230 Seton, Popular Bird Names. [a^>"!i 



people. And when I remind you that the so-called classical 

 product is remorselessly scrapped now, and, further, that Skeat, 

 the greatest modern authority on English, has warned us that, 

 rules or no rules, grammar or no grammar, classics or no classics, 

 the street language of London today will inevitably become the 

 university language of England tomorrow; and the street language 

 of modern New York, the university language of America, just 

 as surely as the street language of Elizabeth's time devoured alike 

 the Norman French, and the Anglo-Saxon as well as the bastard 

 classic of the pedants, and became at last the language of Oxford 

 and Cambridge. 



Now to apply this to our bird names. 



If it is the aim of ornithology to spread a nation-wide knowledge 

 of birds, then the popular names are at least as important as the 

 Latin names. 



In 1885, I wrote to 'The Auk' on the same subject, (Vol. 2, p. 

 316) and have no reason to change the views therein expressed. 



The scientist, as such, has no more to do with the popular names 

 of the birds than he has with the conjugation of the verb "to be," 

 for these are a growing part of the living language. And yet, the 

 scientists have arrogated the sole right to dictate the popular names, 

 even while they frankly and openly despise them; sometimes 

 ignoring them altogether; sometimes condescendingly translating 

 the scientific name into alleged English, saying that it was good 

 enough. How far all this is wrong and harmful to bird study, I 

 hope you will allow me to point out. 



The popular name of a bird must always be produced by the 

 genius of the language, speaking usually through some personal 

 genius who makes a happy hit. The name must be simple, easily 

 said, descriptive, short, and is much stronger if in some way it 

 ties up the bird's characteristics with familiar ideas. 



For example, "Kingbird" is a success; is short, is of familiar 

 elements, and describes the bird's character. Every farm boy in 

 its region knows the Kingbird, and by that name, except in a 

 few localities where the rival name ' Bee-martin ' still fogs the issue. 



If we pretend that the name of that species is "Tyrant Fly- 

 catcher," as our scientists once insisted, our popular knowledge 

 of the bird would disappear and with that all popular interest in it. 



