George Gerdts wrote:
"The AOU and ABA have adopted Xantus's, Ross's, and Harris's Hawk as the
correct spellings for these names."

Hi folks,

I don't know what para-professional stance the ABA may have taken, but the American
Ornithologists' Union (note apostrophe), in the Sixth Edition of their Check-List of North
American Birds, lists the common names for these creatures as:

Xantus' Murrelet
Xantus' Hummingbird
Harris' Hawk
Harris' Sparrow
Ross' Gull
Pallas' Cormorant
Pallas' Grasshopper-Warbler
Pallas' Sandgrouse
Coues' Flycatcher
Hutchins' Goose
Perkins' Mamo
Fuertes' Oriole
Reeves' Pheasant
Cabanis' Tanager
Cabanis' Warbler
Lewis' Woodpecker

Honorific common names for those people whose names do not end with an "S" have the
apostrophe prior to the "S", such as "Wilson's Warbler".

As an aside, since Chaetura vauxi is given the common epithet of "Vaux's" Swift, I would
presume that the pronunciation is: Vox-es

In any case, I fully support the correct use of English rules (the use of correct rules of English?)
- including the use of apostrophes - when applied to our birds' names. It's bad enough to see the language destroyed with signs like "Whole Turkey's 33c/lb" at Safeway's.

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net