An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Habergeiß

by Friedrich Kluge

Habergeiß, f., ‘common snipe,’ not found in the earlier periods; Haber- in this compound is the only remnant of the old name for a goat (AS. hœfer, OIc. hafr; Gr. κάπρος, Lat. caper) in G.; the bird is so called because at the pairing season it utters high in the air a sound like the distant bleating of a goat. See Bock and Haber.