NUTHATCH — OTTERLING. 171 



Orange-legged Hobby: The RED-FOOTED FALCON. 



(Selby.) 



ORPHEAN WARBLER [No. 144]. The name arises from 

 Temminek's name for the species {Sylvia orphea) referring 

 to its song. It is found in Gorild and also Yarrell 

 (" Supp.," II, 1856) as " Orpheus Warbler." 



ORTOLAN BUNTING [No. 48]. From Fr. Ortolan ; in Old 

 Fr. Hortolan. It occurs first in Albin (1738) as Hortulon 

 or Hortulane, and as Ortolan Bunting in Pennant 

 (" Arctic Zoology ") and Latham. It is also the Green- 

 headed Bunting of Latham, BrowTi, Lewin, and Montagu. 



OSPREY [No. 253]. The word " Osprey " occurs in Turner 

 (1544), who derives it from Aristotle and gives an accurate 

 account of its habits ; and it also occurs in Aldrovandus 

 (p. 191) as the English name of the bird. Willughby and 

 other old authors confuse it with the " Sea-Eagle " or 

 immature WHITE-TAILED EAGLE, Willughby's "Os- 

 prey " being the latter species, while his " Baldbusardus 

 anglorum " is the Osprey. From Lat. ossifragus, the 

 Sea-Eagle or Osprey— lit, bone-breaker — from the bird's 

 reputed strength and habits. In Holland's translation 

 of Pliny it occurs both as ospreie and orfraie, the latter 

 being sjoionymous with Old Fr. orj'raye, as in Cotgrave. 

 In Shakespeare, where the bird is named twice, it occurs as 

 aspray in the old texts, but is rendered osprey in modern 

 editions. In " Coriolanus " (act rv, sc. 7) we get an admir- 

 able simile of the Osprey's pre-eminence as a fisher : — 



. . . He'll be to Rome 

 As is the Osprey to the fish, who takes it 

 By sovereignty of natiire. 



Indeed, the bird's powers in this direction were so extra- 

 ordinary as to lead to the belief that it possessed the 

 fabulous power of fascinating the fish. Peele in 1594 

 (" Battle of Alcazar," act i, sc. 1) alludes to this : — 

 I will provide thee of a princely Osprey, 

 That, as he flieth over fish in pools, 

 The fish shall turn their glistering bellies up. 

 And thou shalt take thy liberal choice of all. 



Turner also says that " Wlien the Osprey hovers in the air 

 whatever fishes be below turn up and show their whitish 

 bellies." As regards the then abundance of the species he 

 says that " the Osprey is a bird much better known to-day 

 to Englishmen than many who keep fish in stews would 

 msh : for within a short time it bears off every fish." 



Otterling. a name for the C0:MM0N SANDPIPER. (Hett.) 



