Subject: Taxonomic info?
Date: Mar 27 12:35:15 2000
From: Stephen Jackson - Stephen_Jackson at hotmail.com


Pat, and other interested Tweeters,

The book you need to try and get hold of is 'A Dictionary of Scientific Bird
Names' by James A Jobling. It was published in the UK in 1991 by Oxford
University Press, although according to 'a well known internet bookstore'
the book is now out of print. The ISBN number for anybody wanting to search
for it is 0-19-854634-3

As a taster of the information it contains :

Aechmophorus - Greek aikhme : a spear; lophos : a crest
occidentalis - Latin occidentalis : western (occidens, the west, evening)

It is a thoroughly recommended book, ideal for dipping in to in order to
expand your knowledge and understanding.

At the risk of opening a can of worms, anybody who is DESPERATE to know what
a scientific name means, or is derived from can e-mail me privately and I'll
do my best to get the information back to you. I draw the line at
interpreting World/Country/State/County lists! ;-)

Stephen Jackson
Stanwell, Middlesex, UK
stephen_jackson at hotmail.com