Craig & all--
        The best treatment I know of is Kevin McGowan's: it's at
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/birdname.htm   .  He rightly looked
to the way certain human names, like Sabine or Vaux, were pronounced,
even if the ornithological establishment had pronounced them "sa-bean'"
or "vaws," for decades. Besides being irreverent, his piece is funny and
memorable.
        Some pronunciations defy rationalization, however. Look at his review
of "jacana," which in Texas usually gets pronounced "jack'-uh-nah," and
hardly ever pronounced as in the original language. And there are a
number of names McGowan doesn't get around to: my Webster's says the
jaeger is "pome'-uh-rhyne," but I and most folks I know say
"pom'-uh-rin," [with pom as in pom-pom].

Bill Whan
Columbus

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