korhaan, noun

/kɔˈrɑːn/, /kɔrˈhɑːn/
Forms:
coran, coranneShow more Also coran, coranne, corhaan, corhan, khoraan, khoran, koerhaan, kooran, koor haan, koor-haen, koorhan, koraan, koran, korhaen, korhan, korhane, korran, korrhan, kor-rhaan, korr-haen.
Plurals:
unchanged, korhaans, or (formerly) korhanen.
Origin:
DutchShow more Imitative of the bird’s call; transferred use of Dutch korhaan or knorhaan a name for the male of the black grouse Lyrurus tetrix, from korren to coo + haan cock; cf. knorhaan.
1.
a. Any of several species of bird of the Otididae, especially Eupodotis cafra (the black korhaan, see sense b below); core-hen; knorhaan sense 1 a; vlakpou, vlaktepou, see pou sense 2.
1776 F. Masson in Phil. Trans. of Royal Soc. LXVI. 317The fields abounded also with korhaans (a kind of bustard), partridges, hares &c and great flocks of ostriches.
1786 G. Forster tr. of A. Sparrman’s Voy. to Cape of G.H. I. 153Korr-haen is the name of a kind of Otis, which conceals itself perfectly, with great art, till one comes pretty near to it, when on a sudden it soars aloft, and almost perpendicularly into the air, with a sharp, hasty, and quavering scream, of the repetition of Korrh, Korrh, which is an alarm to the animals throughout the whole neighbourhood.
1795 C.R. Hopson tr. of C.P. Thunberg’s Trav. I. 148Difficult as it is to come within reach of it, we at last shot a korhaan, a bird which in its flights cries kok-karri, kok-carri.
1800 G. Yonge in S.D. Naudé Kaapse Plakkaatboek Deel V (1950) 208In order to define what animals in this Colony, come under the description of game the following are to be considered as such, hares, partridges, pheasants, korans, wild peacocks, [etc.].
1819 J.F. Stephens Continuation of Shaw’s Gen. Zoology XI. 451[Otis afra] Native of the country north of the Cape of Good Hope, where it is called Korhane, or Knorhaan, from its cry.
1822 W.J. Burchell Trav. I. 186A small species of Otis, or bustard, called Korhaan..(or Knorhaan), a name which is given also to two or three other kinds of Otis.
1827 G. Thompson Trav. 99No living thing to relieve the monotony of the scenery, except the korhaan,..screaming forth its hoarse, discordant cry.
1840 B. Shaw Memorials 84Mrs. S. had for some time been indisposed, and could eat but little; I therefore, occasionally pursued hares, partridges, doves, and khorans.
c1850 R.G.G. Cumming Hunter’s Life I. 49I saw and shot the black koran, an excellent game-bird, allied to the bustards, so abundant throughout South Africa.
1856 R.E.E. Wilmot Diary (1984) 132Here..we find the various kinds of coran or koraan, a fine specimen of game bird much like a large grouse in general appearance.
1860 A.W. Drayson Sporting Scenes 59Two species of bustards were common; viz: the coran and the pouw, both excellent eating.
c1881 A. Douglass Ostrich Farming 146It was discovered that the guinea-fowls, pows, corhans, fowls, and many of the small birds throughout the country had contracted the disease, and were spreading it in all directions.
1912 Report for 1911 (Dept of Justice) 107Korhaan were the most plentiful of the game birds, and did a considerable amount of damage to the crops.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 271Knorhaan or Korhaan,..Otis afra..is exceedingly noisy when disturbed, and well deserves the name of ‘Scolding-cock’; its raucous cry has been fairly described as resembling a ‘shrill-voiced woman’s nagging heard afar, so that the words are not intelligible’.
1920 F.C. Cornell Glamour of Prospecting 79Most frequent and..annoying..was the koorhaan, whose irritating croaking cackle could be heard on all sides, and which seemed to take a mischievous delight in disturbing other game of a less suspicious nature.
1936 L.G. Green Secret Afr. 229Hunters in the North-West Cape usually open the gizzards of the large game birds, the paauw and korhaan, in the hope of finding diamonds.
c1936 S. & E. Afr. Yr Bk & Guide 1105The korhaan is a bustard and varies in size from a pheasant to a good-sized fowl. It is a great runner and fairly abundant everywhere in South Africa.
1942 S. Cloete Hill of Doves 108A korhaan, its white breast red in the sunset, flung chattering into the sky.
1985 Style Oct. 90There’s a rich bird life..; from the korhaans, blue cranes and secretary-birds to the small multi-hued rollers.
b. With distinguishing epithet denoting a particular species of korhaan:
Barrow’s korhaan obsolete, white-bellied korhaan, see below;
black korhaan, Eupodotis afra, the most common species of korhaan;
black-bellied korhaan, E. melenogaster;
blue korhaan, E. caerulescens;
bont korhaan obsolete [Dutch bont variegated, see bont], an unidentified species of korhaan, probably the black korhaan (see above);
bush korhaan [translation of Afrikaans boskorhaan, bos bush], red-crested korhaan, see below;
Karoo korhaan [see Karoo], vaal korhaan (see below);
red-crested korhaan, E. ruficrista; red-crested knorhaan, see knorhaan sense 1 b;
vaal korhaan, E. vigorsii; dikkop -, vaal knorhaan, see knorhaan sense 1 b;
white-bellied korhaan, E. cafra; pou sense 1 c;
white-quilled black korhaan, white-quilled korhaan, white-winged black korhaan or white-winged korhaan, black korhaan, see above.
1923 Haagner & Ivy Sketches of S. Afr. Bird-Life 215Barrow’s Korhaan (Otis borrovii) can be distinguished..by the patches of tawny on either side of the chest and the white abdomen.
1936 E.L. Gill First Guide to S. Afr. Birds 154A related species is: Barrow’s Korhaan, Eupodotis cafra, in which all the colours are much paler, and only the male has any blue, a pale grey-blue band down the front of the neck. Underparts white.
1823 T. Philipps Philipps, 1820 Settler (1960) 191We gave up shooting...A black Korrhan was our only success.
1866 J. Leyland Adventures 40I also shot..a smaller species, called the Black Koran by the Colonists.
1962 Bokmakierie June 20Black korhaan is everywhere and every other bush has its ant-eating chat.
1980 J.O. Oliver Beginner’s Guide to our Birds 53In spring, male Black Korhaans fly noisily over the veld and then land with their wings held high and their yellow legs dangling.
1992 T. Van Rensburg in S. Afr. Panorama Mar.–Apr. 11Birds are plentiful and species such as the black korhaan, the blue crane, guinea-fowl and other grasslands birds are typical of the area.
1923 Haagner & Ivy Sketches of S. Afr. Bird-Life 214The Black-bellied Korhaan (Otis melanogaster) is easily distinguished by the characteristic indicated by its trivial name, viz. the black under parts.
1978 McLachlan & Liversidge Roberts Birds of S. Afr. 227Black-bellied Korhaan...frequents the savannas and even rather marshy ground bordering them.
1835 A. Steedman Wanderings I. 135We found for the first time several of the blue korran, a species of Otis, which has only been recently described.
1866 J. Leyland Adventures 34On route I shot a Blue Koran, (Otis Caerulescens,) at 150 yards, with ball.
1866 J. Leyland Adventures 40I also shot several of the Blue Koran, or Leaden-tinted Bustard.
1964 P.A. Clancey Birds of Natal & Zululand 143The blue korhaan occurs sparingly in the interior of Natal.
1873 ‘F.R.’ in A.M.L. Robinson Sel. Articles from Cape Monthly Mag. (1978) 105In the Karoo,..the bont or particoloured korhaan becomes the vaal or coloured one.
1896 H.A. Bryden Tales of S. Afr. 250The bush koorhaan..are playing their strange aerial pranks.
1940 V. Pohl Bushveld Adventures 57We had gone about fifty yards when a bush korhaan suddenly flew out from almost beneath my feet.
1963 P.J. Schoeman in C.M. Booysen Tales of S. Afr. 198He heard a whistle. It was Xan-bib, the bush Korhaan.
1838 J.E. Alexander Exped. into Int. II. 149The Karoo Koran, or small red bustard, flew up here and there to tempt us, but the cold took sporting out of us.
1980 J.O. Oliver Beginner’s Guide to our Birds 53Karoo Korhaan, Plain coloured..these korhaans are generally seen in pairs or threes, walking over dry, stony ground where there are scattered bushes.
1990 A. Craig in Birding in Sn Afr. Vol.42 No.1, 4The Karoo Korhaan Eupodotis vigorsii.
1937 M. Alston Wanderings 224We saw the gom pauw and the white-quilled and the red-crested korhaan.
1975 Dict. of Eng. Usage in Sn Afr. 143Red-crested korhaan,..bird commonly seen in the bushveld; the male has a characteristic red crest and is known for its vertical tumblings in the air.
1857 E.L. Layard in Cape Monthly Mag. I. June 386The Vaal Korhaan, recently presented by J. Rose Innes, Esq., of Riversdale, is a valuable addition to the collection of birds.
1899 R.B. & J.D.S. Woodward Natal Birds 175Pink Bustard — (Heterotorax vigorsi). This bird is called the ‘Vaal Koran’.
1900 B. Mitford Aletta 149How many birds have you got? ‘Brace of partridge and two koorhaans. One is vaal koorhaan, and a fine one too.’
1955 V. De Kock Fun They Had 160The Vaal Korhaan..can be, as Bryden found, ‘very uncertain birds’ to shoot.
1978 McLachlan & Liversidge Roberts Birds of S. Afr. 156White-bellied Korhaan...The only small Korhaans with a white belly in both sexes...A bird of open grassveld.
1923 Haagner & Ivy Sketches of S. Afr. Bird-Life 213The Black Korhaan..is confined to the Cape Province, being replaced north of the Orange River by the White-quilled Korhaan (O[tis] afroides), which..has the primary wing feathers white on the inner web, only the tips being black.
1992 B. Ryan in Sunday Times 26 Apr. 14The recreated Whitewinged Black Korhaan is..already being referred to in some birding circles..as the Whitequilled Korhaan.
1992 B. Ryan in Sunday Times 26 Apr. 14The biggest change for Transvaal birders is that what they have known as the Black Korhaan — common in grasslands throughout the Transvaal, Free State, Northern Cape and Botswana — has become the Whitewinged Black Korhaan because the Black Korhaan is now held to be restricted to the Western Cape.
1993 G.L. Maclean Roberts’ Birds of Sn Afr. 211Black Korhaan...Status: Very common resident. Populations outside of sw Cape winter-rainfall area have white in remiges (sc. flight feathers of wing); may be separate species, Whitequilled (or Whitewinged) Korhaan Eupodotis afraoides.
2. rare. knorhaan sense 2 a.
1913 W.W. Thompson Sea Fisheries of Cape Col. 12It was so easy to catch them that one could not quickly enough throw the hooks into the water in order to draw them up again with ‘Korhanen’, red, spotted, and other fish.
Any of several species of bird of the Otididae, especially Eupodotis cafra (the black korhaan, see sense b below); core-hen; knorhaan sense 1 a; vlakpou, vlaktepou, see pou sense 2.
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Korea, nounn.kori, nounn.
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