America has the bald eagle, France the Gallic rooster and India the peacock. That Britain, a nation of animal lovers, does not have a bird to call its own, has spurned ornithologist David Lindo to action with a campaign to find our national bird.
美國(guó)有禿鷹，法國(guó)有高盧雄雞，印度有孔雀。而英國(guó)，作為一個(gè)滿是動(dòng)物愛(ài)好者的國(guó)家，卻沒(méi)有自己的國(guó)鳥(niǎo)，因此鳥(niǎo)類學(xué)家大衛(wèi)·林多發(fā)起了國(guó)鳥(niǎo)選拔運(yùn)動(dòng)。

He said: "I want to encourage the great British public to vote for the bird that best represents all that is great about this nation."
他表示：“我想鼓勵(lì)英國(guó)民眾投票選出最能彰顯英國(guó)偉大之處的鳥(niǎo)類。”

More than 70,000 people voted in the first round to whittle it down to a shortlist of 10 and members of the public now have six weeks to choose which British bird they would like to see represent the country, he said.
他說(shuō)，超過(guò)7萬(wàn)民眾參與了第一輪投票，海選過(guò)后得出十個(gè)最終候選鳥(niǎo)，在接下來(lái)的六周里，民眾就要選出哪種鳥(niǎo)最能代表英國(guó)。

The 10 most popular birds which have been voted for the by the public are the robin, kingfisher, barn owl, blue tit, wren, blackbird, puffin, mute swan, red kite and hen harrier.
由民眾投票選出的10個(gè)最終候選鳥(niǎo)分別是：知更鳥(niǎo)，翠鳥(niǎo)，倉(cāng)鸮，藍(lán)冠山雀，鷦鷯，畫(huà)眉，海鸚，疣鼻天鵝，赤鳶和白尾鷂。

Mr Lindo said: "Along with the expected contenders - the friendly robin, charismatic puffin and elegant swan - there is one major surprise, the hen harrier, one of England's rarest breeding birds.
林多先生指出：“除了預(yù)料之中的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)者——友好親切的知更鳥(niǎo)，富有魅力的海鸚，高貴優(yōu)雅的天鵝之外，意外上榜的還有英國(guó)最稀有的鳥(niǎo)類之一，白尾鷂。”

"Down to just one breeding pair a couple of years ago, it may already be extinct. Could the majestic hen harrier knock the hot favourite robin off its perch?"
“數(shù)年前白尾鷂僅剩一對(duì)繁育后代，幾近滅絕。莊重威嚴(yán)的白尾鷂能否一舉將最受喜愛(ài)的知更鳥(niǎo)擊落高位？”

Although Mr Lindo says he is supposed to remain impartial he claims his vote would go to the blackbird whose birdsong reminds him of growing up and "lazy, hazy sunny days".
林多先生說(shuō)他雖然應(yīng)該保持公正，但他自己將投票給畫(huà)眉，因?yàn)楫?huà)眉的叫聲讓他想起了自己成長(zhǎng)的歲月和那些“懶洋洋，霧蒙蒙，天晴晴的日子”。

The final round of voting forBritain's National Bird Campaign closes on May 7, the day of the general election.
英國(guó)國(guó)鳥(niǎo)競(jìng)選的最后一輪投票截止于5月7日，也是大選當(dāng)天。

Mr Lindo said he will be speaking to the Government once the public has voted to see if the winner can officially be made Britain's national bird.
林多先生稱屆時(shí)他將與政府協(xié)商被選出的冠軍是否能夠正式成為英國(guó)國(guó)鳥(niǎo)。

Vocabulary

ornithologist：鳥(niǎo)類學(xué)家

charismatic：有魅力的

impartial：公平的

（翻譯：陳苾璇SCNU 編輯：Helen）