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EEDBEEAST. TITMOUSE. 683
that draws down the flash. The latter the Swiss call husrotheli
(house-redling) ; if you tease him or take him out, your cows
will give red milk (Tobler 281). Were these birds sacred to
Donar the red-bearded ? And has that to do with the colour of
their throat and tail ? They say the redbreast drops leaves and
flowers on the face of a murdered man [or babe ] whom he
finds in the wood ; did he do this in the service of a god, who
therefore would not suffer him to be molested ?
The tiny titmouse?- whom he called gossip, was able to outwit
even Reynard himself. The weisthiimer tell us in what estima
tion this little forest bird was held, by setting the severest penal
ties on his : capture item, si quis sibilando vel alio modo volucrem
ilium ceperit, qui vulgo meise nuncupatur, banni reus erit/
Jura archiep. trever., in Lacombl. arch. 326. si quis auceps
hanc silvam intraverit, pro nullo genere volucrum componet, nisi
capiat meisam que dicitur banmeisa, et pro ilia componat 60 sol.
tanquam pro cervo/ ibid. 367. wer da fehet ein bermeisen, der
sal geben ein koppechte hennen und zwelf hunkeln, und sechzig
schilling pfenning und einen helbeling/ Dreieicher wildbann
(Weisth. 1, 499). wer eine kolmeise fienge mit limen ader mit
slagegarn, der sal unserme herrn geben eine falbe henne mit sieben
hiinkeln/ Rheingauer w. 1, 535. wer ein sterzmeise fahet,
der ist umb leib u. guet, und in unsers herrn ungnad/ Creuz-
nacher w. 2, 153. The reason of these laws is hidden from us;
plainly the bird was held sacred and inviolable. And it is per
fectly in tune with this, that at the present moment the Lettons,
who call the bird sihle* regard it as prophetic and auspicious,
and even call a soothsayer sihlneeks? Also the Spanish name for
the titmouse, cid (lord), or cid paxaro (lord sparrow), is worth
considering. Titmouse, wren and woodpecker (bee-wolf) are
confounded in popular belief; what is meant is the tiniest
prettiest bird (see Suppl.).
1
Meise, OHG. meisa, AS. mase, Nethl. meze, Fr. mesange, O.Fr. mesenge.
2 Lith. zyle, zylele ; Pol. sikora, Boh. sykora, Kuss. zmika, sinitsa, Slov.
senitsa, Serv. sienitsa. The Lettic name maybe derivable, from sinnaht, the Lith.
from zynoti (scire), so that the full form would be sinnele, zynle, the sage knowing
bird ? The jay also is in Lettic sihls. To the Swed. Lapps taitne signifies not
only wood-pecker, but superstitious divination ; tayetet is to understand. In view
of that, our specht (woodpecker) seems to belong to a lost root spihan, spah, spahun,
whence also spehon (explorare), and spahi (sapiens, prudens).
Mag. der lett. lit. gesellsch., Mitau 1838. 6, 151.