Dale Goble writes:
>
> Once again I am seeking soem help with identifying the identity of
> several species that appear in some legal materials -- this time a
> statute from 1566:

Well, I'm not a native English speaker and I don't know much about the
16th century English , but I'll do my best anyway (I guess you already know
all of the one I'm gonna find :-)

> Crowes, Chawghes, Pyes or Rookes

Crowes: that's the Carrion Crow _Corvus corone corone_, but could also be the
Hooded Crow __Corvus corone cornix_ which is present in Scotland and
Ireland.
Chawghes: Red-billed Chough _Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax_, a very beautiful
corvid with red beak (thin and downcurved) and legs that is very
good at aerobatics!
Pyes: Black-billed Magpie _Pica pica_

> Martyn Hawkes Fursekytte Moldkytte Busarde Schagge Carmera[n]t Ryngtayle

Martyn Hawkes: here, I'm just guessingm but it could be the Eurasian Hobby
_Falco subbuteo_, which is a very swift (no pun intended) flier that
hunts Swallows, Swifts (also dragonflies).
Fursekytte: no clue
Moldkytte: no clue
Busarde: Common Buzzard _Buteo buteo_
Schagge: European Shag _Phalacrocorax aristotelis_
Carmera[n]t: Great Cormorant _Phalacrocorax carbo_


> Iron or Osprayes

Iron: Grey Heron _Ardea cinerea_, the European counterpart of the Great Blue
Osprayes: Osprey _Pandion haliaetus_


> Woodwall Pye Jaye Raven or Kyte

Woodwall Pye: no clue (maybe a Woodpecker???)
Jaye: Eurasian Jay _Garrulus glandarius_
Raven: I guess you have an idea for this one...
Kyte: Black Kite _Milvus migrans_


> Kyng Fyssher Bullfynche
Kyng Fyssher: Common Kingfisher _Alcedo atthis_
Bullfynche: Eurasian Bullfinch _Pyrrhula pyrrhula_

> Foxe or Gray Fitchewe Polecatte Wesell Stote Fayre bade or Wilde Catte
> Otter or Hedgehogges, Ratte, Myse, Moldwarpe or Wante

No ideas but for the obvious Fox, Rat, Mice, Wild Cat, Wesell.
Maybe Gray refers to a Gray Wolf???

Hope this helps

--
--------------------------------------------------
"Come to think of it, there are already a million monkeys on
a million typewriters ... and Usenet is NOTHING like Shakespeare..."

Serge Le Huitouze Intelligent Software Group
email: serge at cs.sfu.ca School of Computing Science
tel: (604) 291-5423 Simon Fraser University
fax: (604) 291-3045 Burnaby, B.C., V5A 1S6 CANADA
http://www.isg.sfu.ca/~serge/