ON THE NAMES GIVEN TO THE MOLE. BY PROF. HERBERT A. STRONG, M.A., LL.D. THE Latin talpa for stalpa, and the Greek ἀσπάλαξ οι σπάλαξ, both come from the root "scalp" and signify the "digger." The Latin shows st as against the Greek sp, cp. studium with onɛúềw ; and for the disappearance of the s. cp. cutis with scutum. The Italians received the word talpa and employed it to signify "a mole," but altered the word into topo to signify equally a rat or a mouse an instance, as it seems to me, of their lack of observation of animal nature. They seem to have given the name of topo to the mysterious animals which came to them from the East in the third or fourth centuries, which received the name of hratte, our rat, from the Slavish name for mole, krot. It seems likely, from the fact that the Low German form ratte is more commonly used in German than the H. German form ratze, that the incursion of rodents may have skirted the Baltic and passed through Low German countries. The Russians, however, evolved another word for rat, krysa, and retained the old Aryan word for mouse under the form muish. The French discarded this root, and employed souris, from soricem. The Romansch of Dissentis retains the form mur. Reverting to the Mole, the old Germans called it "earththrower," mold-wurf, Icelandic mold-varpa, which popular etymology soon turned into "maul-wurf," or "mouth-thrower." The Scoten form "moudie-wort" is well known. Palmer quotes Topsell's 'Historie of Foure-footed Beasts' (1608), p. 500, "With her feete she diggeth, and with her nose casteth awaye the earth, and therefore such earth is called in Germany mal-werff and in England molehill." In the west of England the word for mole is "want," which comes apparently from the same root as the modern German wenden, to turn, from the tortuous passages it makes beneath the earth. Dr. Meyer, the Celtic scholar (my colleague), informs me that in the Celtic languages we find a variety of words for mole, but there is no one common Celtic term. The Brythonic branch has indeed one word common to all the languages which it embraces, viz. gwadd in Welsh, gôz in Breton, gwdd (or ddaor) in Cornish. But Edward Lloyd (1707) gives besides for Welsh, twrch daear, literally "earth hog" or "earth-burrower," and he adds as obsolete. terms orddodyn and ylltyr. In Irish we have caochán (the blind creature), criadh-luch (the earth mouse), luch dall (the blind mouse). In Scotch Gaelic we find famh or famh thalmasnn, ùir-fhamh. In Manx the mole is called kyaghan-caochán, roddan-ooirey, the earth rat, or lugh-ghoal, Welsh rat. Palladius, who probably wrote about the reign of Theodosius in the 4th century A.D., gives directions for getting rid of the Mole as one of the banes of the agriculturist. An unknown translator, whose work is published by the Early English Text Society, gives the following quaint version of Palladius's injunctions: "THE MOLDEWARP THE GREKES THUS PURSUE: Thai thurle a nutte, and stuffe it so withinne Save oon, the moste, uppe stopped must thai be. This grettest hoole, as wol the wynde him serve From another passage in this translation we see that the Mole was actually called the Mold, hence our word is evidently a corruption of that form. Our friend Pliny does not tell us much about the Mole that is worthy of record. He affirms that these animals hear better when underground; that the magicians of Persia hold them in especial reverence; that they are killed by pouring "amurca" (wine-lees) into their holes; that mats were made of mole-skins ; that they have no eyes; and that a town had been undermined by them. Virgil also believed them to be blind, and regarded them as one of the pests of the farmer. · In the Philosopher's Banquet' (1633), we are told that water in which Moles were boiled had the property of turning what was black to white! ON BIRDS OBSERVED IN SOUTH WALES. By O. V. APLIN. THE recent appearance in The Zoologist' of a review of Mr. Mathew's Birds of Pembrokeshire,' and two very interesting lists of Welsh birds, viz., Mr. Rawlings' list of the birds of the Barmouth district (p. 328), and Mr. Harold Raeburn's list of birds seen in Mid Wales (including parts of Montgomery, Radnor, and Cardigan) in May, 1894 (p. 406), has suggested that perhaps a list of the species seen by me during a brief visit to Carmarthenshire in June last might be of interest for comparison with those above mentioned. The scene of my observations was a valley, with its tributaries, and the low but steep mountains rising therefrom. The tops of these hills were not more than from 1100 to 1300 feet (about 1500 in some cases) above the sea-level. The sides of them were often very steep; the upper portions were rocky in places; the tops consisted of moorland, chiefly covered with grass, but here and there clothed with a little ling. A considerable portion of the hillside is covered with wood, consisting almost entirely of spruce and oak. In the lower parts, and along the stream and torrent banks, you find alder, birch, wychelm, rowan, hazel, &c. The district therefore is suitable for woodland birds. A few species were conspicuous by their rarity or absence. Foremost amongst these was the Spotted Flycatcher, although I had seen it just before on the banks of the Wye in Breconshire. Mr. Raeburn does not mention meeting with it in his tour in Mid-Wales. It is however reported as common at Barmouth (p. 330). The Grey Wagtail I did not happen to see, probably because the adult individuals of this species had betaken themselves to the smaller streams, which wind away among the mountains, to breed, and the young had not yet come down. But it was curious that I did not see a single Stonechat, though the ground was suitable for it. I find that Mr. Raeburn did not meet with it either. Yet it seems to be common in Pembrokeshire, as well as in North Wales. I have seen it on Penmaenmawr, in Carnarvonshire, in July, and noticed a good many in Merionethshire in October, 1884. Mr. Rawlings says that, although resident and common in the Barmouth district, it is only just recovering from the effects of the winter of 1889, when dozens of Stonechats were picked up dead. Possibly it suffered also in parts of Mid and South Wales. I did not hear a single Chiffchaff, and Mr. Raeburn does not appear to have noticed it (in May). But my companion observed one, and tells me he heard some in April. Yet it could hardly have been present and have become silent in June, for here in Oxon it sings on into the latter part of July. Perhaps the April birds moved on, though I cannot imagine why they should do so. I found the Chiffchaff common in North-west Shropshire, on the Welsh borders, in May, 1888, and have heard it on the Anglesea side of the Menai Straits in July. Mr. Rawlings notes it as common. I did not see the Nuthatch, a pair of which Mr. Raeburn found nesting; nor does Mr. Rawlings include it in his list. In Shropshire, near the Welsh borders, I have found it common in a well-planted park. The distribution of many of our small birds in Wales and the border counties is evidently very local, and it would be an interesting study to work it out. The Lesser Whitethroat must be a rare bird in Wales. Neither Mr. Raeburn nor I observed it, and it is either not found or extremely rare in Pembrokeshire, according to Mr. Mathew. But, curiously enough, Mr. Rawlings is able to include it in his list, as "much rarer than the Common Whitethroat. Perhaps it is spreading from Salop to North Wales. I observed it at Ellesmere in May, 1888, and the late Mr. Beckwith wrote of it as common in that county, it having increased greatly of late years. The Green Woodpecker was not noticed by me, and Mr. Raeburn only heard it once in Radnorshire. This, again, is curious, when we consider what a noisy bird it is, and that I made the following note about it in Merionethshire, in October, 1884:-" Quite common in the woods, and I observed it even in the hotel garden." In Mr. Rawlings' list it is entered as "common." common." I did not expect to find many House Sparrows when I saw what the country was like, and I was not disappointed. We saw none until we approached a town again. But our landlord said a few came in harvest; I suppose to help him get in his little patch of corn! Mr. Rawlings omits the name from his list altogether. This is, possibly, an oversight. I found very few in Merionethshire in October, 1884, and those only about farms. There was no ground suitable for river warblers in the part of Carmarthen shire explored. But as Mr. Rawlings has an interesting note about the Grasshopper Warbler, to the effect that he first observed it six years ago, and that it is increasing annually, I may mention here that I observed it in May, 1888, on Whixhall Moss, a detached portion of Flintshire. Here is my list; it includes fifty-four species, while Mr. Raeburn's includes sixty-one : Turdus viscivorus; T. musicus; T. merula. T. torquatus.-A male, which strung together a few wild notes, and a pair, on rocky slopes. Bill of male dusky yellow. Saxicola œnanthe.-Very numerous. Pratincola rubetra.- Only one. Ruticilla phoenicurus.—Quite common. Seen up the wooded heights to some distance; also on rocky faces to quite 1000 feet, if only there was a scrubby thorn or other bush, and reminding one of the Black Redstart in the Alps. The Redstart is unknown, or extremely rare, in Pembrokeshire (Mr. Mathew). From what little I have seen of that county I should expect many woodland species to be absent, as my remembrance is of a dreary, rather treeless country. But the Redstart is increasing so in some places that it may push its way into any suitable spots there may be in Pembrokeshire. In Shropshire Mr. Beckwith noted it as very locally distributed. I saw it at Shrewsbury and near the Black Mere in May, 1888, but my host considered it quite uncommon then. I do not know if it is more numerous now, but Mr. Raeburn found it abundant in most of the localities in Mid-Wales he visited, and Mr. Rawlings records it as very common in Merioneth. shire. Mr. Raeburn must have overlooked this when he stated (p. 406) that the authorities were silent as regards this bird in North Wales. Erithacus rubecula. Sylvia cinerea.-Fairly common. S. atricapilla.-Two or three. S. hortensis.-Several observed; in song. Extremely rare in Pembroke (Mr. Mathew). Fairly distributed (Mr. Raeburn). Rarer than the Blackcap (Mr. Rawlings). [S. curruca. Capt. Swainson writes that it is "pretty evenly distributed in suitable places in the neighbourhood of Brecon," and that he could point to at least a dozen different localities where it can be heard, and perhaps seen, near Brecon (Zool. 1891, |