446 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



martin-pecheur, perhaps with a similar idea of worthiness. Kite is 

 allied to the Breton cud, velocity, and cudio, to hover ; Cowper 

 speaks of — 



" Kites that swim sublime 

 In still repeated circles, screaming loud." 



The provincial name Glede means the bird that " glides." Knot 

 is a corruption of Canute, probably in reference to the story of 

 that king's well-known rebuke to his courtiers, from the bird's 

 running along the beach at the edge of the waves. Lapwing has 

 nothing to do with either " flap" or " wing"; it means " one who 

 turns about in running," from the Anglo-Saxon hledp-an, to leap 

 or run, and wince, one who turns, akin to "winch" and "wag." 

 Linnet is the bird that feeds on lin- or flax-seed, from the French 

 linotte. Loon is from the same root as " lame," in allusion to the 

 awkward gait of divers when on land. Mavis is the bird that 

 " destroys the vine," from the French mauvis, formerly malvis, in 

 mediaeval Latin malvitlus, from malum vitis ; in provincial French 

 it is vendange, the vintage-bird, and in German tveingai'tsvogel, 

 the vineyard-bird. Merganser is compounded of the Latin mergus 

 and anser, the " diving goose." Merlin is the hawk that hunts 

 "merles" or blackbirds. Missel-thrush is from its feeding on 

 mistletoe-berries ; in Anglo-Saxon mistel was used alone in the 

 sense of mistletoe, so that Missel-thrush is rather a variant from, 

 than an abbreviation of, Mistletoe-thrush, its name in many 

 counties. Nightingale is the bird that " sings in the night"; the 

 syllable — in — is a case-ending to "night," the n being intrusive, 

 as "passenger" is in French passager ; the Anglo-Saxon galan, 

 to sing, is akin to " yell." Noddy means a " simpleton," one 

 who " nods," i. e. goes to sleep. Ortolan is the " garden-bird," 

 from the Latin hortus, a garden. Osprey is corrupted from Ossi- 

 frage, the " bone-breaker." Peregrine is the falcon that was taken 

 on migration, " passage-hawk." Plover is from the French pluvier, 

 because, it is said, it only reaches France in the "rain}'" season. 

 Pochard is the bird that " poaches," that is, treads into the mire, 

 as cattle do. Scaup is a northern word for a bed of shell- fish, on 

 which this duck feeds. Scoter is the " shooter" or diver. Snipe 

 is the " snapper," allied to the old Dutch schnebbe, the beak, as 

 the " nib" of a pen is allied to " snap." Sparrow is the " wanton 

 bird," from a root meaning " to swell." Stockdove is the dove 



