[Date Prev][Date Next][Date Index]

Re: A little game . . .

Well this will date me, but in reading your story, I recalled I have the 1941 edition of Peterson's Field Guide to Western Birds. This was not my first bird book, but my first honest to goodness field guide. I was prompted to go dig it out and look through its pages again. What a gem this book has been. It miraculously survived my large family and me too. One cover got lost at some point and was replaced with a good stiff cardboard cover. The one remaining original cover which was cloth covered, is worn along the edges and the corners are roughed up considerably. There are a few notations made by very young birders on its pages. Some may call it scribbles, but I know it was "birding notes". The pages show much wear from being turned many times, and filed between the pages was a checklist from the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. Alas the Frontispiece of bird drawings is missing; which displayed the Thrushes, Bluebirds, and Tanagers.

I believe this book had a big impact on field identification of birds. Prior to this time much birding was done over the barrel of a shotgun.

Mark you have received a real prize. Maybe I will have a go at your list of names if time permits. In the meantime I will dream of Water Ouzels, Pigeon Hawks, Sparrow Hawks and six Species of Junco.

Have a great Day!

Jim Lofthouse

----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Stackhouse" <westwings@sisna.com>
To: "birdtalk" <birdtalk@utahbirds.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 11, 2005 9:54 PM
Subject: A little game . . .


O.K., it's really stormy outside, so how about a little indoor birding fun, aside from watching the feeders (though that's been pretty good at my place lately - I had a delightful White-breasted Nuthatch today). Here's a little game - see how many you can get.

I received a really wonderful Christmas gift from a most unlikely source - the father of my daughter's boyfriend. It seems as though he found an old copy of Peterson's Field Guide to Western Birds at an estate sale recently, and, knowing I'm a birder, picked it up for me. As it turns out, it's a first-edition from 1941 - predating the copy I used as a child by twenty years. It's a wonderful book - truly a remarkable work for it's time. One thing that I've found fascinating is looking at all of the old names that were used back then. We've all been driven a bit crazy with new names and splits, so maybe it's time to have some fun with it.

Of course, some of our "new" names can be found in these old pages - Spotted and Canyon Towhees are there, for example, as is Wilson's Snipe. Other names are only slightly different, like White-faced Glossy Ibis and Flammulated Screech Owl. It's also interesting that there are Cackling, Lesser and Common Canada Geese. There's only one Dowitcher (wouldn't that make life easier!). But there's quite a few that all but the really "old-timers" amongst us might have trouble recognizing.

Here's a list of names I pulled from the book that are different than the name used today. Some are a bit obvious, while others are almost completely unintelligible. Try your hand at this list. How many can you name by their current, AOU name? You can send replies to me or to Birdtalk, I'll post a list of the answers in a few days. By the way, all but a few of these are on the Utah checklist, those that aren't I've marked with an asterisk (*), and, just to keep you honest, you'll see that I've mixed up the order a bit :-).

Good luck!

Mark

Mark Stackhouse
Westwings, Inc.
westwings@sisna.com
801-487-9453 (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA)
011-52-323-285-1243 (San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico)

Short-billed Gull
Man-O'-War Bird
Audubon's Warbler
American Egret
Whistling Swan
Rocky Mountain Jay
Leucosticte
Baldpate
Mexican Goshawk*
Dusky Grouse
Pileolated Warbler
Willow Thrush
Alaska Longspur
Pigeon Hawk
Desert Sparrow
Long-tailed Chat
Sparrow Hawk
Mexican Crested Flycatcher
Arkansas Goldfinch
Marsh Hawk
Sage Hen
Calaveras Warbler
Holboell's Grebe
Franklin's Grouse*
Mearn's Quail*
Florida Gallinule
Linnet
Red-backed Sandpiper
Sharpe's Seedeater
Red-bellied Hawk
Northern Phalarope
Hudsonian Curlew
Green-backed Goldfinch
Rivoli's Hummingbird
Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker*
Wright's Flycatcher
Plain Titmouse
Western Gnatcatcher
Oregon Jay*
California Jay
Russet-backed Thrush
Myrtle Warbler
American Scoter
Sennett's Warbler*
Duck Hawk
Grinnell's Waterthrush
Plumbeous Gnatcatcher

_______________________________________________

"Utah Birds" web site: http://www.utahbirds.org
    BirdTalk:
To subscribe, e-mail:  birdtalk-subscribe@utahbirds.org
To unsubscribe, e-mail:  birdtalk-unsubscribe@utahbirds.org
To send a message, e-mail:  birdtalk@utahbirds.org
_________________________________________________



_______________________________________________

"Utah Birds" web site: http://www.utahbirds.org
    BirdTalk:
To subscribe, e-mail:  birdtalk-subscribe@utahbirds.org
To unsubscribe, e-mail:  birdtalk-unsubscribe@utahbirds.org
To send a message, e-mail:  birdtalk@utahbirds.org
_________________________________________________