this was copied from a bird list, and then copied again and again.

I thought this was a hoot!

Trust you will all take this in the spirit intended :-)

The following announcement regarding U.S. bird listing rules is adapted from
a memo issued this week by U.S. Justice Department spokesman Nero
Fleurmquist.

As of November 3, all bird lists issued by the Federal Government must be
approved by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Pure Taxonomy.
Attorney General John Ashcroft will examine each list.

The following changes were announced.

The English name of any species the name of which includes the word
"breasted" will be revised to use the word "upperfronted."
All species whose names contain the word "rump" will be revised to use the
word "tailbase."
All species using the name "California" are revised to use the word Liberal.
Streaked Shearwater is renamed Pinstriped Shearwater.
Flesh-footed Shearwater is lumped with Pink-footed to avoid use of the word
"Flesh."
All godwits are renamed "Mudstanders."
Pectoral Sandpiper is renamed "Brown Sandpiper."
All sapsuckers are renamed "Patriot Woodpeckers" in honor of the red color
on many of their upperfronts.
Red-eyed Vireo is renamed Elegant Vireo because Red-eyed suggests the
consumption of alcohol.
Bushtit is renamed Least Chickadee for reasons that I trust are obvious.
Records of Eurasian tits will be referred to by their Latinate name parids.
Wrentit is likewise renamed "Bluestate Skulker."
All wagtails are renamed "Strollers."
Phainopepla is renamed "Blaxwing" because the Dept of Justice could not
figure out what Phainopepla means and there are a lot of them in California.
Palm Warbler is renamed Ground Warbler because the word Palm
suggests...well, never mind what it suggests.
Black-and-white Warbler is renamed True-and-False Warbler.
Hooded Warbler is renamed Ashcroft's Warbler.
Flame-colored Tanager is removed from the U.S. list because it comes from
Mexico and could get people too excited.
Great-tailed Grackle is renamed "Demure Grackle," to the amusement of anyone
who has been within 200 yards of one.
Crossbills are renamed "Seedslayers."
Redpolls are renamed "Pinkish Siskins" after an unfortunate misunderstanding
regarding the spelling of the original name.

The only positive aspect of this new policy in Washington is that all
mention of hybridization is also forbidden because it is, well, not normal.
Thus we need not pay any attention to all those pink-footed gulls that are
the product of joint endeavor by different species.

Additional changes are expected.