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Hi Ian & All, May 10, 2010
Bird calls are subject to interpretation.
Collins (1959) quotes variants of both forms; Old Sam PEAbody, PEAbody,
PEAbody and O sweet Canada, Canada, Canada for the White-throated sparrow
but seems to favor the latter by his comment; "From...Massachusetts to
Mackenzie.... the pure whistle of the White-throat salutes its northern
homeland, O sweet Canada, Canada, Canada".
Genuine common names, those passed from generation to generation without
reference to the printed word, sometimes differ from the common names of
field guides.
The Gray Jay for example was (affectionately) called Camp Robber, by
those who worked in the woods, because it would often show up at lunch time
and hang around quietly until it could swoop down for a bit of someone's
lunch that had been set aside for this purpose.
Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville
----- Original Message -----
From: <iamclar@dal.ca>
To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
Sent: Monday, May 10, 2010 1:33 PM
Subject: Re: [NatureNS] National bird of Canada
> Hi All:
>
> This can get rapidly out of hand, so let's keep it nationalism-lite. I
> got a followup from the CBC who received a call from a fellow who
> didn't remember its name was but promoted the bird that sings (and he
> has heard singing) "sweet, sweet, Canada, Canada, Canada."
>
> Great choice that, except that it's "poor Sam Peabody, Peabody,
> Peabody . ." in New England and, alarmingly, "baise ma queue,
> Fréderic, Fréderic, Fréderic . . " in Québec. (Hope that gets through).
>
> I can see few flaws with Gray (CANADA, dammit) Jay, except that it's a
> campsite thief; but, that's fair, since we steal its trees. And, as
> Brian notes, it did, after all, (re-)create the world - not bad for a
> modest Canuck.
>
> Maybe a more little seriously, there is some danger in allowing a wide
> public vote on an indefinite list. (We do have a representative
> democracy.) Perhaps each provincial naturalists' federation should
> draw up a list (annotated with support for the choice) and put the
> list out on a national website, maybe that of Nature Canada. Joan
> Czapaly, over to you.
>
> Best, Ian
>
> Ian McLaren
>
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