Phil: Its not likely to be much of a war, what with everyone else hitting the delete key as soon as they see the header... Irrespective of how the AOU worded their account (now there is arrogance on my part), the European bird is still correctly referred to, anywhere in the world, as Common Gull. First, the name has precedence, dating from 1758. The name Mew dates from 1831. To say Common is technically an indentifiable form of Mew is backards. Mew, discovered and named later, is technically an identifiable form of Common. (Actually, and I say this without offering any proof - it is a separate species and there is no doubt it will be treated as one before long). Mew was orginally described as a separate species and then lumped. When it was, we should have reverted to the name Common, but we are a bit jingoistic and are attached to our names (witness loon vs diver and jaeger vs skua). Calling the bird Mew is redolent of the silliness we exhibited when we changed the name of Peregrine Falcon to Duck Hawk and Merlin to Pigeon Hawk just to show we were not in thrall to the rest of the Europeans. Actually, it is just tradition and conservatism. We do not like to change well established names, even when they are wrong. Neither do the Europeans. Ther are having a fit over the suggestion that they change the name Swallow to Barn Swallow. Have at.... Rick PS _ I've sent a note to a member of the AOU Check-List Committee. If he agrees with me I'll pass it along. If he doesn't, I'll deny under oath that I ever got it unless the special prosecutor agrees to a deal... Phil Davis wrote, in part: > >In the sixth edition, Larus canus is "officially" (per the AOU) given the >common name of "MEW GULL". At the end of the species account there is a >note that reads: "Also known as COMMON or SHORT-BILLED GULL". ... Some >(possibly most) Atlantic coast records are referable to the European L. c. >canus ..." > >I think that until the AOU splits L. canus into two or more species, L. c. >canus is still technically an identifiable form of the MEW GULL, called the >COMMON GULL ... at least as far as us Norde Americanos are concerned. >... your turn ... "Everywhere I go I'm asked if the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a bestseller that could have been prevented by a good teacher." Flannery O'Connor Rick Blom rblom@blazie.com Bel Air, Maryland