"Birds and the Bees"

[Jeff Prucher]

Some swifts really do mate on the wing, FWIW.

Jeff


--- Charles Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Charles Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: "Birds and the Bees"
>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Supposedly it's raptors (hawks, eagles, etc.)--those "amorous birds of prey"
> that the persona of Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" desires to emulate.
>
> I would imagine that copulation while plummeting through the air would
> require not only considerable athleticism but also great mental focus.
>
> --Charlie
> _____________________________________________________________
>
> ---- Original message ----
> >Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2007 20:37:12 -0400
> >From: "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> >
> >At 7/2/2007 06:46 PM, Jon L wrote: Bear in mind too that the "word sleuths"
> may have quite misconstrued what "Sam had on his mind," since the bees in the
> passage are making honey rather than whoopee, and the birds, though pairing
> up, are "on the wing," not "in the sack."
>
> >
> >Which birds mate on the wing?  Or is it only some insects?
> >
> >Joel
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


Editor, Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction
http://www.jeffprucher.com



____________________________________________________________________________________
Get the Yahoo! toolbar and be alerted to new email wherever you're surfing.
http://new.toolbar.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/index.php

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org