December 16, 2008

Bob Evans here. I'm reporting from southern California here, where I have no Ohio sightings to report. However, my father was an editor of considerable repute (consult the Harness Racing Hall of Fame,) and so I can't resist chiming in on this amusement.

Those who insist on this list being used exclusively for Ohio bird sightings need to read no further.

As a disclaimer, whenever I visit home these days I hail from Muskingum County, where certain of my neighbors pronounce gosh "garsh," so my personal reliance on local pronunciations as an authority is, I suppose, sort of sketchy.

Sabine rhymes with cabin, so count me in the camp of the pedants, with whom I must associate, although I was unaware of this.

Mrs. Florence Hunt, my high school Latin teacher (at a public, not Catholic school) always admonished us to not pronounce Latin as we would English. In our approach to this subject we were to emulate Italian more. And so, even though various on-line authorities present the pronunciation of pileus (the Latin root of pileated) as "PIE-lee-us"  and thus "PIE-lee-ate-ed," I have always preferred "PILL-lee-us" and "PILL-lee-ate-ed," with a short i not a long one. Frankly, "PIE-lee-ate-ed" sounds to me like a word vocalized by certain of my Muskingum County neighbors. 

(Note: I am not casting any ethnic or regional aspersions on my neighbors, whom I love. Certain of us Appalachians have university degrees, although I have never heard my neighbors speak Latin. Also note: I have no delusions about my command of Latin. I was an average (at best) student in Mrs. Hunt's class for two years. I will admit I have found my poor command of Latin devilishly useful, particularly  when coupled with my collegiate German, as I have careened through a moderately intellectual adulthood.) 

Whenever I have been in the land of pyrrhuloxias I have always used "peer-roo-LOX-ia," as the human residents of the southwestern U.S. do (the ones who don't just call the birds "them gray cardinals," or "Arizona cardinals." However, I don't have my copy of "Words For Birds" with me. I suspect the name comes ultimately from Greek roots through the Spanish, so I would consult a Greek-Mexican pedant. Do we know any?

Prothonotaries are certain Roman Catholic cardinals (the human, religious kind) whose vestments are roughly the same color as the warbler, and for whom the warbler was named. The word is pronounced "pro-THAHN-a-tair-ee," although certain bird watchers, usually novices, use "pro-tho-NOTE-air-ee." The average public is completely unaware of the word.

Oops, I guess we call ourselves birders these days.

After the storm yesterday, which the local Californians called a winter storm but looked more like early April to me, there was a marvelous throng of cedar waxwings exciting the smaller flock of Cassin's kingbirds, who in turn riled up the local resident northern mockingbird. This display was in the parking lot of the building where I am in exile (although gainfully employed.) You have no idea how much a real rain system upsets the human southern Californians. It appeared to delight the birds.

I am coming home on Friday, whereupon I will have some report having to do with Ohio birds in my own yard.

Joyous holidays to all of my friends and associates on this list! You keep me entertained and grounded during long weeks away from home.

Bob Evans
Hopewell Township, Muskingum County, Ohio (and Lake Forest, Cailfornia)
Geologist, Historian, Curator, etc.
(I guess the et cetera includes pedant, although I am unsure how to pronounce it.)

______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.

You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]