Birds Of Britannia 不列顛尼亞的鳥類

The WREN is a tiny insect-eating bird with a loud voice. The cheerful trills of Wrens are extraordinarily varied and melodious.
The SWALLOW is easily recognized by its forked tail. Swallows catch insects in flight, and have squeaky, twittering songs.
The WARBLER is an exceptional singer, whose extensive songs combine the best qualities of Wrens and Swallows.
The NUTHATCH climbs down trees head first, searching for insects in the bark. It sings a repetitive series of notes with a nasal tone quality.
The agile CHICKADEE has a buzzy "chick-a-dee-dee" call, from which its name is derived. Its song is a series of whistled notes.
The THRUSH is a brown bird with a spotted breast, which eats worms and snails, and has a beautiful singing voice. Thrushes use a stone as an anvil to smash the shells of snails.
The little NIGHTINGALE is also known for its beautiful song, which it sings even at night.
The STARLING is a small dark bird with yellow bill and a squeaky, high-pitched song. Starlings can mimic the sounds of other birds.
The SLYLAR sings a series of high-pitched melodious trills in flight.
The FINCH is a small seed-eating bird with a conical beak and a musical, warbling song.
The CROSSBILL is a kind of Finch with a strange crossed bill, which it uses to extract seeds from pine cones.
The CANARY is a kind of Finch that is often kept as a pet. Miners would often take Canaries underground with them, to warn them of the presence of hazardous vapors in the air.
The SPARROW weaves a nest of grass ,and has an unmusical chirp for a voice.
The TOWHEE is a kind of Sparrow that continually reminds listeners to drink their tea.
The SHRIKE is a gray bird with a hooked bill. Shrikes have the habit of impaling their prey on thorns.
The WOODPECKER has a pointed beak that is suitable for pecking at wood to get at the insects inside.
The KINGFISHER dives for fish, which it catches with its long, pointed beak.
The TERN migrates over great distances, from one end of britannia to the other each year. Terns dive from the air to catch fish.
The PLOVER is a bird that distracts predators by pretending to have a broken wing.
The LAPWING is a kind of Plover that has a long black crest.
The HAWK is a predator that feeds on small birds, mice, squirrels, and other small animals. Small hawks are known as Kites.
The DOVE is a seed-eating bird with a peaceful reputation, Doves have a low-pitched cooing song.
The PARROT is a brightly colored bird with a hooked bill, favored as a companion by priates. Parrots can be taught to imitate the human voice.
The CUCKOO is a devious bird that lays eggs in the nests of Warblers and other small birds. Cuckoos have the uncanny ability to keep track of time, singing once at the beginning of each hour.
The ROADRUNNER is an unusual bird iwth a long tail, which runs swiftly along the ground hunting for lizards and snakes.
The SWIFT is a very agile bird that spends nearly its entire life in the air. With their mouths wide open, Swifts capture insects in mid-flight.
The HUMMINGBIRD is a cross between a Siwft and a Fairy. These tiny, brightly colored birds hover magically near flowers, and live on the nectar they provide.
The OWL is a reputedly wise bird that is active at night, unlike most birds. Owls have excellent night vision and low-pitched hooting calls. Their wings are silent in flight.
The GOATSUCKER is a strange owl-like bird that is thought to live on the milk of goats. These mysterious birds make jarring sounds at night, for which reason they are also called Nightjars.
The DUCK is a bird that swims more often than it flies, and has a nasal voice that is described as a "quack".
The SWAN is a kind of long-necked Duck that is all white. Swans are usually voiceless, but they are said to have an extraordinarily beautiful song.
燕子容易以牠的開叉尾辨識。燕子在飛行時抓昆蟲，並有唧唧，啁啾的歌聲。
鶯是很特別的歌手，曲風範圍廣到組合了雀鳥、鷦鷯及燕類。
五十雀會先從樹頭跳下來，找尋樹皮裏的昆蟲。牠以一連串反覆帶鼻音的音調唱著。
一種靈活的山雀有「唧—呃—滴—滴」的叫聲，就像牠名字的發音一樣。牠的歌聲是一連串的口哨音。
鶇是種胸前有班點紋路的棕色鳥，吃蟲和蝸牛，而且有美妙的叫聲。鶇鳥們會用石頭當做砧板來砸碎蝸牛殼。
夜鶯也以牠的美妙歌聲聞名，牠常在夜晚叫。
椋鳥是黃嘴的暗色小鳥，有高音刺耳的歌聲。椋鳥們可以模仿其他鳥類的叫聲。
雲雀在飛的時候會發出一連串高音有旋律的叫聲。
雀鳥是一種小型食蟲鳥，有圓錐狀的嘴以及音樂般的鳴叫歌聲。
交喙鳥是雀鳥的一種，有副怪異的交叉鳥嘴，牠可以用來從松果中咬出種子。
金絲雀也是種常被拿來當寵物的雀鳥，礦工們常想帶著一些金絲雀和他們一起在地下作伴，用來警告他們工作現場有沒有危險氣體混入空氣內。
麻雀會編草窩，並且有種不悅耳的嘰喳聲。
紅眼雀是麻雀的一種，那連續不停的叫聲讓聽到的人聯想到該喝茶了。
伯勞是種嘴彎彎的灰色鳥。伯勞有個息性會把牠們的獵物戳在刺（尖枝）上。
啄木鳥有副尖嘴適合用來啄木頭並叼出裡面的蟲子。
魚狗會潛水找魚，用又長又尖的嘴把魚抓起來。
燕鷗長距離遷徙，每年從不列顛尼亞的一端飛到另一端。燕鷗會從空中潛到水裡去抓魚。
行鳥會假裝翅膀斷了來使獵食者分散注意力。
田鳧是種行鳥，有很長的黑羽。
鷹是個掠食者，以小型鳥、老鼠、松鼠以及其他小動物為生。小型的鷹叫鳶。
鴿子是吃種子的鳥，有和平的名聲，鴿子有低音的咕咕叫聲。
鸚鵡是有彎嘴而且色彩鮮豔的鳥，海盜喜歡養來當伴。可以教鸚鵡模仿人聲。
杜鵑是在鶯或其他小型鳥巢內下蛋的狡猾鳥類。杜鵑有感知時間的神秘能力，會在每小時開頭叫。
走鵑是長尾的希奇鳥類，在地上獨自疾行尋找蜥蜴和蛇。
雨燕是非常靈活的鳥類，幾乎大半輩子的時間都在空中。當牠們嘴巴大開，雨燕就在飛行中抓飛蟲。
蜂鳥是雨燕和小妖精的混種。這些嬌小、顏色光鮮的鳥神奇地飛近花朵，並以它們供應的花蜜為生。
貓頭鷹是以睿智聞名的夜行鳥類，和其他鳥類不同。貓頭鷹有極佳的夜間視覺和低音的嗚嗚叫聲。牠們的翅膀可以安靜地飛行。
夜鷹是種貓頭鷹似的怪鳥，被認為以山羊奶為生。這些神秘的鳥在夜間發出加加聲，因此牠們也叫 Nightjar。
鴨子是種游的比飛得還多的鳥，並有種帶鼻音的叫聲被描述成「呱」。
天鵝是種全白的長頸鴨。天鵝常常不出聲，但傳說牠們具有美妙的歌聲。

## 譯者 h2 註

這個網頁可以找到鳥叫聲，非常方便，也可以找到貓叫狗叫、風聲雨聲瀑布溪流之類的自然音效。 http://www.findsounds.com/ISAPI/search.dll 音效可下載。在關鍵字欄打入 wren、swallow、owl、stream、waterfall、cat、dog 等等。上面提到的鳥類的叫聲都找得到。遺憾沒找到方便的鳥類圖搜尋站，看哪位好心人願意提供？

鳥叫的音效是一個環境裏非常重要的氣氛要素，普通時候不覺得。直到我去過日本，才發現嘰嘰喳喳的麻雀叫被啊啊啊的烏鴉叫取代感覺會有多怪…還是麻雀叫聲悅耳親切些。

雖然上文說貓頭鷹是夜行性的鳥，不過，某天在新聞裡面看到有一隻小型貓頭鷹大白天蹲在椰子樹葉裡，聽說是被風刮來迷路的，然後有另一隻飛來，和原先那隻是一對的樣子…大白天活動的貓頭鷹…晝貓子？看上去蠻可愛的。

在 UO 裡，鳥除了白頭鷹比較顯眼，其他好像長的都是那個樣子，顏色不同而已。這裡有小圖示和日文翻譯：
http://www.nemia.com/kio/UltimaOnline/guten/BirdsOfBritannia.html