1894 Brewer’s / W / Wheatear (the bird)
has no connection with either wheat or ear, but it is the Anglo-Saxon hwit (white), ears (rump). Sometimes called the White-rump, and in French blanculet (the little blanccul). So called from its white rump.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.