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JK said: Judging by the marvelous photos supplied by Leland de la
Durantaye on 1/5/07, Bombycilla garrulous, the Bohemian waxwing, may
surely be the waxwing intended in PF.
MR: The problem here is that the Bohemian Waxwing is almost never seen
at the latitude of Palermo, just south of Washington D.C. (where New
Wye is located). (Caveat: if we locate New Wye in New England, the
Bohemian Waxwing becomes much more likely). The ashen color is indeed
a more accurate description of the Bohemian breast, but Shade is
describing the bird's shadow, not its reflection. Shadows are gray,
or ashen.
Another possibility, of course, is that the waxwing is the fictional
Bombycilla shadei. I doubt this, though, for two reasons: it is almost
unthinkable that any new species of birds would have been classified
on the east coast during Shade's father's lifetime, though I suppose
it is possible that what were formally thought to be two races of a
particular species were then determined to be separate species, as
happened with the Rufous-Sided Towhee (now Eastern and Spotted) not
too long ago. It is much more likely, however, that such a bird could
have been found in Mexico, and we know that Shade's father authored a
book called _Birds of Mexico_.
Thinking again about Don's "interesting association" query, I tend to
agree with Jerry that Kinbote, while writing the index, realized for
the first time that Bombycilla shadei was a species of waxwing.
To Jansy: Congrats on finding the wonderful passage in KQK. Don informs
us that some of the associations were added post-PF, but the clockwork
toy-gardener scene is wonderful, as is of course the Red Admiral
imagery. Thanks so much for sharing this connection.
Matt Roth