No. 2] Xhe Birds of Old English Literature 1 5 



weard ; JIusS. Mes. 22 : siSSan Su gehyrde oa hIiSes oran galan geomorne 

 geac on bearwe ; Gu. 716 : geacas gear budon. 



The following Riddle (10) has been interpreted as the 

 cuckoo : 



Mec on tSissum dagum deadne ofgeafun 



faeder and modor: ne waes me feorh Sa gen, 



ealdor in innan. Sa mec [an] ongon 



wel hold me gewedum Seccan, 



heold and freotSode, hleosceorpe wrah 



swa arlice swa hire agen beam, 



oSSaet ic under sceate, swa min gesceapu wseron, 



ungesibbum wear?? eacen gaeste. 



Mec seo friSemaeg fedde sitSSan, 



o?55aet ic aweox, wider meahte 



siSas asettan : heo haefde swsesra Sy laes 



suna and dohtra, Sy heo swa dyde. 



Ord. Coraciiformes. Picarian Birds. 



Sub. Ord. Halcyones. Kingfishers. 



F. Alcedinidae. True Kingfishers. 



Sub. F. Alcedininse. Fish-Eating Kingfishers. 



Gen. Alcedo. Blue Kingfishers. 



XXVII. I. fiscere. Common kingfisher (alcedo ispidd). 



WW. 132. 30 : rapariolus, fiscere. 



2. isern. Kingfisher; <. w, '\c& -\- em, eagle; cf. G. eis- 

 vogel. This word is not recognized by the OE. diction- 

 aries as a name of the kingfisher, but it is noted by Dr. 

 Schlutter in Anglia 19. 462. Newton, in the Diet, of Birds, 

 says that in German the common term for kingfisher is 

 Eisvogel, ' which finds its counterpart in the Anglo-Saxon 

 Isern or I sen.' 



WW. 348. 5 : alcion, isen ; 350. 7 : alchior ~ ; Ep. 25 ; ~ isern ; Er. 25 : 

 — isaern ; Cp. A. 422 : alcion, isern. 



Ord. Striges. Owls. 



XXVIII. I. ule. Owl. yi^.owle,oule; OHG.ula; G. 

 eule ; Icel. ugla ; L. ulula : 'All probably based on an imi- 

 tation of the bird's cry, and thus remotely related to howl ' 

 {Cent. Diet.). 



