2290 Birds. 



Provincial Names of Birds in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. — It being the 

 opinion of some of your correspondents that a record of the provincial names of birds 

 will not be without its use, I now send a list of the names of the common birds of this 

 neighbourhood. I have collected them from bird-nesting boys, as they know much 

 more of birds than their fathers do, who seldom trouble themselves about such matters. 

 The names to which the letter G. is prefixed belong to the Forest of Dean, in Glou- 

 cestershire, where I resided when I was a boy. The hen harrier is called a ' faller.' 

 All the smaller birds of prey go under the name of ' hawks.' The red-backed shrike 

 is in G. a * French magpie ' or a ' horse match,' here it is a ' butcher bird/ The 

 white owl is the ' screech owl.' The tawny owl is a ' dun owl.' The missel thrush is 

 a * bunting thrush.' The fieldfare is called a ' blue-tail.' The redwing is in G. a 

 'whin thrush:' in the same locality the hedge sparrow is called a * hayzuck ' (no 

 doubt a corruption of ' Isaac ') : there also the redstart is a ' red firebrand-tail,' here 

 it is simply the ' red-tail.' The stonechat is here called the * black-a-top,' in G. it is 

 the ' gorsechat.' The wheatear and whinchat are called here the ' horse match ' in- 

 discriminately. The common and lesser whitethroat are the ' nettle creeper ' or 

 1 Isaac' The willow warbler is a ' grass mumruffin.' All the kinds of wagtail are 

 ' water wagtails.' The tree pipit is the ' ground lark.' The meadow pipit is a ' twit 

 lark.' The common bunting is called the ' bunting lark.' The chaffinch is a ' pea- ' 

 or * piefinch.' The greenfinch is a ' green linnet.' The common linnet is the ' brown 

 linnet.' The bullfinch is in G. a ' hoop.' The carrion crow, rook and jackdaw are 

 indiscriminately ' crows,' except at breeding-time, when the rook goes under its proper 

 name. The magpie is a ' maggot.' The green woodpecker is called the ' ekel ' 

 (meaning no doubt ' hukvvall'). The wryneck is the ' cuckoo's mate.' The common 

 creeper is a ' tomtit.' The nuthatch is a ' creep tree.' The common swift is in G. a 

 ' screecher.' All doves are here called ' wood pigeons.' The long-tailed tit is a ' hedge 

 mumruffin.' The common sandpiper is a ' summer snipe.' — John N. Beadles ; Broad- 

 way, Worcestershire, October 7, 1848. 



Provincial Names of Birds in Yorkshire. — The following are the names of some 

 of the common birds of Yorkshire, as in general use among bird-nesters. The crow 

 or rook is always called a l crow.' The magpie, a ' mag ' or ' maggy.' The land- 

 rail, a ' corn crake' or * crake,' and in the more western part a ' gurs ' or ' gors duck.' 

 All the warblers go by the name ' peggy ' or ' peggy whitethroat.' The yellow ham- 

 mer, a ' youlring' or ' gouldring.' The chaffinch, a ' spink.' The little redpole, a 

 ' chevy lin.' The hedge sparrow, a * dunnock.' The missel thrush, a ' storm cock ' 

 or ' hollin cock.' The large titmouse, a ' black-cap.' The blue titmouse, a ' blue-cap ' 

 or * Billy blue-cap.' The starling, a ' shepstey ' or ' shepster.' The redstart, a ' red- 

 ster.' The long-tailed tit, a ' bottle tit ' or ' feather-poke.' The whitethroat, a 

 ' winnel' or ' windle straw.' The whinchat, an ' entick.' The wheatear, a 'stone- 

 chat.' The black-headed bunting, a ' willow sparrow,' sometimes a ' toad snatcher.' 

 The common tern, a ' sea swallow.' The nightjar, a ' goat-sucker.' The owl, a 

 ' hullat.' The fly-catcher, a ' flea-catcher.' The wagtail, a ' wattertie.' The little 

 grebe a ' dipper ' or ' clobber ' or ' Tom pudding.' The swift, a ' devilling ' or 

 1 Dicky devilling.' The common wren, a 'jenny wren' or ' jenner-hen.' The green 

 woodpecker, a ' nickle.' The heron, a ' herring shrew ' or ' herring shaw.' The 

 sedge warbler, a ' leg bird.' The sandpiper, a ' sand snipe.' The siskin, a ' haber- 

 de-vine' or 'haver-de-vine.' — J. Johnson; 27, Kensington Square, October 9, 1848. 



