5058 Birds. 



size; and Mr. Yarrell tells us that the great blackbacked gull was originally called a 

 " cob," as it is now in some districts, for the same reason : while everybody knows that 

 this is the common denomination of a stout strong pony. Nor is ours the only lan- 

 guage which uses such a prefix with this signification : " capercaillie " is no other, in 

 Gaelic, than the " horse of the wood," while its Latin specific name, urogallus, 

 " wild-bull cock," likewise refers to the size of the species (see Yarrell in loco) ; and 

 many other instances might be given. I append, in support of the above opinion, the 

 following passage from Sir Thomas Brown (' Vulgar Errours,' Book ii. chap, vii.) : — 

 "And so are they deceived in the name of horse-raddish, horse mint, bull rush and 

 many more, conceiving therein some prenominal consideration, whereas indeed that 

 expression is a Grecism ; by the prefix of hippos and bous, that is horse and bull, in- 

 tending no more than great." But indeed the whole question of nomenclature is of 

 exceeding interest, and often full of information, if we would dive into the origin of 

 names; and I should be delighted to see in the pages of the 'Zoologist' some in- 

 quiry into this point, the meaning of some of the names we so commonly use, and the 

 appearance or the habits of the animal which such names are intended to pourtray. 

 Had I leisure to pursue this subject as it deserves I would gladly devote some time to 

 it, and jot down a few notes on the point, but I must leave it to abler and better pens. 

 Meanwhile, by way of starting the topic and provoking discussion upon it (if possible), 

 I would ask a question that puzzles me much: how comes it that the word "jack," 

 so generally used as a diminutive (e. g. when applied to the smaller snipe, and the 

 smaller curlew — meaning the whimbrel), should change its office, and imply bulk and 

 magnitude when applied to the fish pike ? That it does so is sufficiently notorious to 

 every one, but I will adduce as an undoubted authority 'The Spectator' (No. 108, 

 passim). — Alfred Charles Smith; Yatesbury Rectory, Calne, February 8, 1856. 



Black Hare at Epping. — A perfectly black hare was shot on the estate of Sir B. 

 Smyjth, M.P., Hill Hall, near Epping, Essex, 31st January, 1856, by Mr. West.—- 

 James Cooper ; London, February, 1856. 



Occurrence of the Peregrine Falcon near Norwich. — After dinner on the 26th of 

 December, 1855, I was somewhat astonished to see a relative of " mine host" coming 

 to the window of the room in which I sat, holding up for my notice a beautiful male 

 peregrine falcon, which he had just shot in a field not 100 yards from the farm-house 

 in which I was spending my Christmas: it was at Mr. Q. Cubitt's, Neatishead, near 

 Norwich, Norfolk. I was presented with the bird, which Mr. Argent has preserved 

 forme, and it is one of which I am not a little proud. — M. C. Cooke ; Trinity Schools, 

 Lambeth, January 25, 1856. 



Honey Buzzard breeding in Hampshire. — During a recent visit to a place on the 

 borders of Hampshire and Wiltshire, a few miles from Romsey, I was fortunate 

 enough to find in the possession of a farmer, who is also a bird-stuffer, a fine specimen 

 of the female honey buzzard (Falco apivorus), and two young in the down : these he 

 had stuffed. They were taken in a copse close to his house, in the summer of 1852, 

 when the birds nested : the mule was shot at, but escaped. The man called them 

 common buzzards, and would not be persuaded of his mistake. " In the nest," he 



