THE BIRDS OF OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE. 



THE scientific remains of the*01d English period are 

 not extensive, consisting chiefly of King Alfred's 

 geographical insertions in the Orosius, lists of plant- 

 names, and treatises on medicine and astronomy. 



Natural History at that time had hardly attained the 

 dignity of a science, but there was some attempt, at least, 

 to explain natural phenomena, as in the following extract 

 from ^Ifric's Hexameron : 



'The birds, indeed, that dwell in the waters, are web-footed by the provi- 

 dence of God, so that they may swim and seek food for themselves. Some 

 are long-necked, as are swans and ylfets, in order that they may reach their 

 food from the ground. And those (birds) which live on flesh are claw- 

 footed and sharp-billed, so that they may bite with short necks, and (they 

 are) swifter in flight, so that they may be adapted for obtaining their liveli- 

 hood.' 



The entire body of Old English literature abounds in 

 references to birds, but the most fruitful source of material 

 is the lists of bird-names in the glosses, in some of which 

 there seems to be a rude attempt at classification. More- 

 over, the art of falconry (cf. sect. XXXVII), which was 

 introduced into England not later than the middle of the 

 8th century, and was very popular among the Anglo- 

 Saxons, presupposes a considerable knowledge of the 

 haunts and habits of birds. 



My examination of Old English literature has brought 

 to light over 140 bird-names. Although several names 

 often refer to the same bird, it has been possible to iden- 

 tify some 67 species, which, there is reason to believe, 

 were then residents of Great Britain. 



This article falls into three main divisions : 



I. Indigenous wild species. 

 II. Domestic fowl. 

 III. General terms, foreign species, etc. 



I 



A 



