Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

Drey

dreyA large clump of leaves in the branches of a tree is often mistaken for a bird nest. It’s actually a drey, or squirrel nest. More specifically, it’s a summer nest. Winter will find them squirreled away in warmer, sturdier spots, like your attic.
Quiscalus quisculaThis Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula), helping to perpetuate the impression that this is a bird’s nest, was rooting around in the leaves, which had no doubt attracted various invertebrates over the months.

My Shorter OED and Webster’s 3rd both throw up their hands on the origins of “drey,” which may also be spelled “dray.” The OED has it going back to the early 17th century. Also, it should be noted that, given English’s often multipurpose flexibility, there are no other definitions for the word.

Update: I am in error. See comments. THere is another definition for dray.

mthew

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5 responses to “Drey”

  1. elwnyc

    You started me on a word hunt here! The only other use I found (after searching 22 pages of Google listings) for dray/drey is for a sledge or low wagon. But the Australians have borrowed the word, at least since 1899, for the ringtail possum’s nest, which looks very similar to the squirrel’s.

    Reply
    1. mthew

      22 Google pages may be a record!

      Reply
      1. mthew

        The “dray” spelling variation is the sleigh/wagon — did you find it as “drey” too?

      2. elwnyc

        Yes – even with a picture (http://dovepercherons.weebly.com/index.html). You can tell I like words – 22 is probably a record for me too. There’s another use of the word here – at the bottom of the page (https://www.msu.edu/~williss2/carpentier/part1/percheron.html). The “dray” spelling is much more common, though.

  2. Paul Lamb

    Origins aside, thanks for the new word in my vocabulary.

    Reply

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