12 T HE 7A UT D-U-BiO N= 7 BU Dai 
Finch, one of the oldest among old words, has a cognate in Sanskrit 
meaning brown or reddish. Goldfinch and goshawk, compounds, are fore- 
runners of dozens of others—some introduced early (woodcock, titmouse, 
nuthatch), some late (oven-bird, longspur). Old English stock figures in 
all the compound names except French gyrfalcon and oyster-catcher. In 
the Middle English period appear dove and teal, not recorded in Old 
English, but probably present there. Shrike, still a dialectal name for the 
missal-thrush, was applied to butcher birds in the 16th century. Ancient 
words such as swift and stilt acquired avian meanings later. Creeper, 
dovekie, and limpkin have been formed on old roots. 
Words of Italic derivation may be subdivided into Latin, French, and 
Iberian loans. Proportions between these three are roughly two to six to 
one. These proportions would be different, of course, if they were computed 
on the basis of ultimate origin. 
Largest single Italic group is the Old French, nearly all of which passed 
into English in the 14th century when the native tongue was emerging 
from the Norman eclipse. Here we find falcon, jay, mallard, heron, eagle, 
vulture, and others. Numerous words in this group had an interesting 
history before they appeared in Old French. The proper name, Robin, has 
been subsequently applied to a common bird in England and another in 
America. Old French elements in compound names include canvasback, 
bluebird, mockingbird. 
Modern French loans, about a dozen in number, are scattered through 
several centuries. Cormorant and egret stand early in the series, avocet 
and phalarope (1776) late. Only grosbeak and guillemot retain obviously 
French spellings. The former is appropriately descriptive; but what 
William had to do with the sea-pigeon is obscure. 
Of the 10 names from Latin, few have had a continuous history. 
Partridge (then pertrich) was a Middle English borrowing from Latinized 
Greek. Ibis, like pelican, entered by way of the Bible. Osprey has a long 
history, with some gaps in it. The word is referred to Latin ossifraga, 
bone-breaker. Pliny applied the word to a bird of prey, probably the 
lammergeier, but the transference (if there is truly a connection) occurred 
early. Other Latin elements are from late or modern Latin, rather than 
classical: tanager (formed on a Tupi word), merganser (diving goose), 
gallinule (little hen), oriole (awreolus, golden). As is noted elsewhere, 
Romance loans generally have Latin sources. 
The handful of Spanish-Portuguése names is strangely assorted, and 
each dates from a different century: flamingo, booby, junco, and caracara. 
The first is, of course, related to flamma, Latin for flame. Booby has 
long meant both fool and gannet. The next ultimate source is juncus, 
Latin for rush. A Spanish manuscript of 1599 refers to junco ave—a bird 
with long and narrow tail, like a rush (compare related jonquil). Caracara, 
like tanager, has been transmitted from Tupi, a language of Brazilian 
natives. 
The scarcity of surviving Indian names for the distinctive bird life of 
the New World is downright astounding. A fairly large number of North 
