Today's Broadcast

Topic: Roger Tory Peterson

Today we mark the birth centennial of Roger Tory Peterson. Ornithologist, naturalist, and educator, Peterson published his first field guide (formally titled A Field Guide to the Birds) in 1934. He went on to earn acclaim for (among other things) devising the Peterson Identification System. Still in use, the Peterson Identification System allows birdwatchers to identify birds at a distance through a pictorial key highlighting notable features. What's so great about this method? Well, believe it or not, until Peterson, the usual method by which birdwatchers identified birds consisted of carefully examining the dead bird in their hand . . . that is, by looking at the bird they had shot in order to identify it. You can understand how Peterson became hailed for his environmentalism, too.

 You can probably also understand how the proverbial bird in the hand came to name "something assured or definite rather than merely possible"—such as, say, two birds in the bush.

The proverb a bird in the hand is worth two birds in the bush—meaning "possession is better than expectations"—turns up in a variety of languages worded in similar ways, including the German Better a sparrow in the hand than a pigeon on the roof and the Italian Better the egg today than the hen tomorrow.

Questions or comments? Write us at wftw@aol.com Production and research support for Word for the Wise comes from Merriam-Webster, publisher of language reference books and Web sites including Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition.