Wednesday, February 25, 2009

of names

I would hate to be a bird. It’s not just the lack of opposable thumbs that would get me down, the things that humans called me would depress me. What were people thinking when they named birds? Here are things that would vex me:
Insult: imagine going through life as a Lesser Cormorant, knowing that no matter what you did, you would never grow out of the Lesser. But even that is better than the Intermediate Egret. An afterthought, that is what it is. Undistinguished. Defined not only by the existence of a Greater, but also of a Lesser.
Identity Crises: The Pied Mynah is also the Pied Starling. Is it supposed to steal things like a starling, or merely have raucous parties like a mynah? Decisions, Decisions. Is it surprising that whenever I have seen it, it has been sitting alone and brooding?
Personal Comments: being named after an exceptionally ugly part of one's anatomy. the Thick-knees and the Frogmouths have reason to complain, think you not?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I love it. It's quite Python-esque, this post.

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