NOTES AND QUERIES. 117 



careless in such matters, or not very quick at differentiating sounds ; 

 he seems also to have got his information as to place-names by word 

 of mouth, and would probably get his bird-names by the same means. 

 If dictionaries are to be depended upon, though it must be allowed 

 they are unsatisfactory sources of ornithological information, I should 

 be disposed to think the word "Patin" as meaning Shearwater has 

 now become obsolete, for in the new edition of Velasquez, 1912, it is 

 applied to the Goosander, whereas the Spanish name for Shearwater 

 is given as " Pico-tijera," the English equivalent of which (Scissor- 

 bill) is usually applied to a Bhynchops. Mr. Dresser, in his ' Manual 

 of Palsearctic Birds,' states that the Spanish name for the Manx 

 Shearwater is "Animas, diablos," a misprint most likely for " Animas- 

 diablos," which is, however, correctly printed in his 'Eggs of the 

 Birds of Europe.' — Thomas Ground (Moseley, Birmingham). 



In Eodd's 'Birds of Cornwall,' the editor, Mr. J. E. Harting, 

 quotes the passage cited by Mr. Aplin from the ' Itinerarium Wilhelmi 

 Botoner,' which contains the mysterious reference to "Katones et 

 muscae, id est mowses," and suggests that " Katones" is a misreading 

 for " Capones," i. e. Fowls. In ' The Gannet, a Bird with a History,' 

 the same passage is again quoted (p. 315, note) with the suggestion 

 that " Katones " should read " Batones," i. e. Bats. A third render- 

 ing was put forward by my father, that the word was meant by 

 Botoner to be " Catones," i. e. Cats. Considering the loose way in 

 which Botoner kept his journal, all these explanations are possible, 

 but the last seems to be the best, for if there were Mice on the island, 

 a Cat or two might have been introduced from the mainland to keep 

 them down. — J. H. Gurney (Keswick Hall, Norwich). 



A misreading, if any, would have been in the transcription of 

 the MS. of the ' Itinerarium ' when it was printed in 1778. It is 

 possible that a mistake was made then. I quoted from Nasmith's 

 edition, the only one I know. "Katones" and " Kahoues " look 

 something alike, printed, as the Editor suggests. But whether they 

 would look so much alike in a MS. of that date is another matter. 

 The sound of the two words is quite different. " Cahow " is, I 

 suppose, a name of Spanish- American or of West Indian origin, and 

 I do not think it is in the least likely to have been in use in Wales 

 in the fifteenth century. Possibly the author bungled the word, as he 

 did when he made "Kermerertes " out of Cormorants, or something 

 like it. But, even so, I cannot think what the name could really be. 

 I might have said that the author mentions "Pophyns" in his 

 account of the Scilly Islands. — 0. V. Aplin (Bloxham). 



