246 DICTIONARY OF NAMES OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



WATER TIT : The PIED WAGTAIL. (Provincial.) 



WATER WAGTAIL: The PIED WAGTAIL. Occurs first in 

 Merrett's list; Turner calls it simply "a wagtale." 



WATER WITCH : The STORM-PETREL. (Provincial.) 



WATERY PLEEPS : The COMMON SANDPIPER. (Orkneys.) 



WATITTY : The PIED WAGTAIL. (Cheshire.) 



WATTIE or WATTIE WAGTAIL : The PIED WAGTAIL. (West- 

 morland.) Wattie is no doubt a form of " Waterie." 



WAXEN CHATTERER: The WAXWING. Occurs in Pennant 

 and most other eighteenth century writers to Donovan. 



WAXWING [No. 113]. So called from the shafts of some of the 

 wing-feathers being terminated by what looks like a flattened 

 tip of red sealing-wax. It was originally called by Wil 

 lughby the Bohemian Chatterer and by Pennant Chatterer 

 in the folio edition (1766), and Waxen Chatterer in the 

 later editions. Selby (1825) calls it Bohemian Waxwing, 

 as also most of the succeeding authors. 



WEASE ALLAN : The ARCTIC SKUA. (Orkneys.) Wease is 

 from A.Sax. was, moisture. 



WEASEL DUCK : The female or immature SMEW. (Northum- 

 berland.) From the chestnut and white colour and fur- 

 like texture of the feathers (Bolam). Weasel Duck or 

 Weasel Coot are also Norfolk names. 



WEATHER-COCK: The GREEN WOODPECKER. Perhaps 

 eqivalent of Rain -fowl. 



WEDGE-TAILED GULL [No. 424]. So called from its cuneate 

 tail. Formerly known as Ross's Gull, or Ross's Rosy Gull, 

 after the discoverer, Sir J. C. Ross. 



WEE DIVER or WEE DOUKER : The LITTLE GREBE. 

 (Dumfriesshire.) 



WEEP: The LAPWING. (Provincial.) From its cry. 



WEEPING GUILLEMOT. A local name for the Ringed or Bridled 

 Guillemot (a variety of the COMMON GUILLEMOT) 

 among the West of Scotland fishermen. (Gray.) 



WEET BIRD : The WRYNECK. (Hampshire.) From its cry. 



WEKEEN : The MEADOW-PIPIT. (Kerry.) 



WELE : The GREEN WOODPECKER. (Hett.) 



WELL PLUM : The COMMON POCHARD. (Provincial.) 



WELSH AMBASSADOR. The CUCKOO appears to have been 

 formerly sometimes so called. The allusion is in Middleton's 

 "A Trick to Catch the Old One" (act iv, sc. 5): "This 

 sound is like the Cuckoo, the Welsh Ambassador." It is 

 supposed that this name is an allusion to the annual arrival 



