Dhayal to Dollarbird

Dhayal to Dollarbird

Picture of Diamond Bird

Diamond Bird   The Diamond Bird is a name bestowed in Australia on the Pardalote, these birds being members of the genus Pardalotus founded in 1816 by Vieillot (Analyse, page 31).   Four species of Pardalote exist. They are all colorful little birds who feed on insects on the outer branches of trees.  They nest in tunnels which are dug horizontally into earth banks.  These tunnels can be a metre or more in length.

Diaphragm
            
 
 

Picture of Dicaeum

Dicaeum             A group differentiated by Cuvier in 1817 (Regne Anim. i. p. 410) for the Certhia cruentata of Linnaeus and its allies, several of which inhabit India.  The group has since been recognized as entitled not only to generic rank, and subdivided into several sections or genera, but was advanced to the dignity of a Family, Dicaeidae, in the 19th Century, and the family still stands to this day (as at 2006).  The Dicaeidae range from Nepal through India and the Malay Archipelago to China and Australia. They are more generally known as Flowerpeckers, due to the fact that many species have a particular liking for nectar which they obtain from flowers using their tubular tongues.

 

Dickcissel
            
 

Didapper or Divedapper
            An old name (cf. Shakespear, Venus and Adonis, line 86) for the Dabchick or Little GREBE.
 

Digestive System
            
 

Dikkop
            Signifying "Thick-head", the Dikkop is the Dutch name for a Stone curlew of South Africa, known also by the English in that part of the world (Layard, Birds of South Africa, page 288) as the Spotted Dikkop (Burhinus capensis).
 

Dimorphism
            
 

Dinornis
            See MOA.
 

Dipper
            A name now in general use for the Water-OUSEL, but apparently invented in 1804 by the author of Bewick's British Birds (edition 1, ii. Page 17) because "it may be seen perched on the top of a stone in the midst of the torrent, in a continual dipping motion, or short courtesy often repeated," and not (as commonly is supposed) from its habit of entering the water in search of its food.
 

Dishwasher
            A common name in many parts of England, especially in the south, by which the Pied WAGTAIL (Motacilla alba yarrellii), is known; and given also in Australia to the Restless Flycatcher (Myiagra inquieta,  previously known as Sisura inquieta).
 

Diver or Loon
            
 

Diverticulum
            After the yolk-sac has been withdrawn into the body-cavity its stalk remains in connection with the small intestine, and. forms an appendix to it like a little caecum, known as Diverticulum or the diverticulum caecum vitelli.  This often persists throughout life in the NIDIFUGAE, and occasionally, as in the RATITAE, retains a small quantity of degenerated yolk, while in the NIDICOLAE or Altrices it is generally absorbed before maturity.
 

Dodlet
            
 

Dodo
            
 

Doe-Bird or Dough-Bird
            The name given, according to Nuttall (Manual of the ornithology of the United States and Canad, ii. page 102), indiscriminately by the English in eastern North America to some species of Curlew and GODWIT.  In particular, Trumbull stated in his Names and Portraits of Birds, page 203, that the name is rightly applied to a small species called the Northern Curlew Numenius borealis, also known as the  Eskimo Curlew.
 

Dollarbird
            The Australian name for Eurystomus orientalis, from the silvery white spot in the middle of the wing, which is distictly shown in flight (Gould, Handbook of Birds of Australia i. page 120). The genus Eurystomus, which is one of the Coraciidae (ROLLER) family, contains four species (within which numerous subspecies exist), belonging to the Indian or Ethiopian regions.

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