Mah Jongg Tile Set Description

Tile Set Name: BIRDSNAM.TIL
Subject:  Birds of North America
Created by:  Jean Hoffman

Description:

The Birds of North American are an obvious choice for a set of tiles to
represent my interests in birding and art.  The nearly 900 species recorded
north of Mexico contain a wide variety from the most subtly elegant to the
most flamboyant.  I have attempted to illustrate this spectrum and have
tried to provide birds from all around our sub-continent.

This tile set uses direct substitution for the original Chinese tile suites. 
Within suites the birds are arranged in taxonomic sequence and not by a
visual rationale. In this case, the suites have been directly substituted
with other suites as follows:

Water Birds (mostly black and white) (replaces suit of dots):

1) Common Loon                  Gavia immer
2) Anhinga                      Anhinga anhinga
3) Black-crowned Night-Heron    Nycticorax nycticorax
4) Common Goldeneye             Bucephala clangula
5) Black-bellied Plover         Pluvialis squatarola
6) Black-necked Stilt           Himantopus mexicanus
7) Laughing Gull                Larus atricilla
8) Black Skimmer                Rynchops niger
9) Tufted Puffin                Fratercula cirrhata

Wood Warblers (partly yellow) (replaces suit of bamboo):

11) Golden-winged Warbler       Vermivora chrysoptera   
12) Northern Parula             Parula americana
13) Yellow Warbler              Dendroica petechia
14) Townsend's Warbler          Dendroica townsendi
15) Mourning Warbler            Oporornis philadelphia
16) Common Yellowthroat         Geothlypis trichas
17) Hooded Warbler              Wilsonia citrina
18) Canada Warbler              Wilsonia canadensis
19) Olive Warbler               Peucedramus taeniatus

Yard & Garden Birds (a cast of "characters") (replaces suit of characters):

21) Northern Flicker            Colaptes auratus
22) Steller's Jay               Cyanocitta stelleri
23) Chestnut-backed Chickadee   Parus rufescens
24) Carolina Wren               Thryothorus ludovicianus
25) Northern Cardinal           Cardinalis cardinalis
26) Rose-breasted Grosbeak      Pheuticus ludovicianus
27) Yellow-headed Blackbird     Xanthrocephalus xanthrocephalus
28) Orchard Oriole              Icterus spurius
29) House Finch                 Carpodacus mexicanus

Birds of Prey (replaces dragons):

10) Osprey                      Pandion haliaetus
20) Golden Eagle                Aquila chrysaetos
30) Peregrine Falcon            Falco peregrinus

Birds with Unusual Bills (replaces suit of winds):

31) American White Pelican      Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
32) White Ibis                  Eudocinus albus
33) Roseate Spoonbill           Ajaia ajaja
34) Greater Flamingo            Phoenecopterus ruber

Bird Eggs (replaces suit of seasons):

35) Crested Caracara            Polyborus plancus
     egg large, mottled, rusty color       
36) Common Murre                Uria aalge
     egg large, pyriform, scrawled             
37) Gray Catbird                Dumetella carolinensis 
     egg plain, lovely blue
38) Dark-eyed Junco             Junco hyemalis
     egg small, glossy white wreathed with rich reddish

Hummingbirds at Flowers (replaces suit of flowers):

39) Broad-billed Hummingbird    Cynanthus latirostris
40) Blue-throated Hummingbird   Lampornis clemenciae  
41) Calliope Hummingbird        Stellula calliope
42) Rufous Hummingbird          Selasphorus rufus


Because this set uses seven different background colors, it may be easiest
to select a contrasting background color for play.  I find color #6 
(red-brown) very satisfactory.  However, the Hummingbird/flower
tiles are bright enough that the default dark blue background plays
well even though those four tiles have the same ground color.  I hope the
challenge of this set appeals to birders and non-birders alike.

June 19, 1994.