CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 47 



193. Passer moiitaims (L.). B . c . R . [imp. and Nat.] 



European Tree Sparrow. 



194. Carpodacus purpureus (Gm.) Gr. B sos. c 139. R 168. 



Purple Finch. 



195. Carpodacus cassini Bd. B SOT. c 140. R 169. 



Cassin's Purple Finch. 



196. Carpodacus frontalis (Say) Gr. B 308. c 141. R no. 



Crimson-fronted Finch ; House Finch ; Burion. 



extent as the generic mime, under the form Pyrgita: though having originally no refer- 

 ence to the species whatever, it is a very apt designation of a bird which nests so habit- 

 ually about buildings. 4. The word FringiUa, one of a large group, giving name to the 

 Finch family, Frinyillidie, and to the English adjective frinyilline, is the origin of the 

 word finch itself ; though it is only for about a century that it has had any thing to do 

 with the present species. Friny'dlu is the Latin nnme of the same bird that the Greeks 

 called ffirifa or ffirifa, spiza, the F. cuclebs L., English Chaffinch. Frlnyilla or frinr/uilla has 

 been derived by some from frango, I break, as the bird does seeds (just as we have in 

 Gr. 6\viris or 6pavwis). But its etymology appears when we regard the non-nasalized 

 form friyllla, from friyutio or friyultio (= frinyutio or fringultio, formed like singultio, I 

 hiccup), I twitter, chirp, stammer; these words being themselves lengthened from 

 friynlo, I croak, as a crow, and this from friyo, I squeak, squeal. (Cf. Gr. <ppvyca, and the 

 actual (ppuyi\os, the name of a bird in Aristophanes, and source of the modern genus 

 Freyilus, a jackdaw. The idea seems to be some short sharp sound, as the hissing, 

 sizzling of something cooking, friyo or (ppv-yca, I cook.) Fi-inylllu reappears in several 

 Italian forms, from two of which two series of words branch off; from such nsfringuello, 

 frinco, are derived, with loss of the r, Germ, ftiuf, finf, and Eng. Jinch ; while from sucli 

 as frinsone we pass through yrinson, quinson, pinson, or later Fr. pinion to Eng. spink, a 

 name of F. Calebs. 5. An entirely different set of words gives the pedigree of modern 

 Eng. sparrow, back from which we pass to sparrowe, or sparowe, or sparwe, Gothic spar tea 

 or sparva, A. S. spearwa ; related forms being spiirr, spar, sper, spurr, spun; sparf, spatz, sperij, 

 sperk, sperlinyk, round again to the present Germ, fperling or fiaittffpcrltng, housesparrow, passer 

 domesticus. 6. Eng. sparrow also curiously leads us back again to Latin, through such 

 a form as sparva, Latinized as span-ins; so, also, Falco sparverius, i. q. friny'dlarius, 

 cnrt^'ias, Fr. espervier or e'pervif.r, anglice sparrow-hawk. 7. There is said to be an old 

 Flemish name mousche for this bird, which may not improbably connect with O. Fr. 

 moncet, moisson. 8. The present Fr. is moineau, or moineau franc, or moineau de rilJe. 

 9. Several languages have applied cant names to this sturdy vulgarian ; Span, aorrion, 

 thief, rogue, scamp ; Fr. gamin ; American tramp, hoodlum. 10. An onomatopoeia as 

 interesting as Frlnyilla itself has arisen from the sharp, abrupt, dissyllabic note. This is 

 represented by the syllables yellop (cf. Gr. f\\6ir-os), //clli/p, or pity/lap, easily becoming 

 Philip. Early in the sixteenth century appear the ' Boke of Phyllup Sparrowe " and the 

 "Praise of Philip Sparrow "; and this name is Shakspearian. 

 Introduced, but now thoroughly naturalized everywhere. 



1 93. P. mon-ta'-nus. Lat. montanus, of mountains. 



Not in the orig. ed. ; since introduced from Europe, and naturalized in some places. 



194. Car-p6'-da-cus pur-pur'-g-us. Gr. KapirSs, a fruit, and Sdxos, from Sawiw, I bite ; 2cl aorist 



toaxov, or SaKov. Lat. purpureus, purple ; Gr. iropQvpeos, English porphyry, &c. ; cf. 

 Trvp<p6pos (irup, <f>fp<a} the fire-bearer, an epithet of Prometheus. The quantity of the 

 penult is in question; we usually hear carpodd'-cus in this country; but carpS'-dacusiS' 

 preferable. 



195. C. cas'-sln-i. To John Cassin. 



196. C. fron-ta'-lis. "Lat. frontalis, relating to the forehead; frons, forehead, front. 



