A Siren was a creature from Greek/Roman Mythology (usually depicted as a beautiful woman) who would sing to sailors and drive them crazy so they would bash their vessels on the rocks outside their lair and then eat them.. I think.. not to sure. There are a LOT of stories about them, I just decided to make the seagull into a twisted version of one... Siren is also the name given to the loud sounding thingamajiggy that is on Police cars and Fire Trucks...Sounds of Doom... And that's all the history lesson you're going to get out of me today..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFWKJ2FUiAQ
The Mortal Coil's version of "Song to the Siren" really gives a great idea of how magical they are, well at least to me

Is there a difference betwenn a Siren and a Mermaid?

Mermaids are human females combined with a Fish. A Siren is a mythical monster that sat on the shores and sang. I'm pretty sure that Mermaids came AFTER Sirens (I haven't had a Greek Mythology Class in over 30 years so please forgive me not being able to lock that down). Sirens also were usually merged with birds and not fish (they inspired Harpies in later stories as well.) Basically.. Sirens were bringers of gloom and doom.. usually told with stories of devouring humans and often associated with versions of Medusa and the gorgons. Mermaids, on the other hand, were a little more romantic and seductive...many many many stories and versions. Mermaids were lesser creatures to Sirens.

You have to remember that Christopher Columbus was said to have discovered Mermaids when he came to America which were most likely Manatee's. (Vikings were first but they had TERRIBLE recording skills) And if you've ever seen a Manatee you can see that these men must have been at sea a LONG time to think a Manatee were female human fish people...

Basically, mermaids lived in the sea and Sirens lived on the shoreline and on land. Mermaids were usually benevolent while Sirens were usually malevolent.

They are delicious on toast with plenty of lemon butter.. J/K.. just being goofy