ENGLISH NAMES OF AMERICAN BIRDS—TROTTER. 515 
“ Cliff” and “ eave” swallow are names of Petrochelidon lunifrons 
according to the particular nesting site adopted by this species. I 
have failed to find any early reference to the name “ tree swallow ” 
for 7. bicolor, the “ white-bellied swallow” of earlier authors. It 
appears to have come into use at a comparatively late period. 
Bartram speaks of Ampelis cedrorum as “ crown bird” or cedar 
bird ” (Travels, 290), the latter its current name. 
VY. NAMES SUGGESTED BY COLOR OR OTHER EXTERNAL FEATURE. 
A large number of our American bird names owe their origin to 
color or to some conspicuous external feature. The “ great crested 
flycatcher ” of Wilson is the “ great crested yellow-bellied flycatcher ” 
of Bartram and “the crested flycatcher” of Catesby (I, 52). The 
word “ great ” evidently originated with Bartram. “ Baltimore,” as 
applied in the vernacular to /cterus galbula, was first used in orni- 
thological literature by Catesby—“ The Baltimore bird” (I, 48)— 
the name being derived from its color pattern, that of the livery of 
the Calverts (Lord Baltimore). Bartram calls it “ Baltimore bird 
or hang nest.” The specific appellation “ orchard” appears first to 
have been bestowed by Wilson upon Jcterus spurius, which was the 
“bastard Baltimore” of Catesby (I, 49). Wilson goes to some 
length to set things right concerning this species. ‘“ Scarlet,” as 
applied to the tanager (Piranga erythromelas) appears first in Ed- 
wards (Gleanings, 343) as the “ scarlet sparrow.” Pennant calls this 
species “ Canada tanager.” The “summer redbird” is so called and 
figured by Catesby (I, 56). Bartram speaks of it as the “ sandhill 
redbird of Carolina.” Among the sparrows and grosbeaks there are 
a number of species, the names of which have a color origin. “ Red 
poll,” given to a species of Acanthis, appears as the “lesser red- 
headed linnet” and “ lesser redpole,” of Ray and Pennant. “ Lin- 
net ” is an ancient name common in several European languages and 
is in reference to the fondness of these birds for the seeds of the flax 
(Linum). Bartram undoubtedly refers to this species (Acanthis 
linaria) under the name of “hemp bird.” “ Purple,” as applied to 
Carpodacus purpureus first appears in Catesby’s work (I, 41) as 
“purple finch” and is a monumental witness of an inability to 
properly discriminate either between two very different shades of 
color or in the use of the right word. ‘“ White-throated sparrow ” is 
so called by Edwards from a drawing of the species sent him by 
Bartram, who speaks of it in his Travels as “The large brown 
white-throat sparrow.” Zonotrichia leucophrys is the ‘“ white- 
crowned bunting” of Pennant. The vernacular of Passerella iliaca 
has been contracted from the earlier “ fox-colored ” (or “ colored ”) 
to simple “ fox sparrow.” Bartram calls it “the red or fox-colored 
