122 
Official Checklist of the Birds of Australia. 
QRALLINA : New Latin word from L. grallae , stilts, on account of the long legs 
of the bird. 
H/EMATOPUS : G. haima, haimatos, blood, pous, foot. Oslralegvs = Oyster- 
catcher. H. ostralegus is wholly Linn scan. 
HALCYON : Greek Alcyon meant a seabird, later the Kingfisher. The H was 
added through mistakenly connecting the word with hals, the sea, and cyan 
breeding. ( Kuein , to breed.) It was supposed to be perfectly calm at sea 
in the “ halcyon days,” during which the alcyon broods. The word 44 sanctus ,” 
sacred, seems to have been given to one of the genus from its resemblance to 
another kingfisher outside Australia, which had the specific namo sacer 
also meaning sacred. 
HALOB/ENA : Means sea-walker. Petrel, the common name, has the same 
signification. The name means, literally, 44 little Peter ” (from Petrellus , a 
Latin diminutive of Peter) and was given to the bird on account of its apparent 
walking on the sea. Dampior says of these birds (Voyage III.)—“ As they 
fly they pat the water alternately with their feet, as if they walkt upon 
it; tho* still upon the wing. And from lienee the seamen give them the 
name of Petrels, in allusion to St. Peter ’b walking upon the lake of Genneaareth.” 
The German name for the bird is pelersvogel , meaning Peter’s bird. The word 
.Peter is derived from Greek pelros, a stone (cf. John I. 42). See Note by 
Dr. Burton Cleland. Emu, Vol. V., p. 206. 
HETEROMYIAS : Another flycatcher. G. hetcros, other, myia, fly, and -as is an 
ending used for names by scientists. 
hiaticula : This looks like a diminutive of L. hiatus , a cleft, valley, or river- 
mouth. Tho spelling hiaticola , meaning dweller in valleys, &c. ( colere , to 
inhabit), seems better. 
HIMANTOPUS : G. liimantopous , a kind of watorbird, from G. himas , himanlos, 
a leather thong, pous, foot. See Gilbert White’s Selbomo, Letter XLIX. 
HIRUNDAPUS : This name goes back beforo Linnaeus’ time to that of John 
Ray. Tho words Ilirundo apus were used by him for the swift; hirundo, 
Latin, swallow, apus {apons), Greek, without feet. .4/ms was Aristotle’s name 
for the swift, from its not alighting on the ground. Later the two words 
were joined together to form the hybrid Hirundapus. 
histrionica : Adjective from Latin histrio, actor, used by Linnseus for a parti¬ 
coloured species of duck ( Anas histrionica, translated as Harlequin duck) and 
adopted by Gould for this Australian pigeon of many colours. Count Salva- 
dori, the great Italian ornithologist, subsequently created the genus Histrio- 
phaps for this bird. 
HYDROPROGNE : Water swallow. Progne or Procno was, according to myth¬ 
ology, a daughter of Pandion, King of Athens. Philomela w'as another 
daugher. The gods changed Procne into a swallow, Philomela into a night¬ 
ingale and Pandion into an osprey. The whole story is told in Ovid’s 
Metamorphoses. 
ititerpres : Linnaeus first met wdth this cosmopolitan bird on the Swedish island of 
Gothland, in the Baltic Rea, in 1741. Ho believed (in error) the bird was 
there called “ Talk a Swedish word meaning interpreter. Tho name 41 Tolk ’ ’ 
belonged properly to the Redshank, on account of its habit of assisting other 
animals, by giving loud warning cries on the approach of danger. Linnaeus 
applied the namo to the Turnstone, calling it Tringa inlerprts. Skeat’s 
Etymological Dictionary gives Tolk as Swedish and Danish for interpreter. 
The Turnstone has tho habit of turning stones as it seeks food. Illiger’s name 
for the bird Strepsilas from the Greek also means turnstone. 
isabellinus 
Isabella : 
Tsabellinc in colour. An idea of the colour is given by the following 
. note in Dr. Langton’s manuscripts at the British Museum:— 
“ Isabelle, daughter of Phillip II. of Spain, swore she would not 
change her linen until Ostend was in her hands. As this did not 
„ occur for three years her linen w r as isabelline.” 
