Cape Sheep
A name absurdly given by sailors to the Albatross
(Layard,
Birds of South Africa page 363).
Caracara
Cardinal
The name given in different parts of the world to various birds from their
scarlet plumage, but perhaps originally to the North-American
Loxia
cardinalis of Linnaeus, the Cardinalis virginianus of 19th Century
ornithologists, this being the Nortern Cardinal today in the 21st Century,
known now as Cardinalis cardinalis. It is a beautiful creature
which was a favourite cage-bird in the 19th Century. It is also known
as the "Virginian Nightingale" and "Red Bird". In the United States
it does not usually occur to the northward of lat. 40°; but it is common
in and one of the most characteristic birds of Bermuda. The
Cardinals of today form a whole family, the Cardinalidae, of which the
Northern Cardinal is only one species of many. Other birds on which
the name "Cardinal" has been bestowed belong to the FINCHES, TANAGERS,
and WEAVER- BIRDS.
Cariama
See SERIEMA.
Carinatae
That division of the Class AVES possessing a "keel" (carina) to the sternum,
and accordingly so named by Merrem in 1812 (Abhandl. Akad. Wissensch.
Berlin, 1812-13, Physik. Kl. page 238); but generally overlooked by
systematists until prominently brought forward by Prof. Huxley (Proc.
Zool. Soc. 1867, p. 418) as one of the three "Orders" recognized by
him. It may here be observed, however, that among the Carinatae are
to be included a few forms such as Cnemiornis (Cereopsis), Didus
(the
extinct Dodo), and Strigops (KAKAPO), in which the keel of the sternum
is (or was in the case of the Dodo) nearly or wholly wanting, presumably
through disuse of their powers of flight.
Carotids
Carpus (adjective
carpal)
From the greek word Karpos, the carpus is the wrist or articulating region
between the forearm or ulna and radius, and the hand. In adult birds there
are only two separate carpal bones, one radial, on the convex or anterior
bend of the wrist, and one ulnar, on the posterior or inner angle. Originally
the carpus is composed, as in Reptiles and Mammals, of a greater number
of bones, which are also present in the embryos of Birds, but most of them
fuse either with each other or with the adjoining metacarpal bones (see
SKELETON).
Carr Crow
or Carr Swallow
The name used in Lincolnshire and perhaps other parts of the England for
the Black TERN in the days when it inhabited the UK. The former was
written by Willughby - on the authority of his correspondent Johnson -
"Scare-crow". These days it is an infrequent visitor and very rare
breeder in the UK.
Carr Goose
An old name for the Great Crested GREBE (Podicipes cristatus).
|