Ol-wye
and... teet

And while I support the retention of Oldsquaw, if the other choice is
Long-tailed Duck, word is the AOU is talking change... to Long-tailed Duck.


>
>
>Lets get serious. The name "Oldsquaw" is the offical name of the species
>in North America. I believe that the bird is named because it makes a
>call that sounds to some like "old squaw" on its breeding grounds. There
>is nothing inherently derogatory in the word "squaw".
>
>
>
>Jeff Gilligan. Portland, Oregon.
>jeffgill at teleport.COM
>
>
>

--
*********************************** I got the blues so bad one time
* Mike Patterson, Astoria, OR * it put my face in a permanent frown
* mpatters at orednet.org * but I am feelin' so much better
*http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters* I could cake-walk into town