126 DICTIONARY OF NAMES OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



HoENFiNCH : The STORM-PETREL. (Pl■o^incial.) 



HoRNOUL or Horn-Owl: The LONG-EARED OA^X. The 

 fii'st name occurs in Turner, the second in Willughby 

 and many subsequent writers up to Bewick. Horned Owl 

 is an English provincial name, and Hornie Oolet cr Hornie 

 Hoolet a Scots one for the species. 



Horn-pie: The LAPWING. (Norfolk and Suffolk.) From 

 its erectile crest and its pied plumage. 



Horra Goose or Horrie Goose : The BRENT GOOSE. (Shet- 

 lands.) From its frequenting the Sound of Horra. 



Horse Finch: The CHAFFINCH. Montagu gives it as a 

 provincial name. It is also called Horse-dimg Finch, from 

 its frequenting the roads. 



Horse Gowk or Horse Gawk: The COMMON SNIPE- 

 (Orkneys and Shetlands.) Because the "drumming" is 

 supposed to resemble the neighing of a horse (Swainson.) 

 It has also been rendered Hoarse Gowk, which implies 

 another meaning. 



Horse Lark : The CORN -BLUNTING. (Cornwall.) 



Horse ]\L4.sher or Horse Smatch : The WHEATEAR. (Corn- 

 wall.) 



Horse Tkrfsh : The MISTLE-THRUSH. (Northants.) 



HoRTULON or Horttoane: The ORTOLAN BUNTING. 

 (Albin.) 



Hofse-Martin : The MARTIN. So called from its building 

 under the eaves and porches of houses. Montagu gives it 

 as a provincial name. 



HOUSE-SPARROW [No. 40]. Perhaps the most common and 

 well-lvnoA^Ti of British birds. The name "Sparrow" is of 

 great antiquity, and is the A. Sax. Spcarwa, Goth. Sparva, 

 while it is the Passer of classical writers, and occurs under 

 tliis name in Aristotle, who says it is of all birds the most 

 wanton. " House-Sparrow " occurs in Merrett's list (1667) 

 and in Willughby (1678), but Turner (1544) calls it simply 

 " Sparrow," which is now and has generally been the col- 

 loquial name for the species. As regards folk-lore I do not 

 find very much relating to this bird. A Yorkshire legend, 

 howev^er, of the Hermit of Lindholme on Hatfield Chase, 

 is to the effect that being left a.t home m hen a boy to keep 

 the sparrows fi'om the corn he shut them all up in a bai'n 

 A\ithoub a door, and when his pai'ents got home the birds 

 were all foimd l^ang dead on the floor, and the only sparrow 

 seen in the place since was a solitary one as wliite as snow 

 (" Folklore Journal," December, 1883). A similar tale, 



