BBC Wildlife - UK (2019-12)

December 2019

Grouse: Jussi Murtosaari/naturepl.com; crane: Print Collector/Getty; nightjar: ilbusca/Getty

displaysinthebirdworld:dancingcranes
andlekking(communal,competitive
displaying)blackgrouse?I’ve
beenluckyenoughtowitness
boththesenaturalspectacles,
whichsurelyrankamongthe
greatestinthebirdworld.
Globally,cranesare
oftenregardedas
sacredbirds,perhaps
becausetheir
heightand
staturegive

themanalmosthumanappearance.

Theyfeatureinancienttextsfrom

AesopandPlinytoDante,whowrote

oftheirV-shapedflyingformations,which

heobservedwhenmigratingcranespassed

overhead.Andlikesomanybirdswithblack

plumage,blackgrousearethesubjectof

variousmyths,includingtheideathatthe

devilmightappearintheformofthemale.

Butwhatpossibleconnectioncouldthe

final,asyetunexplained,line– eightmaids

a-milking– havewitha bird?Inmyview,the

likeliestcandidateis thenightjarwhich,like

othernocturnalspecies,wasoftenfearedby

thosewhoencounteredit.A longstanding

mythaboutthismysteriousbird,first

proposedbytheGreek

philosopherAristotle,

wasthattheysucked

theteatsofdomestic

goats,toobtainthe

milk:hencethenow

obsoletefolk-name

‘goatsucker’.

Nightjarsdo

sometimesfeed

around domestic

livestock at dusk.

Yettheyarenottakingthemilk,but

grabbingthemoths,beetlesandother

insectsattractedbytheanimals.Thatsimple

explanation,exoneratingthenightjar,was

firstproposedbytheVictoriannaturewriter

JEHarting.Yetevenmytatteredcopyof

TheObserver’sBookof Birdsstillincludes

‘goatsucker’asthenightjar’salternative

name,provingthat,onceestablished,myths

canbeveryhardtoshift.

I hopeyouhaveenjoyedmywhistle-stop

tourofthefolkloreassociatedwithoneofour

mostpopularChristmascarols.It certainly

revealsonething:thatweasa nationareat

leastasobsessedbybirdsasweareaboutthe

festiveseason.HappyChristmas.

FINDOUTMORE Listen to Tweet of the

Day: Robin at bbc.in/31WxnaZ.

STEPHEN MOSS is a naturalist who

teaches an MA in nature writing.

His books include The Robin: A

Biography and The Twelve Birds of Christmas.

But what connects maids a-milking with a

bird? The likeliest candidate is the nightjar.

Clockwise from bottom

left: nightjars, wrongly

believed to feed from

(a-milk) goats; leaping

black grouse; elegant

dancer the common crane.