H"2 HABITS OF THE AVOCET. 



this I had omitted. Pandion, "the name- of a Greek hero, changed into a bird 

 of prey." (nistis, in like manner — though not in my list — from a Cretan king 

 of that name, who was also said to have been transformed into a Hawk.) 

 Cypselus, KyvJ/tXos, the Aristotelian name. Numenius, vov^wix the new moon, 

 from the crescented form of the bill. Phalaropus, <px\a.%tx. fringes, and movs a foot ; 

 I had derived it from <px\x%is, the Greek name of a bird. Tadorna, the French 

 name Tadorne, latinized. 



The following are the names of which I have been unable to discover the 

 meaning : — Alums \_A, without, lux, lucis, light. — Ed.], Pastor, collurio, Em- 

 beriza, Ccrthia, cirlus, pilaris, Tithys, tetrax, tetrix, Squatarola, hiaticula, 

 Tringa, calidris, Totanus, tinnunculus [[Supposed to be " a tinnitu vocis,"— Ed.]], 

 Buteo, Avocetta, garzetta, nyroca, cenas, porzana, Iroile, Alca, pomarinus, galbula 

 [[From the German gelb, yellow. — Ed.], Sterna, Puffinus, marila, perspicillata, 

 mareca, circia, crecca, dajila. 



Those derivations supplied by the Editor in my former papers which I think it 

 possible may not be correct, are : — Bubo, Oriolus, Sturnus, Parus, Fringilla, 

 merula, boarula*, rubetra, spinus, biarmicus (no derivation given), luscinia,Alauda, 

 Cypselus, gallinula, gallinago, Platalea, Ardea, Fulica, boschas. 



[[We believe it is tolerably certain, that the derivations we supplied for the 

 following names, are correct : — Bubo, from Bufo a Toad, on which the bird 

 feeds ; Oriolus, from or, gold ; Parus, corrupted from parvus, little ; Fringilla, 

 frango, to break or crush (seeds) ; merula, mera, solitary, from the lonely habits 

 of the bird ; boarula, boarius, appertaining to Oxen ; rubetra, Rubeta, a Toad, 

 or perhaps from rubeo to be red; spinus, a slow bush ; biarmicus, two-barbed, 

 from the whiskers on each side of the bill ; luscinia, lugens, mournful, cano to 

 sing ; Platalea, has allusion to the breadth of the bill Ardea, arduus, high, lofty 

 (i. e. the flight); Fulica, fuligo, blackness; boschas, bosco a wood. With regard 

 to the derivations we ventured to assign to Sturnus, Alauda, Cypselus, gallinula, 

 and gallinago, we cannot speak so positively. — Ed.] 



HABITS OF THE COMMON AVOCET (Avocetta atricapilla). 



By Robert Mudie. 



The Avocet is one of the most singular, and perhaps, all things considered, one 

 of the most interesting of British birds. The Avocet is now becoming very local ; 

 and in the few situations where it is still found, it is much more rare than it was 



* It ia the Yellow Wagtail, and not the Grey species, that keeps about cattle. 



