birding-aus

Re: Japanese Seabird Names for Gaijin

To: "ozbird" <>, "Paul Taylor" <>
Subject: Re: Japanese Seabird Names for Gaijin
From: "Susan Myers" <>
Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 18:41:34 +1100

> "Mollymawk" is Portugese(?) for "foolish gull", so presumably "ahoudori"
> has the same origin.
Paul, presumably this is an Anglicised version of the original, do you know
what the pure form of the word is? Interestingly, Japan had a long
historical association with the Portuguese (& Dutch). I wonder who
influenced who in this case....
Also:
On further research I find that the name for the Pterodroma petrels
"mizunagidori" probably means "calm water bird" (from an obscure verb
"nagu" meaning calm or lull). I've never noticed it being particularly calm
when I've observed them but maybe it's all relative! Presumably Japanese
fishermen have been familiar with seabirds for many centuries & know
something of their behaviour, can anyone enlighten us on why these birds
may have acquired this name?

Susan Myers
Email:Susan Myers 


<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU