birds

[ray]

why are birds called dicky birds

[Quizmonster]

"The Sphinx was a harmless dicky-bird in comparison." So wrote Horace Walpole in 1781 and this seems to be the very first time the word ever appeared in print. It almost certainly started life in spoken English just as a bit of nursery-speak, in much the same way as parents might say things like "itty-bitty" meaning "little" to their toddlers.