Re: [tied] Re: Birds

Dennis King wrote:

>
> Piotr wrote:
>
> > Will "coot" and "grebe" do? I think they are both analysable as
> > ultimately Brythonic, even if borrowed indirectly.
>
> I was actually thinking of "gull" and "penguin". My English
> dictionary says "coot" is from Middle Dutch "coet" and leaves
> it at that. For "grebe" it just gives French "grèbe", and my
> small dictionnaire étymologique says "origine inconnue" for
> "grèbe".
>
> "Gull" possibly, and French "goéland" certainly, can be
> traced to Welsh "gwylan" and Breton "gouelan", which are
> closely cognate with Irish "faoileán", OI "foílenn".
>
> "Penguin" is apparently Welsh "pen gwyn" (white head), not
> from the color of the bird's head, which is not white, but
> from the name of an island off Newfoundland on which they
> congregated, and which was blazing white from all the bird
> droppings. That's the story, anyway.
>
> Dennis King

Dennis,
The only problem with the penguin story is that penguins only live
in the southern hemisphere. One possibility would be the Common Puffin
which lives in that area.
Steve