Aug. 14, 1909] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
277 
sitting did not exceed three. They showed no 
symptoms of alarm on ascertaining whence the 
shots proceeded, but, on the contrary, took their 
seats again quietly after the .first.”— Sportsman. 
BIRD NAMES NORTH OF THE TWEED. 
The following list of bird names common in 
Northeastern Scotland, may not be without in¬ 
terest. Taking the birds that frequent water¬ 
ways first, we find some very unique names 
current here. The common guillemot is often 
designated the “quet,” the razorbill the 
“marrot,” Richardson’s skua the ‘‘blacktoed 
gull,” the kittiwake the “keltie,” and the her¬ 
ring gull the “willie gow.” The common gull 
goes under such titles as “sea-maw,” “sea-gow,” 
“sea-goo,” or “gull-maw,” but some of these 
names are equally applicable to other sea- 
roving species. Still more curious is the name 
given the black-headed gull. This is the “pot¬ 
terin’ hen,” from the bird’s slovenly manner 
while hunting for food. That dainty bird, the 
common tern, also its local name from the style 
of its movements. It is termed the “pickitar.” 
The curlew is everywhere spoken of as the 
“whaup,” the dunlin is the “dorbie,” and the 
common snipe the “mire snipe.” Where is the 
Englishman who would know the common sand¬ 
piper by the name “kittieneedie,” or the great 
northern diver by such a designation as the 
“ammer?” 
For the oyster catcher, as naturalists name 
the bird, Scottish tongues say the “krocket,” 
or “sea-pie,” or sometimes “sea-pyet.” All 
bird of the plover family are known simply as 
plovers, but to the ringed species the name 
“sandy haverock,” “sand lark,” or “sanny 
porpie” is often applied. What is known popu¬ 
larly as the “moorhen” is in Scotland familiarly 
termed the “water-hen,” which, in passing, one 
may say is more in keeping with the bird's 
habits. The gooseander has been baptized the 
“sawnel,” while the red-breasted merganzer 
: passes in North Britain as the “sawnib” or 
“sawbill.” Long-tailed ducks are “northern 
heralds,” and the mallard is the “wild deuk.” 
! Those living about the sea coast, in referring 
to the shag, mostly call it the “scart,” although 
in some quarters the bird gets its book name. 
; So, too, in the case of the common heron. The 
single word “heron” is commonly used, but in 
certain localities “lang-craiget heron” is the 
bird’s alias. That rare bird, the osprey, gains 
the high-sounding name of “fishing eagle,” 
while the cormorant has to be satisfied with 
“scarf.” The little black-and-white bobbing 
beauty of the burn-sides, which is written down 
dipper in school books, has quite a range of 
titles, viz., “water craw,” “water cockie,” “ess- 
’ cockie,” etc. The first of these names applies 
to the predominant black coloring of the bird, 
while the word “ess” stands in the Gaelic 
language for waterfall or cascade. The name 
“ess-cocKie” has evidently arisen from the 
bird’s frequent appearance where the waters 
tumble from rock to rock in the hill-burns. 
Speaking of the birds more directly con¬ 
nected with the land, we find the thrushes with 
divers names. The missel-thrush is sometimes 
known as the “hill-bird,” which name is also 
applied to the fieldfare. “Hieland piet” is like¬ 
wise a title for the former. The common thrush 
is the “mavis” or “mavie,” according to locality. 
“Heather blackie” is applied to the ring 
ouzel, the name, no doubt, being derived from 
the color of the bird. That migratory species, 
the wheatear, has some dozen local names, such 
as “chatterer,” “stone-chat,” “stane-chatterer,” 
“fallow-chat,” and “white-rump.” The whinchat 
is the “fern-chackert” in some counties, and the 
stonechat is the “stane-chackert.” Another mi¬ 
gratory species, the 1 whitethroat, is spoken of 
as the “whitin,” or “fitin” in the northern dis¬ 
tricts. Hedge-sparrows are “blue-janets,” and 
house-sparrows are “spurdies” or “spugs.” 
Among the tits we also find some very 
peculiar local names. The great titmouse, for 
instance, is the “oxee,” and the blue species the 
“blue bonnetie.” Boys speak of the wren as 
the “wrannie,” and the meadow pipit as the 
“titlin,” or “creepie.” They say “gowdie” when 
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