If I recall correctly, R' S.R. Hirsch lists several animals that begin with an ayin, and then shows how the remaining letters form a shoresh that is appropriate to describe the animal in some way. Achbar and achrav are two of them.
Random question: do you thing the Hebrew word "shir" is related to the English[/Greek?] "siren"?
From here:
http://www.etymonline.com/index.....php?
term=siren
it doesn't look like there's a connection...
Not connected, just something to add to your list. או-טו-טו - where does it come from? Why the hyphenation?
Rosenthal has it listed as אוטוטו - no hyphenation. He says it comes from the Yiddish אט-אט-אט meaning "הנה הנה הנה" (here, here, here?)
Commenting by HaloScan
