Hi Tweets,

Two things:

John writes:

According to Richard Bank's "Obsolete English Names of N. America Birdes and
>Their Modern Equivalent" found on the net at
>
><<http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/research/pubs/banks/obsall.htm>>

A small point, and I appreciate the patience of those who already know this,
but for those of you post URL's including brackets and/or those who might be
pasting this verbatim into your Web browser and getting 'No DNS Entry'
prompts: URL's don't work like email addresses where brackets surrounding
the address are ignored by the routing servers. In other words, this:

<<http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/research/pubs/banks/obsall.htm>>

won't work, but:

http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/research/pubs/banks/obsall.htm

will.

Secondly,

>The Yellowhammer is a Northern Flicker - Colaptes auratus, with this footnote
>
><<15. Yellowhammer is properly applied to an Old World sparrow, Emberiza
>citrinella. >>

>As to the blue feathers, the head feathers could be called blue. I would call
>them bluish gray to gray.

(Lukas quote)
>>a bird with brilliant yellow and blue feathers,
>>perfect in every particular, etc.

The ID as Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus doesn't sit well with me: its
yellows aren't brilliant, and it's not blue--let alone brilliant blue--by
the most charitable interpretation of the word. It's difficult for me to
believe that colonists would mistake a smallish bright yellow finch the size
of a Lazuli Bunting Passerina amoena for one of North America's largest,
mostly brown woodpeckers.

So, other possibilities: Northern Parula Parula americana, 'Audubon's'
Yellow-rumped Warbler Dendroica coronata; outside stretch: MacGillivray's or
Mourning Warbler Oporornis tolmiei & O. philadelphia.

We'll never know, unless the stuffed bird is still around and someone goes
to take a look (is it? can someone?), but fun to speculate.

And Tom Besser inquires:

> and would anyone really mount a flicker on
>their mantelpiece?

Tom, some people will do *any*thing. '-)

Michael Price A brave world, Sir,
Vancouver BC Canada full of religion, knavery and change;
mprice at mindlink.net we shall shortly see better days.
Aphra Behn (1640-1689)