Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2000 10:23:41 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Hogchokers, popes & pigwitches MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii HOGCHOKERS, POPES, AND PIGWITCHES In an earlier post my use of the name Hogchoker, a small species of flounder, drew some commentary. It doesn't sound as if it ought to be but Hogchoker (Trinectes maculatus) is the genuine name used by the scientific community. Here is a fanciful enumeration of other species, as it might sound like coming from an Eastern Shore of Virginia waterman. Later on, I'll re-post this with the proper names inserted in brackets: []. Of course many birds are known locally by their "correct" names, such as snipe, Brant, loons, etc. My own feeling is, these "colloquial" names are sometimes better than the "proper" names. In any case, if you love to hear the watermen talk as much as I do, you'll know I'm not being condescending or patronizing (or sexist or racist ... read on) about this, much less making fun of anybody's English or lifestyles. The richness of our language is due to its great variety. And it's organic and changes in ways somewhat analogous to biological evolution. These are almost all names I've heard used "in situ" in Virginia, a few only on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Ones beginning with caps refer to distinct species. I'll send the "answers" in about a week, assuming Norm, and you, can put up with any more of this nonsense! Yes, we got Hogchokers and other fishes, your Spot, Hardheads, Croakers , trout, and Rock. Puppy drum, alewives, and others. Then there's Blowtoads, Oystercrackers, and Dowdies, too. And Doubleheads, but you can't eat them but they're good for bait. Far as crabs go, it's like the Eskimos. They got all sorts of names for different kinds of ice and snow. Down here we got names for all the crab types. There's busters, popes, shedders, softshells, papershells, and doublers (the one underneath's always a softcrab), your ordinary hard crab, and, of course, there's jimmies and sooks. Now birds, that's somethin' else. Lot of them little sandpipers, we got all sorts. The big ones, the Straight-billed Curlew, they used to shoot and eat them. Sea Crows, too. And Curlew, as well. In the old days they'd also shoot Calicobacks, Robin Snipe, and Sewin' Machines. And Black-breasted Beetlers. Ducks was commoner then but there's still lots of Little Dippers, Clubheads (also called Whifflers or Whistlers), and Southerlies, which we sometimes call South, South Southerlies, or Pintails. Out on the ocean Skunkheads are real common and other types of sea coots. You go real far out to sea, farther than I go for shad in February, you get tuna birds in summer. Never see them from land. Other places got more ponds and freshwater than we do, they got more ducks like Sprigs, Spoonbills and teal. Oh, we got them, too, but not many. In the old days there's was but one gull in summer and that was the Cacklin' Gull, called Soft Crab Gull, too. Now, the Winter Gulls is nesting on the islands as well. Time was, you'd never see a winter gull here but in winter. All the old names, like Egg Harbor, Great Egging Beach, and the like, that was cause they'd go out there and gather gull eggs and they would make a good omelet or two with that. Then let' em alone to do their business and nest again. Big groups of gulls and strikers, Little Strikers, and Big Strikers, still nest on the islands as well as Flood Gulls, which we also call the Scissorbill or Cutwater. What you call the cormorant, well, you know what sort of names they have, and Shag is one of the more polite ones. No need to tell you the others. Those are words a smart person don't say no more. Although you might say Shitpoke, but not t'other, unless you were to say Pocomoke Goose or Baltimore Goose. I know one thing, there's more and more each year. In early April or late March there are a lot of little divers, we call Pigwitches. And in the summer there's the little heron, called Scowp 'cause of the way they call when you jump him. Of course you know the White Crane and the Blue Crane, the blue one sometimes called Forty Quarts of Soup or Old Cranky. Them night herons, I believe you say, here is called the Wop or Bumcutter cause of what he sounds like. Them fish ducks, there's not much to eatin' one, but they're good to shoot at anyway. You get the Hairy Head or French Pheasant in the little sloughs and ditches, up the guts, the Sheldrake or regular Pheasant in the bays and ocean. Every so often, when there's a big freezeup or blizzard in Jersey, or Canada, then the woodcock pile in here like crazy. Take Han's spaniel out and you'd flush one every twenty feet. Up north they call them Labrador Twisters or Bogsuckers. In Ninety-three we got a real cold rain, coated all the rushes and trees with ice. Everything. The woodcock like to froze. Chicken Hawks was hitting them right off the grass. Goin' down 600 woodcocks, blackbirds, Killdees, Field Larks, and Canaries was all along the roadside. Couldn't help but hit some with the truck. Big old Sicklebill. Never used to see him at all until the sixties. Now there's white ones, too. In with the herons and cranes. In September, when there's doves before the Partridge season, you can also shoot the Sage Hens or Marsh Guineas when the tide's good and flooded. Time was, the tradition for that was a big thing. Big shots would come from Washington to do it. Nowsdays hardly anyone bothers but if you breast him out and put bacon strips on it, it is right tasty. That's about the smart of it. And when the tide starts to slack, that's when your Sage Hen will start to hollerin'. There's other smaller mudhens, too, and such, about the size of a Field Lark, but you don't see them as much as you see the Sage Hen. Also in September and sometimes in August you have Reedbirds, or Ricebirds as they're also known, pilin' into the reed beds at Oyster late in the day. Other places I know they get shot, or used to, 'cause they'd feed on wild rice, and come already stuffed. Onlyest thing I know, there's not as much huntin' as there used to be and that's too bad, to see that tradition dyin' out. Of course, I haven't hunted since I was a boy but it is nice to see a bunch of fellas out on the marsh enjoyin' themselves. Get away from the little old lady and cut loose a little. Even if you come back with nothin' to show you're bound to be better off. Nothin' better than a day on the marsh or water. Right fair straight. In memory of Linwood Horner, waterman, our guide at Cape Charles 1965-1999. May his very good soul rest in peace. He was always so nice to me and my family. Machine gunner with the Merchant Marine in The War. He was as discriminating about birds as most of us are. Even when his arthritis would seize up on him he'd go out there clammin', oysterin', or crabbin', or when there was a big wreck of conchs washed up on the shore. He didn't know what it was but he once described perfectly a Dovekie he had seen around his boat one winter day, a description that would have sailed right through any rarities committee review. Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119. 74077.3176@compuserve.com. 215-248-4120. ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================