Tambourine

The little jingly things in a tambourine are called "zils" and there are twenty pairs of them in a standard orchestral tambourine.

The tambourine originated in the middle east, and was brought back to Europe by returning crusaders. (On their own, zils are finger cymbals used by belly-dancers.) Its name derives from the French for "drum", so strictly speaking a tambourine should have a drumhead, but many varieties don't.

See also

• all about tambourines