jenny

Reader's　Digest 9月号の単語クイズ欄 "WORD POWER" からの問題、名前にも使われる単語の "jenny" 編です。

"jenny": female bird: The jenny wren offered her chicks a juicy worm.

Reader's　Digestの例文だけでは物足りないので辞書の例文も調べます。

・Oxford English Dictionary: A female donkey or ass.: ‘Both jennies have foals each year which the couple sell on to fellow donkey lovers.’
おや？　雑誌の説明ではメスのミソサザイだったのに、この辞書ではメスのロバになっている。他の辞書も見ます。

・Collins Dictionary: the female of certain animals or birds, esp a donkey, ass, or wren


どちらもありでしたね。

"wren" はどんな鳥か知らないのでWikipediaで調べると次の様な興味のあることが書かれていました。
The wren was also known as the kuningilin ('kinglet') in Old High German, a name associated with the fable of the election of the "king of birds". The bird that could fly to the highest altitude would be made king. The eagle outflew all other birds, but he was beaten by a small bird that had hidden in his plumage.
スズメよりも小さいような小鳥だけれどワシより高く飛べるなんて山椒は小粒でもピリリと辛いですね。