THE MEANING OF ENGLISH BIBD -NAMES. 445 



Shoveller, Swift, Turnstone, Wagtail, Wkinchat, Stonechat and 

 Woodchat, Windhover, Woodcock and Woodpecker. Bullfinch is 

 probably connected with the French name bouvreuil, which is 

 from the Latin bovariolus, diminutive of bovarius, "the little neat- 

 herd"; just as the Wagtail is in French bergeronette, "the little 

 shepherdess"; the idea of " bull " here meaning anything " big" 

 is as unlikely as it is in " bulrush." Dotterel is the bird that 

 "dotes," the "little stupid," from the ease with which it is 

 deceived and caught ; in Icelandic dotta is to nod with sleep. 

 Dove is the bird that "dives" through the air; a strangely 

 parallel instance is the fact that the Latin columba, a dove, is akin 

 to the Greek Ko^v^jStg, a diver. Duck is the bird that " ducks" or 

 dives its head under water. But Drake is an altogether different 

 word ; it is contracted from ened-rake or end-rake, a masculine 

 form of the Anglo-Saxon ened, a duck. In Swedish, and is a 

 duck, and anddrake is a drake ; in German, ente is a duck, ente- 

 rich, a drake ; the first part of the word being from the stem of 

 the Latin anas (anat-), a duck, and the suffix is allied to the 

 Gothic reiks, ruling, mighty, and to -vie in " bishop-ric." So 

 that Drake means "duck-king." Fulmar is akin to "foumart," a 

 polecat, which is from "foul" and "marten"; in Danish the 

 Marten is maar. Gadwall is the bird that "gads" or moves 

 about "well." Godwit is "good wight" or good creature. Gos- 

 hawk is the hawk that was flown at geese. Grey Lag has been 

 explained by Prof. Skeat (' Ibis,' 1870, p. 301) as the Grey Goose 

 that "lagged" behind to breed— as they did formerly — while the 

 other wild species migrated northwards ; "lag" meaning late, last, 

 slow, as in "laggard," a loiterer; a "lag-clock" is one that is 

 behind time. Gyrfalcon is probably the falcon that " flies in 

 gyres," but the history of the name is unsatisfactory ; Dr. Coues 

 has lately connected it with Hiero-falco, the " sacred falcon " — 

 though that now called the Sacer or Saker is a different species ; 

 but guessing in etymology is a fatal method, for all its fascination. 

 Hen Harrier is the hawk that " harries" or kills hens, so that the 

 name is no reason for calling the male the Ringtail, descriptive 

 though it is. Hawk is probably the " seizer," and allied to 

 "have"; the word "havoc," destruction, is derived from hawk, 

 and to "cry havoc" merely meant " ware the hawk." Hobby is 

 the hawk that " hops " about. Kingfisher is the " king of fishers ' ' 

 or the " fisher for a king " ; in France it is dedicated to St. Martin, 



