CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 47 



193. Passer montanus (L.). b — . c — . r — . [imp. and Nat] 



European Tree Sparrow. 



-194. Carpodacus purpureus (Gm.^ Gr. B 305. c 139. R 168. 



Purple Finch. 



195. Carpodacus cassini Bd. b 307. c i40. r 169. 



Cassin's Purple Finch. 



196. Carpodacus frontalis (Say) Gr. b 308. c 141. r no. 



Crimson-fronted Finch ; House Finch ; Burion. 



extent as the generic name, under the form Pi/rgita: though having originally no refer- 

 ence to the species wiiatever, it is a very apt designation of a bird which nests so habit- 

 ually about buildings. — 4. The word Fringilla, one of a large group, giving name to the 

 Finch family, Fringillidie, and to the English adjective friufjilUne, is the origin of the 

 word finch itself ; though it is only for about a century that it has had any thing to do 

 with the present species. Frim/illa is the Latin name of the same bird that the Greeks 

 called cnri^a or criri^rj, spiza, the F. caelehs L., English Chaffinch. Fringilla or fringuilla has 

 been derived by some from frango, I break, as the bird does seeds (just as we have in 

 Gr. 6\vTris or Opaviris). But its etymology appears when we regard the non-nasalized 

 form frigilla, from frigutio or frignltio (= fringulio or fringukio, formeci like singultio, I 

 hiccup), I twitter, chirp, stammer; these words being tiiemselves lengthened from 

 frigulo, I croak, as a crow, and this from frigo, I squeak, squeal. (Cf. Gr. (ppvyw, and tlie 

 actual tppvyiKos, the name of a bird in Aristoplianes, and source of the modern genus 

 Fregilus, a jackdaw. The idea seems to be some short sharp sound, as the hissing, 

 sizzling of something cooking, — frigo or <ppvyto, I cook.) Fringilla reappears in several 

 Italian forms, from two of which two series of words branch off; from such asfringuello, 

 frinco, are derived, with loss of the r, Germ, pnc!, pnt, and Eng. finch; while from such 

 as frinsone we pass through grinson, iptinson, pinson, or later Fr. pingon to Eng. spink, a 

 name of F. ccelebs. — 5. An entirely different set of words gives the pedigree of modern 

 Eng. sparrow, back from which we pass to sparrowe, or sparowe, or sparwe, Gothic sparwa 

 or sparva, A. S. spearwa ; related forms being spurr, spar, sper, spurr, spitrv, sparf, spntz, sperg, 

 sperk, sperlingk, round again to the present Germ, fpcrting or KutiJfpcrling, housespan-ow, passer 

 (lomesticus. — 6. Eng. sparroiv also curiously leads us back again to Latin, through such 

 a form as sparva, Latinized as sparrius ; so, also, Falco sparverius, i. q. fringillarius, 

 airt(ias, Fr. espervier or e'pervier, anglice sparrow-hawk. — 7. There is said to be an old 

 Flemish name mousche for this bird, which may not improbably connect with O. Fr. 

 moucet, moisson. — 8. The present Fr. is moineau, or moineaii franc, or moineau de rille. — 

 9. Several languages have applied cant names to this sturdy vulgarian ; Span, gorrion, 

 thief, rogue, scamp ; Fr. gamin ; American tramp, hoodlum. — 10. An onomatopoeia as 

 interesting as Fringilla itself has arisen from the sharp, abrupt, dissyllabic note. This is 

 represented by the syllables ijellop (cf. Gr. iK\6ir-os), gelluj), or phijllup, easily becoming 

 Philip. Early in the sixteenth century appear the " Boke of Phyllup Sparrowe " and the 

 "Praise of Philip Sparrow"; and this name is Shakspearian. 

 Introduced, but now thoroughly naturalized everywhere. 



193. P. mon-ta'-nias. Lat. monta??;/s, of mountains. 



Not in the orig. ed. ; since introduced from Europe, and naturalized in some places. 



194. Car-p6'-da-cus pur-piir'-g-us. Gr. KapwSs, a fruit, and SaKos, from SaKvco, I bite ; 2d aorist 



fSuKov, or SaKov. — Lat. pirpureus, purple; Gr. ■irop<pvpios, English porphyry', &c. ; cf. 

 ■7rvp(p6pos {irdp, (pepco) tlie fire-bearer, an epithet of Prometheus. — The quantity of the 

 penult is in question ; we usually hear carpoda'<us in this country ; but carpS'-dacus is 

 preferable. 



195. C. cas'-sTn-I. To John Cassin. 



196. C. fron-ta'-lis. Lett, frontalis, relating to the forehead ; /ons, forehead, front. 



