130 DICTIONARY OF NAMES OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



IVY OWL : The TAWNY OWL. (Willughby.) In casual use 

 provincially. 



JACK : Properly the JACKDAW. A common provincialism. 

 From its small size as compared with the other Corvi (see 

 JACKDAW). In the days of falconry, Jack or Jack Merlin 

 was also the term for the male of the MERLIN, which is 

 of smaller size than the female, as is usual in the birds of 

 prey. The male HOBBY was also in the same way termed 

 Jack or Robin to distinguish it from the female, termed 

 Hobby. 



JACK BAKER : The RED-BACKED SHRIKE. (Surrey, Sussex, 

 Hants.) 



JACK BIRD : The FIELDFARE. From its cry. 



JACK-CURLEW or CURLEW JACK : The WH1MBREL. (Rutty.) 

 lit. a small curlew. Curlew Jack is a Yorkshire name for 

 the species. Swainson applies the name, possiblv errone- 

 ously, to the CURLEW. 



JACKDAW [No. 5]. Occurs in Merrett (1667). In Shakespeare 

 it is " daw." Willughby has " Jack-daw." Jack (properly 

 a diminution of John) is used in this connection, not as a 

 nickname, but to indicate insignificance or small size (lit. 

 " boy ") and is therefore an equivalent of " knave " (q.v.). 

 For other instances, cf. Jack-snipe, Jack-Curlew, etc. 

 Daw (Mid. Eng.) is apparently onomatopoetic. In Lanca- 

 shire a Jackdaw alighting on the window-sill of a sick-room 

 is considered an ill omen (Harland and Wilkinson). A 

 Norwich saying is : 



When three daws are seen on St. Peter's vane together 

 Then we're sure to have bad weather. 



Turner, writing in 1534, says of this bird that it is " by the 

 Latins named Monedula, as if it were Monetula, from the 

 Moneta (money) which alone of birds, as Pliny says, it 

 steals . . . Moreover, Ovid happily describes its thievish 

 habits in the following lines : 



Was changed into a bird, which even now loves gold, 

 Monedula, the black of foot, in plumage black arrayed." 



JACK DOUCKER : The LITTLE GREBE. (Shropshire.) From 



its small size and diving propensities. 



JACK HAWK : The KESTREL. (Arkengarthdale, Yorkshire.) 

 JACK HERN or JACK HERON : The HERON. (Sussex.) 

 JACK ICKLE : The GREEN WOODPECKER. (Northants.) 

 JACKIE FOSTER : The LONG-TAILED DUCK. (Northumber- 

 land.) 



JACK-IN- A-BOTTLE : The LONG-TAILED TITMOUSE. In 

 reference to the shape of its nest. 



