28 Whitman, [Vol. 11 



Wff. 287. 2 : nocticarax, ht^fn ; 261. 12: ~ nihtrefn ; 453. 12: ~ niht- 

 hremn ; ZdA. 240. 35 : ~ nihtrsetn ; fVfV. 132. 3 : nicticorax, nihtremn ; Er, 

 674: ~ necihraebn ; ^.674: nycticorax, naechthraebn ; Cp. N. 145: noctua, 

 naehthraefn ; Ld. 204 : ~ necthtrefn ; Ep. 673 : ~ naechthraebn, ali dicunt 

 nectigalae ; Er.tTi: ~necthraebn, nacthegelae ; Canf.Ps,lOT..T. nocticorax, 

 nihthrefn ; Vesp. Ps. loi. 7 : nxhthrefn ; Th. Ps. loi. 5 : nihthrefne ; Spl. 

 Ps. loi. 7 : nihtrefen ; Shm. 29 : noctuatn, necstrepin, standing for necctrefin 

 — nihthrefn, on the authority of Dr. Schlatter. 



2. nihthroc. Lit. 'night-rook'; <^niht ■\- kroc ; used in 

 the same connection as nihthrcefn. 



Lamb Ps. loi. 7 : nycticorax, nihtroc. 



Gen. Botarus. Bitterns. 



XLVI. I. raredumle. B'xtiern {botarus stellaris) ; <^rdr- 

 ian, roar + dumle, pelican. G. rohrdommel. Long ago the 

 bittern ceased to breed in England, but before' the recla- 

 mation of the bogs and fens, it was a very common bird, 

 and was regarded as a great delicacy for the table. It 

 makes a bellowing or booming sound that was once com- 

 monly believed to be produced by the bird thrusting its 

 beak and head beneath the water. This is described in 

 Thomson's Seasons. 



' The bittern knows his time, with bill submerged, 

 To shake the sounding marsh.' 



This peculiar booming sound of the bittern offers a possi- 

 ble explanation of the following reference: Shrn. 29.6: 

 raredumlae, onocratalum, avis qucz sonitum facit in aqua. 

 In 1544 Turner gave the name of miredromble to the bit- 

 tern, the first part mire meaning a bog. 



WW. 195. 27: buban, raredumble ; 260. i, 460. 19; onocratarum ~; 285. 

 10: onagratulus, raredumbla; ZdA. 241. 20: origratulus, radumbel. 



2. felofor. Bittern. This word, variously glossed by 

 onocratalus, porphyria, and torax (for thorax, breast) is evi- 

 dently a water-fowl. I have called it a bittern on the 

 strength of a reference in Cockayne's Shrine, which places 

 it in the same gloss with raredumlae, bittern. There also 

 appears in the Shrine the following reference to porphyria, 

 properly the sultana-hen : Porphirionem non fit in Brittania. 



