DECOY 231 



it may be observed, still survives in English as the 



' tine " of a fork or of a stag's antler. Anyhow it would 



seem that the proper name of this bird should be written 



in full " Mistletoe-Thrush," and not, as commonly, 



' Missel-Thrush." * 



The origin of the word ' decoy ' is not generally 

 known. 



" I have had no doubt since I looked into the question 

 of the origin of our word decoy. It comes straight from 

 the Dutch " eende-coy ' Duck-coy " coy ' meaning 

 more than a cage but almost any kind of enclosure for 

 keeping birds alive. The ' eende ' not being under- 

 stood by Englishmen soon lost its first syllable, and then 

 you have the word exactly. I think I pointed this out 

 in a review I wrote somewhere of Payne-Gallway's book, 

 saying that it was absurd to speak of a Duck Decoy, 

 though of course one might properly speak of a Decoy 

 Duck. 



Pijlstaart is nowadays even the common Dutch name 

 for the Pintail, which is almost translation of the word, 

 ' pijl ' (pronounced pile) being a spike of any kind. 

 Pijlstaart was also applied by Dutch sailors to the Tropic- 

 bird from its long spike-like tail, hence Pijlstaart Island, 

 corrupted into " Pillstart," a well-known place to the 

 North of New Zealand, and perhaps repeated in other 

 seas. ' Staart " is, of course, tail, as in Redstart, Start 

 Point, etc.f 



Partly by reason of his physical infirmity, which 

 necessarily made his life more sedentary than that of 

 others, and partly owing to his habit of discouraging 

 visitors except at stated hours, Newton had more time 

 for reading than have most men, and he was blessed with 

 an uncommonly retentive memory. Sale-lists and book- 

 sellers' catalogues from all countries filled his letter-box, 

 but he was not a collector of books, though his library 



* " History of British Birds," 4th edition, I. p. 260. 

 t Letter to Mr. T. Southwell, May 5., 190u. 



