MOUNTAIN — MUTE. 163 



MuR-BHUACHAiLLE. A Gaelic name for the GREAT NORTHERN 



DIVER. (Mainland) lit. " the herdsman of the sea." 

 Murdering Pie : The GREAT GREY SHRIKE. From its 

 habit of impaling mice, small birds, beetles, etc., on thorns, 

 and from its pied plumage. 

 MuRRE : The RAZORBILL. Willughby gives it as a Cornish 

 name for this bird. It is now more generally applied to 

 the COMMON GUILLEMOT in the south-west of England 

 and south Ireland, as well as on the Yorkshire coast. 

 MuRREL Hen or Morrel Hen : The GREAT SKUA. (York- 

 shire.) The first is used at Redcar and the second from 

 Flamborough to Scarborough (Nelson and Clarke). 

 Musket-Hawk or Musquet-Hawk. An old name for the male 

 SPARROW-HAWK. From Old Fr. 7nousquet or mouchet, 

 from mouche, a fly, an allusion to its small size. The name 

 of the musket appears to have been borrowed from the 

 bird, and alludes to its smaller and more hand\^ size than the 

 cumbrous early matchlock. 

 Mussel Cracker: The OYSTERCATCHER. (Teesmouth.) 

 Mussel Crow. A name for the CARRION-CROW. (Hett.) 

 Mussel Duck : The SCAUP DUCK. (Norfolk and Teesmouth. ) 



The COIMMON SCOTER. (Humber.) 

 Mussel Pecker : The OYSTERCATCHER. (Belfast, Forfar.) 

 MUTE SWAN [No. 273]. Swan is from A.Sax. Swan or Swon. 

 The name was formerly often spelt Swarme. It occurs thus 

 in the "Northumberland Household Book" and Wither- 

 ington's " Order, Lawes and Ancient Customs of Swannes " 

 (1632), etc. Turner (1544) has " Swan," as also has Merrett, 

 Willughbj^ and later writers. The sexes are known re- 

 spectively as Cob (q.v.) and Pen ; the yoimg being called 

 O^gnets. This latter name, however, although now only 

 applied to the young, is the old Norman name for the Swan, 

 as it is also in its original Latin form, i.e. Cygnus. " Mute 

 Swan " is a modem name, found in BeA\ick, Jenyns and 

 Yarrell (1st ed.), but older authors call it the " Tame Swan." 

 That the Swan was a royal bird until at least 1632 is 

 certain. Nelson (" Laws Concerning Game," 1753) writes 

 " Swan is a Royal bird, and by Stat. 22, Edw. IV, c. 6, 

 None (but the King's Son) shall have any Mark or Game of 

 Swans of his own, or to his use, except he have Lands and 

 Tenements of Freehold worth five marks per Annum, 

 besides Reprises ; in pain to have them seised by any 

 having lands of that value, to be divided betwixt the King 

 and the Seizor." The eggs also were protected by a separate 



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