On Rare Birds, Anita Albus, Translation by Gerald Chapple, c. 2005

"If, as the Chinese proverb goes, the beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names, then wisdom was squandered in the naming of several genera and species. As long as palpable evidence was a criterion for naming, ornithologists were continually squabbling. Depending on the school or taste, they saw this or that name as being more appropriate. Some called storks Tantalus, other Pelicanus, and still others Ibis.

The confusion did not end until the law of priority was established. Names are empty words; it all depends on uniformity, not on semantic correctness. Whoever is the first to describe and christen a genus will not not be listed by name among zoologists unless he also names a species. According to the law of priority, the honor of having one's name attached to the beast is reserved for the person who first describes it, even if his nomenclature is highly misleading." -- p. 77

Part I: Birds Extinct

The Passenger Pigeon's Eclipse
The Parakeet and Its Practices
The Ways of the Great Auk
The Loneliness of the Macaw

Part II: Birds Threatened and Endangered

The Wondrous Waldrapp
The Shy Corncrake
The Uncanny Goatscuker, or the Willful Nightjar
The Beautiful Barn Owl
The Intrepid Hawk Owl
The Wise Kingfisher

Afterword

Georges Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, "Discourse on the Nature of Birds" (1770)