ATDTDA (1): "as cheerful as a finch"

[Dave Monroe]

On 1/25/07, Tim Strzechowski <dedalus204 at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> "I?  no, not at all -- beyond an unavoidable apprehension at the thought of
> Counterfly with full run of the ship and no one to supervise him, I am as
> cheerful as a finch" (p. 21).
>
>
> Finches are passerine birds ...

>From J. Kerry Grant, A Companion to The Crying of Lot
49 (Athens: U of Georgia P, 1994) ...

"H183.1, B137.27  'Loren Passerine'  As Watson notes, Passerine's name
refers to an order of birds, one that 'includes the passerine
ground-dove' (69), beginning
the many associations with Penetcost developed in this closing scene." (p. 139)

Citing ...

Watson, Robert N.  "Who Bids for Tristero?
   The Conversion of Pynchon's Oedipa Maas."
   Southern Humanities Review 17 (Winter 1983): 59-75.

http://www.internationaldovesociety.com/Dove%20Pics/EX/Common%20Ground%20Dove.jpg

pas·ser·ine
'pa-s&-"rIn
adjective
Latin passerinus of sparrows, from passer sparrow
1776
: of or relating to the largest order (Passeriformes) of birds which
includes over half of all living birds and consists chiefly of
altricial songbirds of perching habits -- compare OSCINE

os·cine
'ä-"sIn
adjective
New Latin Oscines, suborder name, from Latin, plural of oscin-, oscen
songbird, bird giving omens by its cry, from obs-, ob- in front of, in
the way + canere to sing -- more at OB-, CHANT
1883
: of or relating to a large suborder (Oscines) of passerine birds (as
larks, shrikes, finches, orioles, and crows) characterized by a vocal
apparatus highly specialized for singing

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