10 TH «Ey (A Ut D-UsBeO2N UB Ue Dyin oe lei 
to possess the easy, buoyant flight of the adults; but they were quite active, 
diving and twisting in mock combat, sweeping low over the field, and 
making sharp banks over spots that might conceal quarry. For a while 
one harrassed two crows perched in a tree and another pursued a redwing 
for a short distance. When they perched, which was frequently, it was 
always in the topmost branches of a small tree, where they seemed to have 
difficulty balancing. They were never seen to alight on the ground. The 
parent birds did not appear. 
Our next opportunity to return to the nesting area did not come until 
late in the summer. By that time the marsh hawks and their interesting 
family were gone. 
i i it 
Bird Names 
By ALFRED C. AMES 
OBSERVERS AND STUDENTS of American birds constantly use a specialized 
but popular vocabulary—the common names of the species. They must have 
wondered occasionally about the origin and history of this nomenclature. 
Where did these words come from? When did they enter the English 
language? What changes of meaning and linguistic accidents are they 
known to have undergone? 
Roger Tory Peterson’s A Feld Guide to the Birds (east of the Rockies) 
gives in its main series of entries 165 different “last names” of birds. 
“Last name” in this context means the final word in the species entry. In 
compiling the list, I jumped but one gap between words—that between 
man-o’-war and bird. Accidentals were not included, nor names that 
occur in the western but not the eastern guide. What follows is the fruit 
of investigating these 165 words in A New English Dictionary on Historical 
Principles and its supplementary companion work, A Dictionary of Ameri- 
can English. The former of these dictionaries endeavors to describe the 
history since the year 1150 of all standard words recorded in written 
English up to the date of preparation, with a full account of etymologies 
and with quantities of dated quotations exemplifying use of the words in 
context. The American work, dealing with terms specifically related to 
American experience, likewise gives dated quotations derived from Ameri- 
can sources only. From these two works a reasonably thorough account of 
American bird names can be derived. 
Of the 165 items, 35 cannot be traced to languages other than modern 
English. Two are proper names (turkey, and mag in magpie), 15 are of 
obscure etymology, and 18 are echoic. The items of unknown source are all 
from 14th to 17th century time span, and pose fascinating riddles; 
bunting, puffin, widgeon, godwit, grouse, and scoter are representative. 
Eighteen names originate with the birds themselves. The words are 
imitative or onomatopoeic. They represent a variety of birds: whip-poor- 
