but it almost certainly started with some early 19th century drip staring at a tree for hours with his mouth agape. When a passing acquaintance asked him what he was up to, he probably said, “What? Oh, I was watching a bird,” and was subsequently ridiculed for wasting time watching a common bird doing bird things. This no doubt led him to decide, “I had better say ‘I am bird watching’ the next time, because that sounds like I’m doing something serious.”
