THE ZOOLOGIST. 



THIRD SERIES 



Vol. VI.] DECEMBEE, 1883. [No. 72. 



THE MEANING OF ENGLISH BIRD-NAMES.* 

 By H. T. Wharton, M.A., F.Z.S. 



So much has been written about the meaning of the English 

 names of flowers, that it is strange how those of our birds have 

 been neglected. Much information can be got scattered about in 

 general ornithological literature, or found in various dictionaries, 

 but it does not seem that anyone has taken up the subject in its 

 entirety. 



Of the names of British birds, as they appear in the ordinary 

 standard books, I find there are about one hundred and sixty ; of 

 these there are certainly not much more than a dozen of which 

 some account cannot be given. Of course, if all the known pro- 

 vincial names were also taken— as is, I believe, about to be done 

 for the English Dialect Society— this number would probably be 

 increased tenfold; and the difficulties might increase with the 

 numbers. 



At present I do not wish to rival the dictionary-maker, but 

 merely to show the meaning— more often poetical, perhaps, than 

 in the case of flowers — of the names we commonly apply to 

 British birds; I shall take no account of those of which no 

 satisfactory explanation can be found. 



The names of birds seem to have originated in three different 

 ways ; some may be called onomatopoeic or imitative, expressing 



* A paper read before the WoolLope Naturalists' Field Club, at Hereford, 

 October 3rd, 1882. 



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