"Perdrix-de-mer" (1 Viewer)

[Gonçalo Elias]

The French name for the Collared Pratincole is Glaréole à Collier, but there is an alternative (old) name for the species: perdrix-de-mer (literally: sea partridge).

The Portuguese name for this bird is perdiz-do-mar, which means the same as in French and is most likely the direct translation of the French name into Portuguese.
Here in Portugal we often make jokes about it, the most common one is this: "A perdiz-do-mar não é uma perdiz nem anda no mar" (literal tranlation: the sea partridge is not a partridge and does not live at sea).

I am curious to know where this French name "perdrix-de-mer" came from. Any ideas?

 

[Jim LeNomenclatoriste]

In my knowledge, the first author who described the "Perdrix-de-mer" is Buffon, in the 7th volume of his "Histoire naturelle des oiseaux", pages 542-543.

Les oiseaux

Buffon : LA PERDRIX de mer.

www.oiseaux.net

Transcribed in modern French

LA PERDRIX DE MER.

C'EST très-improprement qu'on a donné le nom de perdrix à cet oiseau de rivage, qui n'a d'autre rapport avec la perdrix qu'une faible ressemblance dans la forme du bec. Ce bec étant en effet assez court, convexe en- dessus, comprimé par les côtés, courbé vers la pointe, ressemble assez au bec des gallinacées; mais la forme du corps & la coupe des plumes, éloignent cet oiseau du genre des gallinacées, & semblent le rapprocher de celui des hirondelles, dont il a la forme & les proportions; ayant comme elles, la queue fourchue, une grande envergure & la coupe des ailes en pointe: quelques Auteurs ont donné à cet oiseau le nom de glareola, qui a rapport à sa manière de vivre sur les grèves des rivages de la mer: & en effet, cette perdrix de mer, va comme le cincle, la guignette & l'alouette de mer, cherchant les vermisseaux & les insectes aquatiques, dont elle fait sa nourriture; elle fréquente aussi le bord des ruisseaux & des rivières, comme sur le Rhin, vers Strasbourg, où, suivant Gesner, on lui donne le nom allemand de kappriegerle. Kramer ne l'appelle praticola, que parce qu'il en a vu un grand nombre dans de vastes prairies qui bordent un certain lac de la basse Autriche (6), mais par-tout, soit sur les bords des rivières & des lacs, ou sur, les côtes de la mer, cet oiseau cherche les grèves ou rives sablonneuses, plutôt que celles de vase.

On connait quatre espèces ou variétés de ces perdrix de mer, qui paraissent former une petite famille isolée au milieu de la nombreuse tribu des petits oiseaux de rivage.

THE SEA PARTRIDGE.


The name of partridge has been very improperly given to this shore bird, which has no other connection with the partridge than a faint resemblance in the shape of the beak. This beak being indeed rather short, convex above, compressed by the sides, curved towards the point, resembles the beak of the gallinaceae; but the shape of the body & the cut of the feathers, move this bird away from the genus of the gallinaceae, & seem to bring it closer to that of the swallows, of which it has the shape & the proportions; having like them, the forked tail, a large wingspan & the cut of the wings in point: some Authors have given to this bird the name of glareola, which relates to its way of living on the shores of the shores of the sea: & in indeed, this sea partridge, goes like the dipper, the guignette and the sea lark, seeking the worms and the aquatic insects, of which it makes its food; it also frequents the banks of streams and rivers, as on the Rhine, towards Strasbourg, where, according to Gesner, it is given the German name of kappriegerle. Kramer only calls it praticola because he has seen a large number of them in the vast meadows bordering a certain lake in Lower Austria (6), but everywhere, either on the edges of rivers and lakes, or on the coasts of the sea, this bird seeks sandy shores or shores, rather than those of mud.

Four species or varieties of these sea partridges are known, which seem to form a small isolated family in the midst of the numerous tribe of small shorebirds.

Then, subsequent authors have taken up Buffon's name, such as Vieillot or Lesson (I'm not sure about the latter)

 

[James Jobling]

Perdrix de mer dates from the mid-18th century (Brisson 1760), and refers to apparent morphological similarities between the pratincoles and partridges, especially the supposed resemblance of the curved bill point and the enclosing throat pattern of the two groups (per NFOM Dictionnaire historique (accessed 20.3.23)). It may have originated in the Italian name Pernice di mare, of the same meaning.

 

[Jim LeNomenclatoriste]

Perdrix de mer dates from the mid-18th century (Brisson 1760), and refers to apparent morphological similarities between the pratincoles and partridges, especially the supposed resemblance of the curved bill point and the enclosing throat pattern of the two groups (per NFOM Dictionnaire historique (accessed 20.3.23)). It may have originated in the Italian name Pernice di mare, of the same meaning.

Buffon, Brisson, it's very close in time XD

 

[Gonçalo Elias]

Thanks, Jim and James. This is very useful.

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Also note (as far as I can tell), that "Pernice di mare" has been used in Italian (pre-linnaean/pre-1758), among "degli Ucceli" (some Birds) for the Pratincole, as early as (at least) in Pomey's Indice Universale, ... from 1684 (here), a k a "Perdix marina", as well as here (in 1701), though in 1737 the same name seems to have been used also on/for a pesce/fish (in Solea/soles), here.

 

[Gonçalo Elias]

Thanks Björn.

Interesting to note that in French the name was abandoned but in Portuguese and Italian it is still in use as the main name for this species.

 

[Jim LeNomenclatoriste]

Thanks Björn.

Interesting to note that in French the name was abandoned but in Portuguese and Italian it is still in use as the main name for this species.

"Glaréole" has become the standard zoological name for some genera in family Glareolidae and derives its origin from the genus Glareola naturally. The advantage of the French language is that we can francize the names of scientific Latin (Campylopterus = Campyloptère, Zosterops = Zostérops, Amblyospiza = Amblyospize, Rhipidura = Rhipidure, etc.). This is why they are called French scientific names (or French technical names) and not vernacular names (even if many standardized names come from the vernacular). I love this scientific aspect of French language.

 

[Xenospiza]

The advantage of the French language is that we can francize the names of scientific Latin (Campylopterus = Campyloptère, Zosterops = Zostérops, Amblyospiza = Amblyospize, Rhipidura = Rhipidure, etc.). This is why they are called French scientific names (or French technical names) and not vernacular names (even if many standardized names come from the vernacular). I love this scientific aspect of French language.

I may not speak French (sauf en cas d’émergence!), but I don't know why these meaningless constructions don't attract the ire of the Académie Française like anglicisms do, haha!

 

[Jim LeNomenclatoriste]

I may not speak French (sauf en cas d’émergence!), but I don't know why these meaningless constructions don't attract the ire of the Académie Française like anglicisms do, haha!

Probably because they are zoological name integrated into the French lexicon despite their greek construction. Limits between French and Latin doesn't exist after all. That said, French nomenclature is a melting pot of languages. "Perdrix-de-mer" is bit convoluted and misleading (see my book/pdf "Noms français normalisés des oiseaux du monde " 😉)

We are not against Anglicisms, we believe that there are too many and some are even useless while there are perfectly usable French equivalents.

 

[Gonçalo Elias]

Like "bécasseau sanderling"

Until recently, the Portuguese name for Sanderling was "pilrito-sanderlingo", this is a meaningless name in Portuguese. It has now been changed to "pilrito-das-praias", which in French would be something like "bécasseau-des-plages".

 

[Gonçalo Elias]

"Glaréole" has become the standard zoological name for some genera in family Glareolidae and derives its origin from the genus Glareola naturally. The advantage of the French language is that we can francize the names of scientific Latin (Campylopterus = Campyloptère, Zosterops = Zostérops, Amblyospiza = Amblyospize, Rhipidura = Rhipidure, etc.). This is why they are called French scientific names (or French technical names) and not vernacular names (even if many standardized names come from the vernacular). I love this scientific aspect of French language.

Jim any idea when perdrix-de-mer was replaced by "glaréole à collier"?

 

[Jim LeNomenclatoriste]

Jim any idea when perdrix-de-mer was replaced by "glaréole à collier"?

I search. I know that Brisson (1760) is the creator of the genus Glareola but called it "Perdrix-de-mer". Bonnaterre used this name in 1823. But the first seems to be Vieillot in 1817

 

[l_raty]

"Glareola" was used by pre-Linnaean authors like Schwenckfeld 1603 and Klein 1750, before Brisson, but as a generic term that encompassed various shorebirds. You will find "glaréole" in mid-18th C dictionaries used in this sense.

Lacépède 1799 definitely used "glaréole" for pratincoles.
But Temminck's Manuel d'ornithologie (1815) may have been instrumental to the spread of the name "glaréole à collier" for the species. (Note the footnote, where he says explicitly that Perdrix-de-mer has been used improperly.)

 

[James Jobling]

From BOW The Key to Scientific Names (a free resource, don’t forget to use it):

GLAREOLA (Glareolidae; Ϯ Collared Pratincole G. pratincola) Mod. L. glareola little gravel (bird) < dim. L. glarea gravel; "Glareola. Genus 73. ... Genus Glareolæ Le genre de la Perdrix-de-mer. ... **1. LA PERDRIX-DE-MER. ... GLAREOLA. ... On la trouve sur les bords de la mer, des rivieres & des étangs" (Brisson 1760): ex "Koppriegerle" of Gessner 1555, "Hirundo marina" of Aldrovandus 1599-1603, Jonston 1650-1653 and Charleton 1668, "Glareola" and "Sand-Vogel" of Schwenkfeld 1603, and "Pratincola" of Kramer 1756; "Glareola Brisson, Orn., 1760, 1, p. 48; 5, p. 141. Type, by tautonymy, Glareola Brisson = Hirundo pratincola Linné." (Peters, 1934, II, p. 303).
Var. Glareolea, Glariola.


glareola Dim. < L. glarea gravel (probably used in the broadest sense of waterside habitat).
● "109. Charadrius Glareola F. (Fig. pict. G.) Charadrius fuscus, pectore abdomineque rufescentibus, remigibus fuscis 6—10 medio, 11—12 apice albis. Habitat ad littora glareosa insulae australis Novae Zeelandiae. Corpus magnitudine circiter Scolopacis rusticolae." (Forster 1844 (ed. Lichtenstein)) (syn. Charadrius obscurus).
● ex Glareola Brisson, 1760, pratincole, and Glareola austriaca J. Gmelin, 1798 (syn. Glareola pratincola).
● "78. TRINGA. ... Glareola. 11. T. rostro lævi, pedibus virescentibus, corpore albo punctato, pectore subalbido. Fn. svec. 152. Habitat in Europa.” (Linnaeus 1758) (Tringa).

 

[Gonçalo Elias]

James, thanks, I had read the Key before, but my last question was about the French common name.

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

... but my last question was about the French common name.

Gonçalo, for French Common/Vernacular Bird names it's always worth checking:
• L'étymologie des noms d'oiseaux [Origine et sens des noms des oiseaux du Paléarctique occidental (noms scientifiques, noms français et étrangers)], by Pierre Cabard & Bernard Chauvet (2003, limited view here), alt. it's most recent version, by Pierre Cabard alone (2022), see for example here (unseen in full by me).

This said without knowing if either one of them does explain "glaréole à collier" sufficiently enough.

/B

 

[Jim LeNomenclatoriste]

However, the current French nomenclature contains a lot of mistakes, misassigned names, which I had to correct in my document. CINFO worked really badly in several groups

 

[Gonçalo Elias]

Thans Björn.