BIRD XAMES 
49 
Oystercatcher, and Flycatcher illustrate the third. The follow- 
ing are interesting : Kestrel, from Lat. circo,” to go round, 
named from its habit of hovering and wheeling in circles ; 
Wren, from A.S. “ wraene,” playful, an appropriate name for 
his little favourite; Lark, from Old Germ, “laren,” to sound 
or sing, truly a good name ; Dove, from A.S. dufian,” to dive, 
an allusion to its dipping flight ; and Heron, from Ger. 
“ reihen,” to scream. “Chaffinch” is chattering finch, the 
bird having no connection with the corn-shop, at least, that is, 
as far as its name is concerned. “ Goose ” and “ Gannet ” can 
both be traced through Ger. “gans,” to root, “ gahnen,” to 
yawn; while “Cormorant” is a corruption of Lat. “ corvus 
marinus,” and means literally “ sea-crow.” Some of the 
commonest names are the most difficult to derive; thus “Gull” 
may come to us, either from Brit, “gvvela,” to weep, an allusion 
to its wailing cry, or from Lat. “ gulo,” a glutton, and anyone 
who observes gulls — even Londoners can now — will understand 
that either supposition is feasible. Superstition supplied many 
names in the past, but as the old beliefs were exploded, the 
names died out, or at best survived only in rural districts. An 
exception is the word “ Goatsucker,” which unfortunately still 
sticks to Caprimulgns europaus formerly accused of robbing 
sleeping goats of their milk, but “ Nightjar ” is more suitable, 
and should be allowed to supersede the other slandering epithet. 
Now for a few miscellaneous and rather surprising deriva- 
tions. The “ Knot ” is supposed to be named after Canute, 
who is said to have had a fondness for its flesh. As even the 
most ardent investigator cannot ask Canute now, the derivation 
may be accepted for want of a better. The Pheasant is not 
a native of England, but was introduced from Asia Minor, and 
from one of the rivers of that peninsula — -the Phasis — it takes 
it name. The familiar Martin was named by the French 
peasants after St. Martin, while the little Stormy Petrel is 
named after St. Peter, because of its habit of apparently 
walking on the water, as the great apostle attempted to do. 
The above derivations are only a selection ; nearly every 
one of our birds possesses some interesting name which, traced 
to its origin, often leads to surprising pieces of information. 
It is, too, usual to completely separate book-work from field 
natural-history, but surely the two are complementary. “ A 
rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” yet one looks 
with more pleasure on the familiar wren, when one knows it 
is named from its playfulness, or on the lark when one knows 
its name means the singer. One cannot help loving the birds 
more when one knows the meaning of each one’s name, and 
a few moment’s hunting in the dictionary is amply repaid by 
the pleasure it affords to the seeker. C. S. Holder. 
