Julie Roy (asker) Jan 2, 2007:

ORMISTON: With your comments, the lights finally went on :-) Of course!! It makes a lot of sense now. This is the opening paragraph of a press release... which begins with "On the fourh day of Christmas NAME issued an urgent call..." In Canada, it seems that Christmas is also "endangered" because we are always trying to be politically correct. So much so that Christmas is almost taboo lest we offend those that do not celebrate it. It was a recurring subject all throughout Christmas season this year. And the press release is indeed about endangered species, talking about the UN Convention on Biological Diversity that came to life 14 years ago on December 29. A witty opening, to say the least...

Now I just have to find a French (or French Canadian) tiddy with animals in it... know any? ;-)

Marcelina Haftka Jan 2, 2007:

Julie, sorry then! I didn't like the latin name (especially the letter W which is rather rare), so I checked the web. Maybe it is about oiseaux qui émettent des cris?

Julie Roy (asker) Jan 2, 2007:

Cyborg: Yes, I did take the Latin name from that site. The name I am searching for is "calling bird" and it has nothing to do with that site. Here is the paragraph I am working on:

"NAME issued an urgent call to action to protect partridges, pear trees, calling birds, French hens, turtle doves and Canada's endangered species from the threat of extinction."

Instead of "turtle doves" the client should have used "ringed turtle-doves," so maybe they didn't use the proper name for "calling birds" either.

Julie Roy (asker) Jan 2, 2007:

This name (calling bird) is part of a short list in a very serious text about biodiversity and endangered species. Maybe there is another, more serious name for the bird?

Tony M Jan 2, 2007:

In the song "The 12 Days of Christmas", it was variantly referred to as "colley bird" or "collie bird" — I don't know if that might possibly be any help in your researches!

Julie Roy (asker) Jan 2, 2007:

NOT a policy conference title (my mistake). Just in the middle of a text on endangered species.