My Beau-Frere, Padraic de Bhaldraithe, who is spending his retirement translating scientific texts into Irish sent me this mail this morning:

“As I’ve spent the last few months delving into the biological nomenclature of approx 6,000 species, I’ve learned many new names. I had no idea that there were birds with the following appellations:

Uraeginthus cyanocephalus (Richmond, 1897) — Blue-capped Cordon-bleu

Uraeginthus bengalus (Linnaeus, 1766) — Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu.”

He is of course totally mistaken, these are not birds but chefs de cuisine.
We all know that the Cordon-Bleu is the ancient order of chefs.

Uraeginthus cyanocephalus is a second year Commis who wears a distinctive blue cap.

Uraeginthus bengalus is a second year Commis at the end of a busy night when he has been at the cooking wine.