Re: StellAr's Jay OK, Cyanocitta stellAri not OK

[Mark Stackhouse <westwings at sisna dot com>]

Glenn,

You're right regarding the pronunciation of "Vaux." Though  the name is French, and would be
pronounced "vo" in French, the person  for whom the bird was named was British, and pronounced
his name "vawks." Given the sentiments about the French which many Brits have, I'd guess that he
wouldn't appreciate the French pronunciation of his name.

Good birding (from someone who mis-spelled "Steller's" for years)!

Mark

Mark Stackhouse
Westwings, Inc.
1432 Downington Ave.
Salt Lake City, UT 84105
tel./fax. (801) 487-9453
westwings@sisna.com


"Glenn B. Barlow" wrote:
> 
> Jay,
> 
> You peaked my curiosity.  I always thought Vaux was pronounced "vo" to rhyme
> with "though", but I went to Terres' encyclopedia and found out that is
> pronounced as "vawks", to rhyme with "hawks"; right?
> 
> Glenn
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-birdnet@utahbirds.org [mailto:owner-birdnet@utahbirds.org]On
> Behalf Of munthe
> Sent: Sunday, January 12, 2003 11:37 AM
> To: birdnet@utahbirds.org
> Subject: [birdnet] StellAr's Jay OK, Cyanocitta stellAri not OK
> 
> Hadn't checked birdnet lately, so just saw the Steller vs. Stellar
> notes.  As a taxonomist (fossil mammals) I love these disputes.  Fact
> is, if there are naming rules, in this jay's case the International Code
> of Zoologic Nomenclature, the spelling has to be that of the accepted
> first publication of the species even if that spelling appears to be
> wrong.  So if in honoring Mr. Steller the author of the taxon had
> misspelt his name, the species Cyanocitta stelleri would not exist.
> 
>         I guess this is why my more technical birding friends insist on the use
> of scientific names.  Trouble is, I can't remember most of these names
> and can't pronounce those I do remember.  At least if somebody writes
> about a Stellar's (or Stellar, or Stelur, or . . .) Jay I know they're
> referring to a big blue bird with a crest.  And I can always feel
> comfortable calling a Long-tailed Duck what it really is: a politically
> incorrect Oldsquaw.  Heck, a Norwegian's Oslo is a Swede's Christiania,
> just as one man's Turkey Vulture is another man's old buzzard.
> 
>         Ah, what's in a name?  Let's try the pronunciation of Vaux, as in
> Vaux's Swift.  That should lead to a few fistfights!
> 
> Jens Munthe
> 
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