Weird and wonderful wildlife words

[STYRBJORN]

Originally Posted by The Woodman

Thanks Styrbjorn - I'd wager that it doesn't crop up in many local papers.

Well no! I'd guess it goes back to before the enclosures.

[Deb London]

Originally Posted by Jonathan

I like some of the old falconry words and terms and use some of them myself. A male merlin is a jack, a male peregrine a tiercel. A male sparrowhawk is a musket. One I don't use for some reason is robin for a male hobby.

A juvenile hawk is an eyass, a 1st winter a passage bird, and (my favorite!) an adult a haggard.

Some of these old words have made it into modern language.

From 'Raptor Trivia':

Mantelpiece: From the birds habit of 'mantling' over its food once caught.

Boozing: From 'Bowse' or 'Bouse', describing birds drinking water.

Fed-Up: Giving the bird her full ration of food for the day.

Gorge: An obsolete term for the crop, filling the crop was known as gorging.

Hoodwink: Fooling the bird into thinking it is night by hooding it.

Cadge: The portable perch used to carry falconry birds was called a cadge. The person carrying the cadge was often unpaid, & had to beg, or "cadge" tips from the onlookers.

Codger: The person who carried the cadge was called a "cadger", most were old falconers. The term, now corrupted to "codger", has come to refer to all old people.

Callow: Referred to a nestling raptor, still in the blood-quill stage, now refers to someone young and untested.

Mews: This was the name for hawks housing, derived from the French word "muer", meaning "to moult". As falconry became less popular, the word passed to being used for horse stables.

Cheers
Jonathan

Very interesting.

[STYRBJORN]

Talking of hawking . . .

One of the funniest bits of animal behaviour I have seen was when I took one of my Apso dogs for his top-up jabs. We walked into the surgery and Oscar cast his usual baleful glare around. He was a deranged hooligan and afraid of nothing. Well, as it turned out, almost nothing. Sitting on a perch, no jesses but wearing an ankle chain, was a merlin. The vet was into hawking! I picked Oscar up, plonked him on the table and he spotted de boid.This mean boid looked at Oscar; Oscar looked at the boid, turned tail, leapt off the table and legged it. NO WAY was he gonna tangle with a fevvered fighter like that! The vet had to give him his jab in the waiting room 'cos he would NOT go back in the surgery. Even when I took him back 2 years later he was dead leary about that room.

[tcvarlh]

Dog had heard of the saying 'fur flying' and got the wrong end of the stick.
h

[STYRBJORN]

Back on topic, thelytoky, an alternative term for parthogenesis.

[artdemole]

How's about a Setterworth in a Smelling Cheat.(18th Century slang)...Stinking Hellebore in a garden.

[STYRBJORN]

Originally Posted by artdemole

How's about a Setterworth in a Smelling Cheat.(18th Century slang)...Stinking Hellebore in a garden.

Is that a question or an offer?