This is bird note.

You've probably heard the old saying,

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Well, it's a very old saying, and it's gone through some changes over the years.

The phrase first pops up in a seventh-century Aramaic proverb.

Better is a sparrow held tight in the hand

than a thousand birds flying about in the air.

An English book from the 15th century had this version.

It is more certain a bird in your fist

than to have three in the sky above.

One hundred years later, there was another old English saying,

better one bird in hand than ten in the wood.

In each era, the pragmatic wisdom is clear.

Hold on to the sure thing, rather than taking a gamble on something better.

The old saying eventually made it to Pennsylvania,

where there's a town named Bird in Hand.

Legend has it that when two road surveyors in the early 1700s

were trying to decide whether to stay the night where they were working

or head back to Lancaster,

one-sided the Bird in Hand proverb. They decided to

stay, and the place was named Bird in Hand. For Bird Note, on Michael Stein.

This episode is brought to you by Wild Delight Bird Food, which aims to support wild bird populations

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